The decision by the Sitka School Board to move ahead with a major staff cut came just hours after some relatively good news from Juneau. The Senate Finance Committee – co-chaired by Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman – had drafted a balanced state budget for next year that included a one-time $680 increase in per-pupil funding for K-12 education, and the budget had won approval from the full Senate.
Gov. Dunleavy in March vetoed an education bill with a permanent increase of $680 in per pupil funding, and last year he vetoed half of a one-time appropriation, and sent public schools an extra $340.
During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Dunleavy told reporters he’d let the full $680 stand this time around.
“I’ve told people I’m open to an increase in one-time funding, especially to help with the inflationary issues, yes,” said Gov. Dunleavy.
“Does your number match their (the legislature’s) number?” asked Becky Bohrer, with the Associated Press.
“I don’t have a pencil on me here,” responded Dunleavy, “but if it’s close to the $680-something, yes.”
The Sitka School Board, however, chose to stick with a budget carefully built around only a $500 increase, as a way to hedge its bets. Board member Phil Burdick explained why.
“So we’re going to have to go based on this $500,” said Burdick. “Or decide we want to do a $680 budget, trusting the governor. (Laughter in audience.) That was not a joke.”
Definitely not a joke. The Sitka School District has been faced with budget cuts and potential staff reductions in the past, but those have almost always been managed through retirements, or teachers leaving voluntarily for work elsewhere. This time, however, 16 teachers are getting laid off. The remaining staff will be reshuffled among the five schools, but the direct loss in positions will be:
3.5 fewer positions at Sitka High,
.5 fewer positions at Pacific High,
3.5 fewer positions at Blatchley Middle School,
5 fewer positions at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary,
and 3 fewer position at Xóots Elementary.
Course offerings will also be limited. There will be nine fewer electives offered at Sitka High, and 18 fewer electives at Blatchley. Pupil-to-Teacher ratios in elementary classrooms – or PTRs – will increase, to 18 at Xóots and 24 at Keet Gooshi Heen.
PTRs will also go up at Blatchley and Sitka High, but those classes are structured differently than at the elementary level, so they average lower. Nevertheless, high school Biology teacher Stacy Golden offered some insight into what it will look like.
“So I just want to give you an idea of how my life has changed this week, to give you an idea of what it’s like,” said Golden. “So I currently have about 128 students. Next year, I will have at least 150 students. And I’ll do it, and I’ll make it work. And in my higher elective classes that thrive at those numbers of 15, because I’m the Biology teacher. So it’s all place-based and tons of outside and tons of field trips. I run into the same dynamic that any other teacher would: when I’ve got 25 kids, it’s a whole lot harder to deal with them in these more remote environments than it is for 15. Again, I’ll make it work.”
If the governor approves the operating budget with the one-time increase of $680 per pupil, it will save four teaching jobs in Sitka – for next year. The year after, if the governor continues to resist increasing funding for schools, Superintendent Deidre Jenson said things would be worse, and the district would likely have to close and consolidate schools, as has been done this year in Juneau, Fairbanks, and Anchorage.
The budget decisions made by the Sitka board this spring have been driven by the numbers, and how many jobs may be lost. Board member Phil Burdick wondered what else was being lost.
“We have a strategic plan that talks a lot about equity. We have a strategic plan that talks about closing learning gaps, opportunity gaps, achievement gaps,” Burdick said, “and I get that it is complex at the secondary level. But those numbers don’t make sense to me. I can’t get into the weeds about how staff manage their buildings. And I’m going to trust that they know what’s best for their buildings. But from what I see, I still see higher butts in seats at the lower level than I do at the upper level.”
The school board has a statutory obligation to pass a budget by May 1, so that is what it did (4-0 with Steve Morse absent and excused). But non-retention notices don’t have to go out to teachers until May 13. Board president Tristan Guevin said the district should consider this a placeholder budget until more information came in about the state operating budget, and other variables like insurance premiums, and federal “Secure Rural Schools” funding. He called for a special meeting on May 9, to give the administration more time to adjust the numbers and plan for next year in a way that would help the district recover its momentum. Even with the possibility of saving four teaching jobs, that is a tall order. “In my time in Sitka,” said Guevin, “I’ve never come close to seeing reductions like this.”
