In all the uncertainty over school funding next year, the Sitka School District knows one thing: How much money it will have left in reserves at the end of this school year.
How much of this “fund balance” should be protected, and how much should be spent is the Sitka School Board’s first major decision as it determines what will stay, and what will go, in district schools next year.
Sitka Schools will have about $1.4 million in cash remaining when students finish up this spring. That’s more than the district’s had in some years, but not nearly enough to cover the almost $4 million ($3.85 million) projected deficit for next year.
As interim superintendent Steve Bradshaw pointed out in a March 21 work session, there are far more difficult decisions ahead.
“The fact is, folks, things are bleak enough that you’re not gonna get by without cutting some positions this year,” he said.
The cut positions could number as few as 10, if the Alaska Legislature and the governor take action and appropriate a one-time increase to the base student allocation of $340. If the legislature and the governor do nothing – the so-called “Zero BSA” – the number of cuts would be apocalyptic – probably over twenty. But school board members considered that an unlikely scenario. For Sitka High Principal Sondra Lundvick, a “Zero BSA” would radically transform her building.
“We can’t build a schedule right now,” she said. “We can’t. And if you build a budget on zero, we will lose most student choice within our schedule. It will decimate our programs, whether it’s real or not. That’s what will happen.”
Making decisions around what may or may not happen – while it doesn’t seem wise – is what school districts all over the state are forced to do. Patty McPike, speaking as a member of the public, encouraged the board to postpone any dramatic changes.
“I would like the board to consider not making any quick cuts at all, until the very last minute,” said McPike. “In business, it’s not unreasonable for businesses to take out a line of credit, until they can really get their grasp on things. And speaking for myself, I feel like this may be one of those times, because you can’t just whip up and find a new teacher, let alone housing for them.”
So how much of that $1.4 million in reserves should the board use to pad what is likely to be a challenging budget year? School board members waffled around $1 million. Keet Gooshi Heen Music teacher Susan Brant Ferguson urged the board to use it all.
“I love that we end up with a fund balance every year, and that it is larger than we think it’s going to be,” said Brant-Ferguson. “It’s awesome. Please don’t cut to keep a (projected) fund balance. Spend the money for this year, for this year. And if we have to slash and burn and cut and wreck all the programs the following year, because there is no fund balance, so be it. Don’t do it until you have to. That’s why we have the programs that we still do. Because people were willing to take that risk. I think it’s worth it.”
Sitka High vocational teacher Tim Pike also holds a seat on the Sitka Assembly. He reminded school board members that “you only have one shot” each year to make a difference for a student. He called the state’s method of funding schools “backward” and “archaic.” Like Brant-Ferguson, he felt the reserves should be applied where they can do the most good.
“If we start trying to save, we end up cutting what we could do for kids who are currently here,” he said. “There’s no guarantee that you’re going to have that fund balance, there’s no guarantee you’re not. So, I think work with the money that’s in front of you, and make sure that it works for our students.”
School board members didn’t make any decisions on how far to draw down reserves, but Superintendent Bradshaw reminded them that, with the city expected to assume responsibility for maintenance of the schools, large reserves really weren’t needed any more.
But even if the board takes every penny from savings and puts it toward next year, there’s still about $2.5 million in the red, with no way to cover the deficit without major cuts. The prospects for the year after – if the political situation remains unchanged – are even worse.
School board member Tom Williams said what many people in the room were thinking.
‘If we can weather until we get a new governor with the hopes that the new governor has a better outlook for education, that might get us where we need to be,” Williams said.
In addition to the fund balance, the Sitka School Board briefly discussed closing the Blatchley Swimming Pool if the city did not take it over, and consolidating kindergarten and first grade into Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary. Board members agreed, however, that combining elementary schools wasn’t feasible for next year, but could be on the table for 2026.
