The approximately $500,000 in Secure Rural Schools funding which could be headed to the Sitka district (depending on how the city allocates the money) is roughly equivalent to the cost of five teachers. The Sitka School Board meets next in a budget work session 6 p.m. Thursday, March 29, in the Sitka High Library. (KCAW file photo)
The $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill signed into law by President Trump last Friday (3-23-18) has some pleasant surprises for Alaska.
Among them: A two-year reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Program.
As much as a half-million dollars could flow into the Sitka school district from the bill, but it won’t be enough to close next year’s budget gap.
Note: The next school board budget work session will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 29, in the Sitka High library. No public testimony will be taken at the work session. The next regular school board meeting will be Tuesday, April 3, also in the high school library.
Sitka Schools Superintendent Mary Wegner says the program was last funded in 2015 — and it was thought to be a lost cause. But it found its way into the bill nonetheless.
“Superintendents have been in contact with Sen. Murkowski’s office trying to find out what was happening — and there was always hope. Sen. Sullivan was always very supportive of it; Representative Young; and of course Sen. Murkowski also — they were all very supportive of it, but we did not know how it would happen in the end. And luckily it did.”
Secure Rural Schools funding supports schools — mostly in western states — which are surrounded by federal lands which don’t contribute to the local tax base. The money is also used to support local emergency services which operate on those federal lands — in Sitka’s case, that’s the Search and Rescue team.
Wegner believes that if Sitka goes with its traditional split, the school district will see $261,000 in funding for this year, and $248,000 next year.
That still leaves the school district’s budget for next year around $2 million in the hole.
During a live budget forum held on KCAW on March 21, school board member Cass Pook said it might be time for Sitka’s voters to be asked specifically if they want to provide more local funding for schools.
“When we have something to support schools on the ballot, we have always passed — to my recollection, because the community has been really supportive of the schools. If we got something on the ballot for an income tax or a sales tax, and the revenue would go to support the school — I think that would be helpful.”
In a special joint meeting with the Sitka Assembly on March 5, the board tested ideas like a half-day kindergarten, and 4-day school weeks in the high school. It also asked the city to take on half the costs of operating the Sitka Performing Arts Center. The district administration has also proposed laying off seven teachers, and increasing class sizes.
During KCAW’s live forum, school board president Jenn McNichol asked listeners to not just tell the board what programs they valued, but also what they might be willing to give up.
“What do you value the most? How do you prioritize your values and your dollars? And what are you willing to change, perhaps, in what you do now to support those things?”
