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The state will now regulate in-district and statewide correspondence programs with the same criteria.

New regulations were proposed and approved by the State Board of Education on Friday in Anchorage for both in-district and statewide programs because both deal with allotments — money designated for students’ education.

The regulations extend to in-district programs, which previously were unregulated, because allotments are starting to be incorporated into their programs and the Department of Education and Early Development wanted to make a standard set of regulations for the similar programs, regardless of coverage.

While the board passed the regulations, it decided to drop restrictions on the amount of money families can spend on art, music and physical education.

“The goal here is to individualize children’s education,” said Tim Cline, director of IDEA.

IDEA, based out of the Galena City School District, is the oldest statewide correspondence program in Alaska and has 800 Fairbanks students enrolled. Cline said statewide programs have been following similar regulations since 2004.

He also said the lack of restrictions on allotments doesn’t mean families can be irresponsible with the money. Families will have to follow the same guidelines and will have to follow their individual learning plans.

“We’re not changing anything in IDEA,” Cline said. “It just means there are more opportunities.”

The regulations will have more of an impact on the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District because it is in the process of developing a correspondence program that includes allotments.

Wayne Gerke, assistant superintendent of secondary education for the district, said he is satisfied overall with the new regulations. The timing is also favorable for the district because they can incorporate the new regulations into the development of their program.

Superintendent Nancy Wagner said concerns of local control were solved and although she is generally pleased with the regulations she wanted more time to discuss and add input.

“Yes, we’ll be OK, but I would have liked to see a task force composed of districts to help shape how the regulations looked,” Wagner said.

The regulations will also streamline the paperwork programs need to file for state approval and clarifies correspondence programs cannot exclude children with disabilities.

Contact staff writer Christi Hang at 459-7590.