My Learning Source Alaska › Homeschooling in Alaska › Special needs

🧩 Special Needs & Special Education Homeschooling in Alaska

What Alaska offers homeschool families of children with disabilities or learning differences — special-needs scholarships, evaluations and services — from our Alaska guide and articles.

Driver's licenses and special education

Driver's license: Alaska's teen permit and license laws don't ask about school. A teen can get an instruction permit at 14 after passing every part of the exam except the driving test. The teen drives with a person at least 21 who has been licensed for at least a year, seated beside them. The permit lasts up to two years and can be renewed once (AS 28.15.051(a)). A teen 16 or 17 can get a provisional license after holding the permit for six months. A parent, legal guardian or employer must show at least 40 hours of driving experience, including 10 in harder conditions such as bad weather or darkness, and the teen must have no traffic conviction in the past six months (AS 28.15.055). The teen also passes a road test. Every application for a person under 18 needs a parent or guardian's consent on DMV Form 433 (AS 28.15.071), and the parent takes on financial responsibility for the teen's driving. DMV's provisional license page says the form must be notarized, and the form itself says a notary or DMV representative can witness it, so ask DMV which applies. Neither the statutes (AS 28.15.051–.057) nor DMV's permit and provisional license pages list any school enrollment, attendance or driver education requirement, so homeschooled teens apply the same way as everyone else. Driver education is optional. A teen 14 or older enrolled in a DMV-approved driver education program can get a restricted permit to drive with an approved instructor (AS 28.15.051(b)).

Special education in a correspondence program: correspondence programs are public school programs. A district that offers one must enroll special education students on the same basis as any other student. The district must also meet all special education requirements, including child find, special education and related services, procedural safeguards and the student's IEP (4 AAC 33.432). A statewide correspondence program that enrolls students from outside its district runs the special education program for them and coordinates with the student's home district (4 AAC 52.090(b)). The allotment can't be used to replace district funds or duties for IEP services (4 AAC 33.422(d)). A course required by the student's IEP counts as a core course in the student's learning plan (4 AAC 33.426(d)).

Independent homeschoolers: Alaska's special education rules list children being educated in their homes by a parent among the children each district's special education program covers (4 AAC 52.090(a)). Each district's child find must identify all children with disabilities ages 3 to 21 who live in the district, with an annual public notice, screening, and referral for evaluation (4 AAC 52.100). DEED's Parents' Guide says anyone with a concern may refer a child, and parents must give written permission before an evaluation. The rules don't spell out what services a district offers an independent homeschooler or where they're delivered. Ask your district's special education office what it offers, or ask a correspondence program what it would provide if you enroll.

Read the full section in our Alaska guide

Official sources

• Alaska Administrative Code Title 4 (4 AAC 33 correspondence, 4 AAC 52 special education) (PDF) — Alaska Legislature
• Special Education — Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
• Alaska Special Education Parents' Guide (PDF) — DEED

Summarized from our Alaska guide (as of October 2026) and articles. Rules change — confirm on the official pages before you act.

More for Alaska homeschool families

• Alaska Homeschool Laws & Requirements
• How to Start Homeschooling in Alaska
• Alaska School Choice, ESAs & Scholarships
• Homeschool Sports & Activities in Alaska
• Dual Enrollment & College for Alaska Homeschoolers

Loading the full Alaska site… If it does not appear, everything on this page is readable above.