School districts are preparing their budgets for the 12 months starting in July, but a conflict between lawmakers and Gov. Mike Dunleavy leaves the amount of state aid they can expect per student up in the air. It has become.
The district, which serves Alaska's three largest cities, is running a multimillion-dollar budget deficit after years of flat education funding, exacerbated by inflation and population decline.
If the state had provided funding under recently passed Senate Bill 140, districts could have planned to increase school funding by $680 per student. But the governor's veto threat threatens jobs and school closures, creating a great deal of uncertainty, school boards and superintendents say.
“Why is he holding us hostage?” Juneau school board member Amber Fromhertz asked. Her district is suffering from a nearly $10 million deficit, and she said she needs to set up a budget so she can notify school staff if there are no jobs next year. This increase will likely result in very few, if any, employees losing their jobs.
However, the district has not included the increase in its budget due to uncertainty. “This year we are experiencing what happens when you create a budget using incorrect revenue assumptions,” Superintendent Frank Hauser wrote in an email to parents. “I'm not going to present a district budget to the board based on expected revenue. I'm not going to present a district budget to the board based on revenue that is actually there.”
Fromhertz said she doesn't understand why the governor won't sign a bill that would help the state retain the teachers it so desperately needs. “We're treading water, barely keeping our heads above water,” she said. “And he has a lifeline, but he refuses to throw it away.”
Dunleavy said it is imperative that the state take further steps to increase the number of charter schools and provide bonuses for teacher recruitment and retention during the first three years. He said he would not sign an increase in per-student funding formulas unless Congress passes charter and bonus legislation.
For the Fairbanks-Northstar Borough School District, the funding included in the bill would mean an additional $8 million for the district, which is facing a $28 million deficit. School Board President Brandi Harty said the district considered increasing class sizes and closing two schools, but the increase would mean only one school would be closed and class sizes would remain the same. .
Harty acknowledged that districts have had to reduce their footprint as the state's student population declines, but said the hasty cuts have been traumatic for the region, with three schools closing in 2022. Stated.
“Do we have time to think about how to reduce the square footage of the district? Or do we have to close schools immediately because there is no breathing room?” she asked.
Harty vetoed the measure, saying the district would have to consider cutting back, meaning furloughing staff. The board has until March 19 to approve the budget.
Harty said he trusts Dunleavy not to veto the fund and trusts lawmakers to support the vote. “This is the hubris that was burned into all of us last year,” he said, after the governor vetoed a one-time funding increase for schools last year and the Legislature failed to override it. she said, referring to. “We can't trust them.”
The governor did not publicly commit to signing the increase last year. The 10 legislators who voted in favor of the budget last year voted against overriding the governor's veto, but even if they had voted yes, there would not have been enough votes to override it.
The Anchorage School District updated its budget last Tuesday on a bet that increased funding to the BSA would amount to at least $110 per student. This would avoid some of the most significant cuts the district was considering, including dozens of jobs and arts programs.
Nome Superintendent Jamie Burgess said the district is approaching SB140 with great interest. If the governor signs it, there would be no need to cut any positions next year, just the small number of positions that are currently vacant. But if he doesn't, the district could cut between six and 11 jobs.
“Of course, our teachers are obviously not happy,” she said. “I don't blame them at all. I don't think anyone gets excited at the prospect of losing their job.”
Mr Burgess said this meant larger class sizes and increased duties for remaining teachers. And even if additional funding is approved by lawmakers, she said, her district will take operating funds out of its fund balance and remain at historic lows. At the same time, the ward will be asking the city for more funding than ever before.
Dunleavy has until next Thursday, March 14, to sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature.
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