Alaska — school discipline

Governing authority stated in the sources

Alaska Statutes AS 14.30.045 (the grounds on which a student may be suspended or denied admission), AS 14.03.160 (suspension and expulsion for possessing weapons), and AS 14.33.110 – 14.33.120 (the written school disciplinary and safety program each governing body must adopt), together with 4 AAC 07 of the Alaska Administrative Code, the State Board's student rights and responsibilities chapter. The statute viewer heads the text "Alaska Statutes 2025"; the administrative-code view states no publication or effective date, and that absence is recorded here rather than filled. — AS 14.30.045, retrieved Aug 30, 2026

The lines the state draws

Alaska's statutes state grounds rather than day counts. A student "may be suspended from or denied admission to the public school that the child is otherwise entitled to attend only for the following causes:", among them "continued wilful disobedience or open and persistent defiance of reasonable school authority;" and "behavior that is inimicable to the welfare, safety, or morals of other pupils or a person employed or volunteering at the school;". (AS 14.30.045) The one place the state itself sets a length is the weapons section, where a district "shall" act: "expel for at least one year a student who violates AS 11.61.210(a)(8) while possessing a firearm, as that term is defined under 18 U.S.C. 921;" and "suspend for at least 30 days, or expel for the school year or permanently, a student who violates AS 11.61.210(a)(8) while possessing a deadly weapon, other than a firearm as that term is defined under 18 U.S.C. 921." (AS 14.03.160(a)) That mandate is expressly modifiable: "The administrative officer of a school district may on a case-by-case basis reduce or otherwise modify the expulsion or suspension of a student under (a) of this section." (AS 14.03.160(b)) No short-term or long-term suspension threshold, and no general emergency-removal provision, appears in the sources reviewed; the distinction the reader is likely looking for is assigned to district policy by the quoted regulation below.

Offices and appeal bodies in these sources

The procedures themselves are assigned to each district: "Each school district shall develop and adopt policies regarding student rights and responsibilities. These policies must address both substantive and procedural matters relating to standards of student behavior, treatment, and discipline. A uniform discipline policy must be in effect throughout the district for the purpose of establishing standards and procedures in matters relating to student discipline." Those procedures "at a minimum, must address the following:" — "routine discipline case procedure; and" "chronic or serious discipline case procedure." (4 AAC 07.010(a)) The regulation also states an outer limit: "All district policies must be consistent with the federal and state constitutions, state statutes and regulations as written or construed by courts of competent jurisdiction." (4 AAC 07.010(b))
No state-level hearing officer, appeal forum, office, phone number, or email for parents appears in the sources; that absence is the finding.

Sources last checked

Aug 30, 2026

Reproduced from the state's own statutes and regulations quoted below: potentially relevant official sources, not a determination of which one governs any situation.

This page assembles what Alaska publishes in statute and regulation about K-12 school discipline. This is a baseline docket page: the governing sections, the lines the state draws, and the decision-makers and appeal route, quoted with dates. The full sections (the framework route by route, the four hoisted process rows, every stated timeline, the district delegation map, and records access) follow as the discipline layer deepens behind its breadth sprint; the change log states exactly what is not yet captured. Alaska is a state where the notice, the hearing, and the appeal a parent will actually meet are written by the district rather than by the legislature, and the state's own text says so: "Each governing body shall adopt a written school disciplinary and safety program. The program required under this subsection must be made available to students, parents, legal guardians, and the public and include written" standards, among them "standards relating to when a teacher is authorized to remove a student from the classroom for" "failure to follow student behavior and safety standards; or" "behavior described under AS 14.30.045(1) or (2);". (AS 14.33.120(a)) The state requires that the district's policies reach parents: "Each district shall make available to students, parents, and all staff persons who deal with students, up-to-date copies of the adopted district student rights and responsibilities policies at the start of each school year." (4 AAC 07.030) One thing the state does decide outright: "The use of corporal punishment in Alaska public schools is prohibited." (4 AAC 07.010(c)) Those delegations will anchor the full page's delegation map. For a student with an IEP or Section 504 plan, the disability layer lives on this site's Alaska special education page; the disciplinary and safety program must itself include "policies necessary to comply with provisions of state and federal law, including 20 U.S.C. 1400 — 1482 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act);". (AS 14.33.120(a)(5)) Confirm applicability with the district and the agencies. All dates on this page are quoted from the sources, not a deadline calculation performed for you.