Potential increase in state funding provides hope to districts

IN COMMITTEE–The Senate Finance Committee during their April 23 meeting where they introduced a new version of House Bill 57, which proposes an increase in funding to school districts. Photo by Anna Lionas

By Anna Lionas

It’s coming down to the wire to get Alaska schools the meaningful increase to education funding districts have been asking for, with just over two weeks left in the regular legislative session. Last week, the Alaska Legislature passed a compromise education bill that increased the base per-student funding formula by $700, among other policy provisions.

Now it’s in the Governor’s hands.

The policy in the bill is what might allow it to be passed into law by Governor Mike Dunleavy, who vetoed a funding bill last month because it lacked measurable education provisions and charter school reforms, like he’s been asking for.

The newest education bill, House Bill 57 came days after the Legislature failed to override the Governor’s veto. What was once a bill to monitor phone use in schools now is packed with policies, including many things the governor said he wants, but not everything.

Dunleavy has not indicated if he will pass the bill or not, but with the vote of 48-11 by legislators, they are over the threshold of overriding his veto, many think that’s possible.

Dunleavy still has the power of the pen, meaning he can do a line-item veto and remove the funding increase from the bill, for that the legislature would need 45 votes to override him.

MEETING–The Bering Strait School Board met at the Northwest Campus building in Nome April 23-25 for their regular meeting where they discussed how to balance their budget with the almost $11 million deficit. Photo by Anna Lionas

Impact on local districts 

The Bering Strait School District announced an $11 million budget deficit for the next school year if there was no increase to funding. This is due to years of spending in a deficit, which was caused by increased operating costs and dropping enrollment which brings in less state funding.

BSSD Superintendent Tammy Dodd presented numerous scenarios for reducing district costs at the most recent school board meeting on April 24. Reducing teachers at schools with low enrollment, cutting much of the travel budget and supplies amounted to about $4 million in cuts.

A $700 increase to the per-student funding formula would leave their budget deficit at about $5 million. That combined with their proposed cuts the district would need to find $1 million more to balance their budget.

Dodd said she’s hoping to figure those cuts out and finalize the budget by the next BSSD school board meeting at the end of May.

Nome Public Schools

Nome Public Schools is facing a unique situation. The district was able to balance the 2026 budget by assuming a $680 increase to the funding formula from the state, but as the city works to balance their 2026 budget, a $2 million cut in local funding was proposed, though it’s unlikely to be the true number.

Nome’s new City Manager Lee Smith first presented the budget cut option at a Nome Common Council work session last week, calling it a “worst case scenario” due to an already tight city budget.

This would be a significant shortfall the district would have to scramble to fill, having approved and sent their budget to the City on May 1.

Smith told the Nugget in an interview he doesn’t think the cut of almost $2 million – almost 11 percent of the district budget – will be the final number provided to Nome Public Schools, but the city needs to increase its revenue.

It will likely be closer to a $500,000 cut, he said, which would still require the district to do major budget pruning at the last minute.

Solutions include stopping the hiring process to fill several teaching positions and an assistant principal role and dipping into the savings account meant to pay for a teacher apartment building.

The city sent out a survey to the community asking for input on the budget. In the two days it was live, it garnered 226 responses and over 80 percent of the responses listed school funding as a top priority.

On Monday, Nome Public Schools Superintendent Jamie Burgess and School Board Members Darlene Trigg and Sigvanna Tapqaq spoke during public testimony at a Nome Common Council budget work session. They emphasized the importance of the district to the community and explained how there is little time to consider more cuts.

“The clock is ticking,” Burgess said, adding that the council could consider a combination of trying to find some reasonable places to cut budgets and taking a look at the sales tax.

The council will continue to meet each Monday to work on the city budget, and they are encouraging community input.