DEED outlines statutory basis for residential-school stipends; rates unchanged since FY2015
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Summary
The department reviewed the statutory history for state residential-stipend funding, explained program categories (year-long statewide vs variable-term CTE programs), and confirmed stipend rates have not changed since FY2015; a new Bristol Bay Region CTE variable-term program was approved for FY27, pending legislative funding.
Lori (self-identified in the transcript as Lori Weed), school finance manager for the Department of Education and Early Development, gave the subcommittee a statutory overview of state funding for residential programs and explained how stipend rates are set.
She said the statute authorizing state reimbursement for district-operated residential programs dates to 2006 and was amended in 2014 to require department approval before districts begin operating statewide or districtwide programs and to establish an annual application period. The department uses specific criteria for variable-term programs to qualify for full funding, including minimum instructional hours, academic standards, budget estimates and student health and welfare safeguards.
Weed told the committee five monthly stipend-rate tiers exist in statute to reflect different regional costs; those rates were doubled in 2012 and later increased by 50% when variable-term programs were added, and she said the current rates have been unchanged since FY2015. She noted the department approved one new variable-term program for FY27—the Bristol Bay Region Career and Technical Education program—subject to legislative appropriation.
Members asked procedural questions about whether variable-term programs serve only in-district students and how districts request an alternate October count date to reflect program enrollment. Weed said the department allows districts to request an alternative count date within the October count window that best reflects program enrollment for reimbursement reporting.
Several members pressed whether increasing the stipend rate would require both a statutory change and an appropriation; the department confirmed a statutory change is necessary to alter the statutory stipend schedule.
