Sitka School Board Sitka School Board has gone out on a new limbperhaps the longest limb they’ve ever taken on by approving a budget for the coming year.
In a split vote on Thursday evening, board members of directors voted to keep the levels of staffing the same as the previous year and almost entirely eliminate the district’s reserve funds.
The largest amount of money spent on education in Alaska is derived from the Legislature and that’s the issue for Sitka as well as every other school district across the state.
The Legislature isn’t sure what it’ll spend the next year, which leaves schools to draw up their budgets based on their own guesswork.
It’s a painful and exhausting procedure for local communities who are eager to spend every penny they can on schoolsto keep excellent teachers, attracting new ones, as well as maintaining music, sports and other extracurricular programming that encourage attendance.
Member of the Board Tristan Guevin attributed much of Sitka’s problems due to a flawed legislative procedure.
“We’re making a budget with no any understanding of what our income will be due to inaction from the government,” said Guevin. “We’ve discussed regarding the BSA which hasn’t been raised since July of this year. The same time we experienced approximately 25 percent inflation. In essence, a flat funding represents an increase in budget which is a substantial budget reduction.”
The BSA refers to the Base Student Allocation The BSA is the amount the state allocates to each school district to each student. The BSA has been raised one time in the last seven years and increased several times by one-time grants, however Guevin pointed out that it’s not been adjusted for inflation. A number of bills have been proposed during this year’s Legislature this year that could bring another boost to the BSA and it’s unclear which number the final one will be.
The Sitka School Board to consider two options: to reduce three teachers at Keet Gooshi Heen in order to to increase the size of classes in the fourth and fifth grades or retain those teachers and bring the district’s savings accounts to their lowest levels ever before – just more than $10,000. (Note that the district has to keep reserves that are restricted to around $65,000. The balance of $10,000 is in the excess of the amount.)
A board members Todd Gebler wanted to keep the teachers.
“It is a huge chance,” said Gebler. “And the majority of it can be apply a label to it and say that the government isn’t performing the duties it should be for us. That’s the fact the state isn’t doing their job. In order for teachers to be able to accomplish what they have to do, smaller classes are essential. To enable us to accomplish that, I’m extremely happy to hold the three places in Keet.”
The danger is that the budget assumes that the state will raise the BSA by a single shot of $450. This is just an assumption. The bills have been introduced to the Legislature with larger amounts ($680 to more than $1,000) However, it’s going to be a long time before they are all in the Governor’s office. The final number could be less than $450. In this case the district would not be able to fulfill its obligations, according to Mike Vieira, the president of the Sitka Education Association, which represents teachers.
“If you aren’t able to pay your pay – it’s the case for us (teachers),” Vieira declared. “I believe that we are on the same page.”
Another possibility for the board could be to cut the staff at Keet Gooshi Sheen elementary by two positions and then transfer the positions over to Baranof elementary school. The district’s savings would result in around $250,000 in savings. This was the choice of the board’s president Blossom Teal-Olsen who was apprehensive about dropping down to $10,000.
“I cannot. I am unable to walk away with the knowledge that it could be detrimental to our entire community, and knowing the fund balance will remain at that high level,” said Teal-Olsen.
In the end, the board members prevailed over Teal-Olsen and approved a budget that keeps the teaching staff in place (with only removing one teaching job in Raven’s Way, adding a Special Education case manager at Baranof Elementary, a social worker at Pacific High, and a reading specialist) and draws upon $1.7 million of savings and presumes that the Legislature will at a minimum allocate another $450 for each student in education in the coming year, which – to date – is not able to reach a consensus on.
District’s $23 million budget for the next year will be presented back to Sitka Assembly for final approval. Sitka Assembly for final adoption.
