The Dillingham City School District School Board is considering revoking a policy that ties unpaid student fees to students' ability to access academic records.
Next week, the school board plans to vote on whether to revoke or maintain the policy.
Currently, the district can withhold students’ access to their transcripts, grades or diplomas until repairs for vandalism or damaged or missing materials are paid in full.
Revoking the policy would mean that while students would still be expected to make reparations for damaged or lost materials, the district could no longer withhold educational records when fees are unpaid.
The review follows a recommendation to repeal similar policies from the Alaska Association of School Boards, or AASB.
Heather Savo, board chair for the Dillingham City School District, says it came up at an AASB conference in September.
“There was a lot of discussion this fall around it [the policy] affecting students' futures for a mistake that maybe came out of anger in the moment,” said Savo.
Savo says she worries that policies that block access to transcripts or diplomas could create additional barriers to future academic and career opportunities.
“If we stop them from getting a diploma, they can't get a job, so repaying some of these things for institutions wouldn’t happen anyway,” said Savo.
The board had its initial reading of the policy in a work session last Monday. A final vote on the revision will be made at the board meeting this upcoming Monday (11/18).
