Invitation for Public Comment
Yukon-Koyukuk
Regional Education Attendance Area School Board Recasting

On June 21, 2023, House Bill 69 was signed into law modifying AS 29.04. This bill states that “…a first-class city with a population of less than 400…may be reclassified as a second-class city if the council submits a written request to the Local Boundary Commission.” Following the passage of this bill, the City of Tanana submitted a petition to reclassify from a First-Class City to a Second-Class City. The Local Boundary Commission (LBC) accepted this petition on March 12, 2024. Per AS 29.04.045(c) this certification will not go into effect until July 1, 2024. Upon certification, the City of Tanana’s responsibility of maintaining a school district will be absolved and the city will be absorbed into the Yukon-Koyukuk School District (YKSD) Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA).

Additionally, on October 4, 2023, the YKSD REAA voted to expand its current school board membership from seven to nine members. This vote was certified on October 20, 2023.
Alaska Statute 14.08.031(a) requires that the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED), in consultation with the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) and local communities, divide the Unorganized Borough into education services areas. Therefore, upon passage of HB 69, the reclassification certification of the City of Tanana, and YKSD’s increase in school board members, DCCED is required to review the section boundaries and school board apportionment scheme of each REAA to ensure they meet the standards contained at AS 14.08.051(a). The standard is that each school board member must represent, “as nearly as practicable, an equal number of persons.”

A generally accepted standard for equal representation is that the population represented by each school board member not vary more than plus or minus five percent from the average. The average is determined by taking the total population of the REAA and dividing it by the total number of school board seats. When current representation varies by more than plus or minus five percent, the Commissioner must recast the boundaries of each section to more closely meet the standard.

Under the existing school board apportionment scheme, as adopted following the statutory relocation of Rampart from Yukon Flats REAA to Yukon-Koyukuk REAA in 2022, Yukon-Koyukuk REAA has three sections containing a total of seven school board seats. Section I has two seats and includes the Cities of Allakaket, Bettles, and Huslia and the communities of Alatna, Coldfoot, Evansville, and Wiseman. Section II has two seats and includes the Cities of Kaltag, Koyukuk, Hughes, and Nulato. Section III has three seats and includes the City of Ruby and the communities of Four Mile Road, Manley Hot Springs, Minto, and Rampart as well as the areas along the Parks Highway south of Nenana and north of Four Mile. With the reclassification of the City of Tanana from a First-Class City to a Second-Class City and the increase in the number of seats from seven to nine, the voting district
boundaries must again be reapportioned. Five new options are being proposed (see attached maps).

• Option A contains three sections and moves the City of Hughes from Section II to Section I, moves the community of Rampart from Section III to Section I, and introduces the City of Tanana into Section III. In this scenario, Section I has three seats, Section II has two seats, and Section III has four seats. Option A has an overall deviation of 5.61 percent.

• Option B contains four sections and moves the City of Hughes from Section II to Section I, moves the community of Rampart from Section III to Section I, and places the City of Tanana into a newly created Section IV. In this scenario, Section I has three seats, Section II has two seats, Section III has three seats, and Section IV has one seat. Option B has an overall deviation of 8.01 percent.

• Option C contains three sections and moves the City of Huslia from Section I to Section II, the City of Hughes from Section II to Section I, moves the community of Rampart from Section III to Section I, and introduces Tanana into Section III. In this scenario, Section I has two seats, Section II has three seats, and Section III has four seats. Option C has an overall deviation of 19.24 percent.

• Option D contains three sections and moves the City of Hughes from Section II to Section I, moves the City of Ruby from Section III to Section II, and introduces the City of Tanana into Section III. In this scenario, each section has three seats. Option D has an overall deviation of 19.31 percent.

• Option E consists of two sections. Section I contains the cities of Allakaket, Bettles, and Tanana as well as the communities of Alatna, Coldfoot, Evansville, Four Mile Road, Manley Hot Springs, Minto, Rampart, and Wiseman, plus all outlying areas in the REAA excluding those near Koyukuk and Ruby. Section II contains the Cities of Kaltag, Koyukuk, Hughes, Huslia, Nulato, and Ruby and the outlying areas near Koyukuk and Ruby. In this scenario, Section I has five seats and Section II has four seats. Option E has an overall deviation of 4.59 percent.
Based on the REAA's demographic, socio-economic, linguistic, transportation, cultural, and communication considerations, the recommendation for the Yukon-Koyukuk REAA is to implement Option E. This option also accounts for past public comment that each section should contain multiple seats and represent multiple schools, while also accounting for the State of Alaska’s desire to have a population deviation close to the desired level of five percent.

To learn more about the these options and the reapportionment process please visit
https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/dcra/

If you are interested in the apportionment of the Yukon Flats REAA school board, you are invited to submit comments. You may do so verbally or in writing.
Verbal comments may be submitted by calling 907-269-4559, between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:30 pm, or by voicemail at that number.

Written comments should be emailed to reaa.recast.2020@alaska.gov or mailed to:

Attn: REAA Recasting
Jedediah Smith
Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development
550 W 7th Ave. STE 1650
Anchorage AK 99501

Written comments must be received by Friday, May 3rd, 2024, by 5:00PM.


A public hearing on all recommendations will be held on Wednesday, May 8th, 2024 from 10:00AM to 11:00AM by electronic means. The public hearing can be accessed by going to:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86234761767?pwd=ekk5aHgwaXAzaW5NK1F2M1IzdGlkdz09