The Haines Borough school board will approve its budget for the coming year June 27, possibly without complete information on state funding due to the extended session of the Alaska Legislature.
Superintendent Tony Habra presented a fiscal year 2018 budget draft to the board Tuesday. Habra’s general fund budget of $4.5 million does not include a possible $167,000 state cut, or funding of two special education aide positions recently vacated by resignations. Two special education aides will remain at the school.
“This is not a torched earth budget, but it’s definitely a bare bones budget,” Habra told the board. Without word from the legislature, Habra said he was uncomfortable funding the pair of aide jobs, which cost the district $104,000.
Principal Rene Martin said the school will feel the effects of the lost positions in working with students who need extra support, but don’t have extreme special needs. Afterschool homework help and tutoring may also suffer.
“A lot of the responsibility will fall back on the teachers,” Martin said.
The district will use about $150,000 in savings to balance its budget, reducing the district’s fund balance to $305,000. The district will save money in the coming year by discontinuing some software contracts and by the recent resignations of a longtime administrator and a longtime teacher.
Habra also said he may ask the borough to contribute another $10,000 to student activities. The borough has agreed to contribute $1.77 million this year, matching the amount of last year. The fund is about $19,000 in the hole.
“If it becomes necessary, we’ll either have to ask for money from the borough…or we will cover it with our own fund balance,” Habra said.
A raise for coaches of about $2 per hour also came out of the pupil activities account.
About $15,000 was cut from the technology budget, meaning the school may not purchase new iPads for next school year.
“We can probably go a year without them, but my recommendation is if we do not get cut the $167,000, we add that back in to the budget, because technology is one of those things where if you fall behind while trying to sustain it, it kind of snowballs on you,” Habra said.