(Juneau, AK) – The public comment period for the 2021 Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA) Reapportionment is now open. Regional Educational Attendance Areas (REAAs) are educational areas established in an unorganized borough of Alaska.

Alaska Statutes require that within 90 days of the Federal decennial census, the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), in consultation with the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED) and the local communities, must review the school board appointment scheme of each REAA to determine if it meets the standards contained in Alaska Statute 14.08.051(a). The standard is that each school board member must represent, “as nearly as practicable, an equal number of persons.” Where the standard is not met, options are proposed to the public.

As part of the reapportionment process, the DCCED Division of Community and Regional Affairs (DCRA) is providing information and alternatives for public comment. Currently available are public notices for all nineteen REAAs, as well as information on the existing school board appointment scheme and all proposed alternative school board appointment schemes. Public notices, boundary maps and other information is available at https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/dcra/News.

The public comment period will remain open until October 15, 2021. Members of the public can contact reaa.recast.2020@alaska.gov with any questions or to submit public comments.

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  Alaska, education, public comment, reaa, reapportionment, rural