School Board, City To Meet on Budget

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Category: News

Created on Thursday, 16 January 2025 15:44

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By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Sitka School Board and Assembly will meet tonight in a joint work session on the school budget for fiscal year 2026, and the board’s usual request for local funding at the highest level allowed under state law.  
    In recent years the Assembly has approved “funding at the cap” without debate. The request is for $7,580,714, less than the $7,669,562 from the city general fund that was approved for the FY25 budget.
    The budget now being considered does not include additional per-pupil state funding, which was provided on a one-time basis last year but not until late June.
    Sitka Schools Superintendent Deirdre Jenson said the lower requested amount is due to the expected decline in student enrollment next year by some 30 students, among other budget factors.
    Without the extra per-pupil funding from the state, the school district will be facing a deficit of $4 million, School Board President Phil Burdick told the Assembly and city staff in a letter outlining the budget situation.
   The Assembly-School Board work session will start at 6 p.m. at Harrigan Centennial Hall. It’s open to the public, and no official action will be taken by either the School Board or the Assembly, the city said in the notice of the work session.
    A work session is held annually for the school district and Assembly to discuss the local contribution, which is the Assembly’s decision and the largest expenditure in the city general fund budget.
    With higher tourism-related sales taxes, the Assembly was able to provide additional financial help for the current year by taking on some school district expenses, such as the Performing Arts Center contract, $134,000 for student activities, operating the Blatchley Pool and school maintenance costs. They are now part of the city budget.
    “This request (to fund to the cap of $7,580,714) is based on a Base Student Allocation of $5,960, which doesn’t include any additional funding from the state,” Burdick said.
    He said if the state raises the BSA by $680, or provides one-time funding in that amount, the local funding cap would go up to $7,972,424.
    “We are hopeful that there will be some increased funding from the state,” he said, noting an increase of $340 would reduce the deficit to $3.2 million, and $680 would reduce it to $2.3 million. Burdick said the deficits include the expense of an 18% rise in insurance premiums.
    The school district draft budget is $25.4 million, depending on whether the state comes through with a BSA increase.
    Last year the school district faced similar shortfalls, and while waiting to hear whether the $680 increase would be approved by the governor, prepared to cut as many as 31 teaching and staff positions.
   After receiving the School Board’s formal request later this year for local funding the city has 30 days to approve or reject it.
    Burdick said in his letter to the Assembly, “We look forward to the continuation of the agreement for maintenance and upkeep of the city’s school buildings as well as the management of Blatchley pool through the city’s maintenance and Parks and Recreation departments.”
     The city finance department noted a list of concerns, including the fact that the state’s Base Student Allocation hasn’t been increased despite rising inflation; school enrollment has been decreasing; federal Secure Rural School funding has not been reauthorized; and there is a question as to whether the city’s additional funding for school-related programs will be counted toward the cap.
    City finance director Melissa Haley said the voter-approved marijuana sales tax, which is dedicated to school activities, increased from 6 to 8 percent in 2024 and will bring in $360,000 this year.
    The information packet for the work session includes slides showing a correlation between cruise visitors and sales tax collected.
    The district based the budget on enrollment projections of 1,000 for the 2025-26 school year: 137 students at Xóots Elementary, 205 at Keet Gooshi Heen, 313 at Blatchley Middle School, 306 at Sitka High, and 39 at Pacific High. That’s down from the current figure of about 1,030.
   In the 2023 regular election voters approved an additional 1% sales tax between April 1 and September 30 to fund school capital projects, maintenance and debt service.
    The estimated $1.9 million in capital project estimates for the year cover a wide variety of projects for all the schools, including gym floor projects, exterior improvements and a boiler overhaul.