The Juneau School Board will plan the district’s budget around a moderate increase in state funding this year.
The base student allocation is the amount of money per student districts get from the state. For years, that number has been $5,930. It’s set to increase by $30 starting next school year, but lawmakers have proposed significantly bigger increases: Senate Bill 52 would further increase it by $1,000, and House Bill 65 would by $1,250.
Juneau School District leaders previously considered building next year’s budget around a $540 increase. But school board members worried that was too high of an expectation.
Board member Elizabeth Siddon proposed changing the expected increase to $400.
“Wherever we fall, we need to make decisions that can be malleable to whatever the change ends up being,” she said.
School board President Deedie Sorensen said even $400 was too much.
“This makes me nervous,” Sorensen said. “I’m really at $300, because that’s what feels safe to me.”
Board member Emil Mackey agreed. He said, considering Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s past vetoes of increases to education funding, the district should play it safe.
“If this fails, not only will all of us look like the laughing stock of Alaska, individually and collectively, but it will also lead to very rapid and catastrophic cuts in order to make it right in the end,” he said.
The board ultimately decided to plan for an increase of $400, with Sorensen and Mackey voting against it.
The first reading of the district’s proposed budget is set for March 7, and the final reading is set for March 14. In the meantime, the school board has several meetings scheduled to work on the budget.
