Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s slashing of K-12 education funding means the Haines Borough School District may have to scramble in coming years to meet the cost of a new, three-year contract with teachers and other district employees.
A one-time increase in school funding approved by the Alaska Legislature would have neatly covered the first year of the $450,000 in additional, annual costs of the contract, superintendent Roy Getchell said earlier this week.
But then Dunleavy cut in half the $175 million approved by the legislature for K-12. That will force the district to rely on an extra contribution of $200,000 from the Haines Borough for the coming year to fill the new $234,000 gap.
Getchell said the district had been holding the borough contribution in reserve. “I was disappointed by the amount of the cut but not surprised by the governor’s veto. But I don’t think anyone was expecting the depths of the cuts made” including to K-12 education, university and preschool programs.
Dunleavy even cut an Alaska Native science program that had originated with his administration. “I have not seen that before. That was interesting,” Getchell said.
Public school funding has not been increased in seven years and advocates said a 15 percent increase approved by the legislature wasn’t enough to cover inflation since then. In the past year, the Haines district lost seven teachers and an assistant principal to resignations. Two other teachers took leaves-of-absence.
Dunleavy’s action this week came with no explanation and Getchell said it confounds efforts by the Haines district to influence state funding. “This is what makes it so hard, knowing legislatively what to do because you don’t know what (funding) is going to be at the end.”
Even before Dunleavy’s cut, Getchell said “there’s a concern” that without a permanent increase to K-12 funding, the district would be on the hook for meeting the contract’s increased cost in the next two years.
For covering shortfalls, Getchell can fall back on a $719,000 fund balance in the district’s $5 million budget. For now, that’s larger than the 10 percent cushion districts are advised to maintain.
Although seeking more funding from the borough is an option, there are “multiple reasons” for not going that route, Getchell said, including that the district’s current contribution is still less than $350,000 of the $2.35 million maximum local contribution allowed by state law.
“While we’re not at that cap, the borough is very supportive of the district, and below the cap is a good place to be. Sitka and Juneau are at their caps, so they have no options left,” he said. The borough also is helping pay off the debt on the bond for the school building, an amount that has fluctuated in recent years due to a reduction in state support.
“The borough gave us a leg-up to help navigate this, and we appreciate that, but I don’t want to let the state off the hook. It’s a constitutional obligation for the state to fund public education. They have to live up to that,” Getchell said.
More cuts to existing programs is an option but one Getchell said he’s less inclined to pursue. “It’s not like we haven’t done that already.” But if Dunleavy’s recent action is part of a larger trend of shifting the cost of government from the state to local communities, “we’re going to have to start thinking differently,” he said.
Before Dunleavy’s cuts, Getchell said it was “critically important” for the legislature to make its $175 million increase permanent. The next highest priority, he said, is lobbying the state for a defined benefit retirement program. Lack of one is bleeding the state of workers, including teachers, legislators representing Haines said at a recent town hall.
Uncompetitive salaries also have made it harder for the district to keep teachers. Starting pay teacher pay under the new contract is $50,496.
Gov. Dunleavy issued his cuts as a press release. A Dunleavy spokesperson told the Anchorage Daily News, “A long-term fiscal plan is needed to protect core state services like education and public safety. Gov. Dunleavy looks forward to working with lawmakers on a fiscal plan.”
Haines Borough school board member Ann Marie Palmieri said Dunleavy “was not prioritizing education funding or supporting the next generation of Alaskans.” She said one-time increases in school funding are not sustainable because they prevent the district from making long-term plans. “We can’t plan for future years because we can’t count on funding.”
The Haines school board is scheduled to approve its budget for the coming year at a meeting on June 29.