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Unsafe School Choice Option

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to establish policies regarding Unsafe School Choice Options. 

Section 8532 of the Every Student Succeeds Act states:

“Each State receiving funds under this Act shall establish and implement a statewide policy requiring that a student attending a persistently dangerous public elementary school or secondary school, as determined by the State in consultation with a representative sample of local educational agencies, or who becomes a victim of a violent criminal offense, as determined by State law, while in or on the grounds of a public elementary school or secondary school that the student attends, be allowed to attend a safe public elementary school or secondary school within the local educational agency, including a public charter school.”

U.S. Department of Education Dear Colleague Letter (May 2025)

Alaska Statewide Policy

Per 4 AAC 06.210, schools designated as persistently dangerous shall within 10 days provide all parents of students who attend the school notice that the school has been designated as persistently dangerous and that the parent may, within 30 days after the notice is sent, request that the district transfer the student to the parent's choice of one of two or more safe schools within the district.

Per 4 AAC 06.230, within 10 days after an incident in which a student is a victim of a violent criminal offense on the grounds of the school attended by the student, a district shall notify the parents of the student that the parents may, within 30 days after the notice is sent, elect to have the student transferred to the parent's choice of one of two or more safe schools within the district. If a parent timely requests a transfer, the district shall provide the transfer within 30 days after receiving the request. 

Per 4 AAC 06. 260, a district that is required under 4 AAC 06.210 or 4 AAC 06.230 to offer a student a transfer to a safe school, but that does not contain a safe school of an appropriate grade level, shall offer to transfer the student to the parent's choice of any school, and  work with the parent to identify other suitable educational opportunities for the student, including  transfer to another district and attending a statewide correspondence school.

A parent who requests a transfer under 4 AAC 06.210 or 4 AAC 06.230 may also request that the student remain in the receiving school until the student completes the highest grade level offered by that school.

Alaska Regulations Regarding Safe Schools and Unsafe School Choice Options