What you need to know:

• The Mat-Su Borough School District is proposing a second high school diploma path with reduced academic requirements. The proposed alternative diploma maintains the current 25.5-credit standard but removes the Advanced Placement class mandate, reduces some core credit totals, adds flexibility to core subject topics and increases elective requirements.
• The new diploma would be available to students enrolled in the Mat-Su Central correspondence program starting next year. Traditional high school students could transfer to Mat-Su Central to graduate under the alternative diploma but would forfeit participation in their original school's graduation ceremony. Mat-Su Central students could also opt to graduate under the current diploma.
• The change is part of a district effort to retain students, address recent enrollment losses and boost state funding by making the homeschool program more flexible and appealing.

PALMER - A Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District proposal scheduled for consideration this month would allow graduating seniors to choose between two high school diplomas starting next year, including one with newly lowered academic requirements.

The update is part of a series of changes to the district's Mat-Su Central homeschool program designed to keep local students enrolled in the district and bring in more state funding.

The proposal comes as about 1,000 students in Mat-Su schools near graduation under the newly instituted 25.5-credit requirement, which mandates completion of at least one Advanced Placement class taught by a certified instructor. The class of 2025 will be the first to graduate under those standards, which were last updated by the school board in 2023 and include specific core subjects such as world history and geometry.

If approved, the new diploma would keep the 25.5-credit standard but eliminate the AP class requirement, according to details presented to the school board this month. It would also give students more freedom to choose topics within each core area, reduce the number of required core credits, and increase the number of elective credits from 8.5 to 12.5.

Under the proposal, the alternative diploma would be available to students enrolled in the district's Mat-Su Central homeschool correspondence program.

Students enrolled in traditional Mat-Su high schools could transfer their enrollment to Mat-Su Central and graduate under the alternative diploma, officials said. However, doing so would make them ineligible to participate in their former school’s graduation ceremony, district Superintendent Randy Trani said in an interview last week.

Students enrolled at Mat-Su Central would also be able to choose between the correspondence diploma and the district's standard diploma, officials said.

Diplomas and transcripts issued under the new policy would clearly distinguish them from those earned under the more rigorous requirements, Trani said.

The change is part of an ongoing effort by district officials to reformat Mat-Su Central and address the district's estimated upcoming $12 million budget shortfall by attracting more students and increasing per-pupil state funding.

Alaska school districts currently receive $6,815 in state education funding for each enrolled correspondence student, according to district data. In Mat-Su, about $3,000 of that funding is passed on to families as the student homeschool allotment payment.

About 2,800 students are currently enrolled in Mat-Su Central, with about 500 taking at least one district in-person class, either through the program or on a space-available basis at a neighborhood school.

But about 3,000 additional students living in Mat-Su are enrolled in correspondence programs run by other districts that have lower graduation requirements, close to or at the state's 21-credit minimum, Trani said during a meeting Wednesday. Students are also actively leaving the district, he said. Mat-Su lost about 50 students to other districts' homeschool programs between last summer and late last fall, according to state data.

Each student lost represents lost funding for the district, Trani said during a meeting earlier this year.

The required AP class and specific core subjects, first proposed by Trani in 2021 and now required for graduation, could be contributing to the loss of students, he said.

Many homeschool students struggle to meet those requirements because AP classes must be taught by a certified teacher, officials with the district's correspondence program said. Some families also homeschool specifically to avoid such structured academic requirements, they said.

A phone survey conducted by the district of families who recently withdrew from Mat-Su Central showed that lack of flexibility in course topics was among the top reasons for leaving, Trani said.

About 60% of current Mat-Su Central parents who responded to a recent online survey said they were dissatisfied with the district's graduation requirements, and about 80% said they would support lowering them to the state's 21-credit minimum, Trani said.

Rather than significantly lowering the credit requirements and eliminating the AP and core subject mandates all at once, Trani said the district should implement the changes gradually to gauge their impact on enrollment.

“I arrived, after lots of thought on this — far too much — that if we were going to make a proposal, I think we should do it stepwise, one thing at a time,” he said during the meeting.

Trani plans to formally introduce the policy at a school board meeting scheduled for April 16, with a vote expected in early May.

The new graduation requirements were developed with input from school board members during a series of recent public meetings. Board members expressed support for the update during Wednesday's meeting.

District officials plan to pair the diploma update with other changes at Mat-Su Central aimed at increasing the amount of state funding received for students who take classes through the school.

Under the current structure, all Mat-Su Central students are funded at the $6,815 rate, including those who take face-to-face classes paid for or subsidized by the district.

Administratively splitting the school into two programs - a homeschool-only correspondence program that includes the new diploma and a part-time face-to-face program - would allow the district to receive more than $12,000 for students taking face-to-face classes. The updated structure and funding plan is pending state approval.

Both the correspondence program and Mat-Su Central's hybrid academy would operate out of the new $24 million school building near Bogard and Trunk roads in Palmer.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday marked the official opening of the 45,000-square-foot building, which will house the school's face-to-face classes and administrators for both programs.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com