By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly and School Board on Thursday will discuss and possibly decide how much city support to provide the district in the fiscal year 2022 budget.
City Finance Director Melissa Haley said the Assembly made the call last year to fund to the cap at $7.4 million, and later added $250,000 from Secure Rural Schools, for a total of $7.65 million in support of schools.
Due to a number of factors, including property values, the state has raised the cap to more than $7.8 million.
“What the hope is we’ll come out of the conversation with a definitive commitment on the level of funding,” Haley said.
The city currently is putting together its budget for fiscal year 2022, and a number of decisions will depend on the level of support for the district. That figure is the single largest expense in the general fund operations budget.
“Having that nailed down makes other decisions easier,” the finance director said.
Sitka School Board President Amy Morrison wrote a letter, on behalf of the school board, outlining some of the budget assumptions, including that funding to the cap of $7.8 million. Other assumptions includes STEP increases, continued challenges of COVID, and a 12 percent increase in health insurance costs for district employees.
The school district is projecting a $1.8 million budget gap, some of which will have to be covered by drawing on reserves.
“Not only are we requesting full funding for next year for sound educational reasons, but we are also on
the side of maintaining a healthy economy by keeping people at work,” the letter states.
Funding to the cap would give the city a $1.9 million budget gap. A few factors are unknown, including whether Congress will reauthorize Secure Rural Schools and at what level, and whether more stimulus funds are headed to Sitka.
Haley said the cap amount in the past has provided some guidance for discussions among school board and Assembly members in determining a final figure. Haley said she and other city staff will be listening and providing answers to questions at the meeting, and will wait for guidance.
A few Assembly members have expressed support for funding to the cap, some have held off on weighing in, and others advocated for a general spirit of frugality given the ongoing challenges from the pandemic.
Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz hasn’t made up his mind.
“I feel we have put a good foot forward in school funding,” he said. “The municipal budget is somewhat balanced. If we increase funding (in line with an increase in the cap) we’ll have to find equal reductions in our budget.”
That being said, he added, “I’m excited to work with the School Board. They might have some thoughts and ideas that they won’t need the full $400,000. I’m not sure because we haven’t chatted with them. That’s going to be the crux of the discussion – are we going to move up with another $400,000, and then how are we as a municipality ... going to cut that out of our budget to make that happen.”
Eisenbeisz has heard sentiments both for and against funding to the cap, but doesn’t know what direction the Assembly will go Thursday.
“I want to listen to all the points, and want to listen to the justifications for either point of view,” he said. “But hopefully we can come to a conclusion that works well for everyone.”
Morrison said today that the School Board plans to ask for the $7.76 million allowed. She said the district doesn’t know whether and how much help will be coming from either the state or federal government, through Secure Rural Schools or COVID-19 relief, and even with full funding from the city there is a sizable budget gap.
The district used CARES Act funds through the city to purchase laptops and iPads which students needed for virtual learning. The CARES funds also helped pay for a record number of AmeriCorps volunteers for the district.
“We are very proud of what has been accomplished and how we hopefully will successfully finish this school year,” Morrison wrote in the letter to the Assembly. “We could not have gotten to this point without the support you have provided the District, making it possible to operate ‘virtual’ school during the two months that we were forced to close.”
She also noted the steps taken by the district to operate safely under COVID challenges, and offer full-day in-person instruction every day in four of the five district schools. At Sitka High, students attended every other day “simply because that was the only way to provide distancing,” Morrison said. The district safety plan appears to have been effective since there has been no evidence of transmission in the schools, she said.
As far as closing the district’s budget gap, Morrison’s letter notes the district has announced an early departure option for certified staff and expects up to a dozen will take advantage.
“This plan will allow us to clear nearly a million dollars of the deficit. That is not a clear savings, however, as many of these positions must be filled, depending on which jobs are vacated. However, that will keep us from reducing staff through layoffs,” Morrison said.
Morrison said she’s proud with how the district has handled the challenges of COVID and how staff members have worked hard to keep kids from falling behind.
“We have learned so much during this year, and now have a fair idea of what will be necessary to have a successful 2021-22 school year,” she said in the letter. “No one can predict where we will be medically, so it will be very important to have enough staff to adjust as needed.”
The memo from City Administrator John Leach notes the challenges in the city budget, general fund reductions in the current fiscal year and the unknowns affecting the fiscal year 2022 budget.
“Hopefully this meeting will provide the Assembly with the opportunity to address any questions or concerns members have and to seek School Board agreement on a funding level that recognizes the unique challenges of this fiscal year,” Leach said in the memo.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m. Thursday at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Remote access is also available.
