By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Sitka School District is facing a shortfall of $2 million in the budget now being drawn up for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, Superintendent Frank Hauser said at Wednesday’s School Board meeting.
Hauser said many details remain uncertain so early in the process.
“What we’re left with is a projected deficit of $2,081,425 for FY23,” Hauser told the board. “A couple items that I think are important to keep in mind when considering the projected deficit: we are expecting enrollment to remain steady, salary and benefits uncertainties do exist due to ongoing collective bargaining.”
He also listed science curriculum expenses related to the adoption of new science standards.
The district’s fund balance can cover some of the costs, but “it’s also important to note that the fund balance alone can’t sustain a $2 million deficit,” Hauser said.
He said a drop of seven students is projected in next year’s enrollment, for a total of 1,124 including 40 special needs students who entitle the district to additional state funding.
He noted that over the past four years, “city appropriations increased about $424,000, (but) funding from the state decreased by almost $900,000.”
Salaries and benefits make up 83 per cent of the $22.6 million budget being developed, Hauser said.
Board president Amy Morrison said the board will need to find a way to pass a balanced budget.
The board will meet at 6 p.m. tonight with the Assembly at Centennial Hall to discuss school finances.
“We’ll be meeting a lot over the next two months and going over these numbers and figuring out where to cut $2 million out of our budget,” Morrison said. “For those that don’t know, we are required by law to pass a balanced budget. We can’t really figure out additional revenues, because there is no other way for us to generate revenue, but we’ll have to close those expenditures.”
In the only new business of the night, Hauser updated the board on coronavirus mitigations in the district.
The ongoing Omicron surge has delayed plans to make masks optional, he said, but he reaffirmed that masks won’t always be required.
“Masks aren’t forever,” Hauser said. “Way back on Nov. 29 I announced a goal of transitioning to masks optional shortly after winter break, but then Omicron has hit and delayed our plans. Our Smart Start teams have talked about the transition to masks optional on the other side of this current surge… The question is not if we’re going to transition to masks optional but when.”
There have been recent COVID cases in schools but Hauser underscored the importance of keeping buildings open and activities running.
“We currently have 19 active COVID-19 cases connected to our schools. That’s up from zero in my last update,” he said. “I said then that we need to prepare ourselves that we’re going to see the number of cases associated with our schools climb, but we are going to do everything that we can to keep our schools open and all activities going.”
If too many staff members fall ill schools will be closed, he said.
“With people out sick, schools don’t have enough staff and can’t stay open,” he said. “In Alaska and in Sitka there are critically low levels of substitute teachers to fill in when people are out sick… We live on an island, but we don’t live in an alternative reality. Everything that’s happening at schools around the world and around the nation can happen in Sitka too. We have not simply been lucky. Our layered mitigations informed by our local physicians’ expertise have worked to keep our schools open when others around us have closed.”
Hauser again reminded the board and the audience that the district doesn’t require vaccinations.
More than a dozen members of the public at the meeting commented on COVID mitigations. Some argued against mask requirements and CDC guidelines, while others supported district mitigations.
Sitka High student Isabelle Schmetzer said that she prefers masks to the alternative of online learning.
“How much more detrimental to a child’s mental and physical health if they have to stay home from school in quarantine and they are not able to socialize with friends and peers because they get sick from COVID?… If masks are removed these kids will get sick,” Schmetzer testified.
Chelsea McCleod expressed doubt that the virus would ever abate and asked that masks be optional.
“It’s going to keep mutating forever. Let’s try to do what’s best for our kids and their education, because it is really hard to navigate these times… We have the KN-95s, let’s go optional,” McCleod said.
She also said discrepancies in the enforcement of COVID mitigations between schools have caused confusion in her family.
Tiffany Lebahn, a paraprofessional at Baranof Elementary, said she opposes the district’s mitigations.
“I am standing in strong opposition to all of the COVID mitigations that they are completely discriminatory in nature… They (the Matanuska-Susitna School District) also do not base their alert levels on city numbers, but on individual building numbers that are evaluated weekly,” Lebahn said. “I would suggest that the board consider that to be a better way to alert the children what’s happening in your school, not what’s happening in town... We are responsible for (children) and their health, and they are not responsible for you and your health or the health of any community member.”
School district social worker Jeanine Brooks said the kids with whom she works don’t mind masks because they are so happy to be in school.
“Our kids are psyched to be there,” Brooks said. “They are so appreciative that they get to have in-person school. The masks are annoying but they put them on when they come in and it’s kind of a matter of fact and we’re all getting used to it.
“We’ll be thrilled when we don’t have to wear them. At Keet (Gooshi Heen Elementary) this year I’ve never had a child complain about a mask to me… The mental health and developmental concerns that I always have are for what the impact of remote school was on students… They are so delighted to be in school.”
After about half an hour of public testimony, board members reaffirmed their support for continuing the district mitigation policies. At previous meetings board members didn’t respond to public comments on issues that weren’t on the agenda. But since mitigations were a separate line item on Wednesday’s agenda, the board was afforded a chance to reply.
Board member Blossom Teal-Olsen said her primary goal was to keep schools open for in-person learning.
“The main focus has been keeping our school doors open… and as a parent when we had at-home schooling it affected my children completely,” Teal-Olsen said. “I will disclose that I have a son who has Asperger’s, which means that he has trouble picking up on non-verbal social cues. We have experienced setbacks with him, we have experienced setbacks with both of our daughters because of the homeschooling that we had to do when school was closed.”
Board member Paul Rioux agreed.
“As far as learning loss, that has been a huge concern of the board since last year… Getting the doors open was the big priority, everybody agreed that the kids all need to be together. And I want you to know that we’re hearing everybody and we’re doing our best to bring balance between all the needs,” Rioux said.
Board member Todd Gebler credited mitigation for keeping kids in school.
“Schools are open and it’s not by accident, it’s because of mitigations. That’s about it. There’s in-person learning, there’s travel, there’s concerts, there’s sports, there’s debate… We’re all in this together. It’s not me against you, it never has been,” Gebler said.
The board has received many emails expressing confidence in the school COVID protocols, said board member Andrew Hames, who voiced support for pandemic precautions.
“We’ll never know if we did too much to combat this pandemic, but we will know if we haven’t done enough,” Hames said. “And I will not apologize for operating in an overly safe, overly cautious manner.”
He added the district is responsible for the health of its students and staff.
“And while you (listeners) are responsible for your kids, Mr. Hauser is responsible for over 1,100 students and over 200 staff and keeping buildings functioning and operating in a safe manner,” he said.
Like her colleagues, board president Morrison stressed the importance of keeping classrooms open.
“At the end of the day… all we care about are our kids, that’s the bottom line. We wouldn’t be sitting here if we didn’t care about our kids, you wouldn’t be sitting here if you didn’t care about your kids. I think the one thing that we can agree on is we want our kids to be in school, and our kids are in school. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Do we wish that we could take the masks off? Absolutely,” she said. “But our kids may not be able to be in school if we do that and that’s the choice that we are dealing with.”
She encouraged Sitkans to become substitute teachers.
“If you want to actively help, sign up to be a substitute teacher. Because we don’t have substitute teachers right now, so when our teachers are out, if we have too many out, we will close,” she said.
On other agenda items at the meeting, the board recognized Sitka High senior Adelaide Poulson for earning a spot in the United States Senate Youth program and thanked Sitka High students Anna Prussian, Hank Maxwell and Tyler Andres for helping with the distribution of COVID tests at school.
The board meets with the Assembly tonight to discuss budget matters tonight at 6 p.m. at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
