The Juneau School District has the option of keeping $2.3 million in supplemental funds the district received through the City of Juneau this season, however a possible change to the state’s code could limit local funds in the future. This is according to a letter that was sent out on Friday by to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.
The state sets a ceiling on the amount of money an individual local government can provide an educational district. The purpose is to ensure that schools receive funding as equally throughout the entire state they can. This also assists the state to be able to pass the disparity test the federal government has imposed that has saved Alaska hundreds of millions in educational spending.
The City and Borough of Juneau has provided funding to the district up to its local limit for years. In the fiscal year that ended in Juneau the limit — also known as a capwas $28.5 million.
It also regularly allocates funds “outside the limits.” The spring of this year Juneau Assembly approved Juneau Assembly gave the district $2.3 million to address issues with child care, transportation and other non-instructional programs.
At the end of June, the government claimed that the extra funding was not allowed because it was over the cap. However, the district claimed that the cap applies only to costs for instruction, not the $2.3 million was paid for non-instructional costs. The money was put into separate funds of the fund for operating, and is used to pay for teacher wages.
Will Muldoon, who chaired the finance committee of the school board He said that this hasn’t ever been an issue in the past.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”The state had said that we had acted in violation of maybe the spirit, if not the letter of local contributions” the official said. “That took us by surprise somewhat. These are the things Juneau is known for doing.”
In her most recent email to the district DEED School Finance Director Lori Weed wrote that a city or borough’s contribution to the local community does not have to be limited only to the operating funds. DEED would like to make this evident in an amendment to state administrative codes She said.
“Of course every proposed regulation must be subject to the necessary procedures outlined in the law of the state, which includes an obligatory time limit for public input and, ultimately, it will be the decision of the State Board of Education and Early Development to review public comments and decide whether they’ll approve any changes to regulations,” she wrote.
Weed declared that DEED will request that any amendment that is in effect for next fiscal cycle of the budget in 2026. In the meantime Juneau School District Juneau School District will be able to take the $2.3 million city contribution.
“DEED will adhere to JSD’s interpretation of “local contribution’ that it only includes the appropriations or funds that are included in the operating fund of a school district until a new regulation is in effect, if it ever,” Weed wrote.
Muldoon stated that he doesn’t think that the board of school to alter the way it seeks city funding for non-instructional costs this year.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I I don’t believe it’s a good idea to implement significant changes to the behavior on code that is not known and won’t be implemented in the foreseeable future,” he said. “That being stated, we’ll probably only have a year or so to find out what it is. .”
The school district is already facing a deficit of nearly $3 million in its operating budget due to unexpected costs at the close of the previous fiscal year and the lower enrollment. Muldoon said the district is also expecting a $2.9 million reduction in revenue next year, as COVID relief funding and one-time state education funding run out.
Insurance and salary are anticipated to be more expensive next year. Muldoon believes the total budget deficit is about $7 million. It’s around 10 percent of the fiscal year’s budget.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”We have a very limited number of levers in the district as well as a board we can use,” he said. “We have some open positions at the moment that save us a bit of money however, they also put us under an issue. We budget for positions as we require them to .”
Muldoon explained that the ratio between teacher and pupil is the most powerful lever a district has to use to influence the district’s decisions. Although it’s not directly linked to class size, raising the ratio typically leads to a greater number of students in every classroom.
A continuous increase in state funding could aid district across the State to avoid cutting staff or programs, as well as increasing the ratio of students to teachers. It was reported that the Alaska Senate passed a bill to increase the per-student amount of education funding during the previous session. The session concluded with the bill being voted on by the House Finance Committee.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is set to announce his budget plan at the close of next week. The budget he presented last year was just a small increase of $30 to the allocation to students at base.
