Haines’ school board passed its final school budget for the upcoming fiscal year at a special meeting last week that required the district to pull $167,900 from its savings account.
The state’s enrollment-based funding decreased from $3 million to $2.7 million in part because the school anticipates two fewer students with intensive needs. Each intensive student is funded at a rate 15 (fifteen) times greater than a regular student.
But the biggest change is a result of Alaska Gov. Dunleavy’s education vetoes to the state budget, which halved the expected state funds outside of the basic funding formula from $467,000 to $233,000. While the $233,000 is an increase from previous years, school district officials say it does not adequately address inflation and other cost increases.
However, officials say Haines won’t be as hard hit from the budget cuts compared to other Alaskan communities. “The panic bells aren’t going off in Haines partially because of additional support we received from the borough,” said superintendent Roy Getchell.
The Haines Borough had allocated $200,000 to the local school district from leftover COVID-19 relief funds before the veto. “The borough really helped us out,” said Getchell.
In Juneau, by contrast, Dunleavy’s veto has left the school district with a $758,000 shortfall and no savings to pay for them, Alaska Public Media reported.
Another change to the budget is an additional $30 per student that the state contributed to the Base Student Allocation – the amount the state allocates to districts based on the number of students enrolled – to support the Alaska Reads Act, an early literacy program that was passed last year. Getchell said that implementation of the program will cost at least five to 10 times more than the allotted amount.
During the school board meeting, resident Tom Morphet suggested that the school board add a placeholder in the budget to allow for the gym to be open at least six times during Christmas break.
Morphet feared that if the borough closed the pool during Christmas break, kids would be shut off from recreational opportunities.
“I understand that it’s a holiday, but for kids it might not seem that way,” said Morphet, who voiced concerns for kids from unstable families and kids from working class families who might not have the resources to participate in winter activities.
Getchell said the prospect of opening the gym during the winter holiday is not necessarily a budget issue, but more of a staffing issue. He said that the position has been hard to fill in the past, partially because of labor shortages but also because there are multiple night shifts.
The school budget for the next fiscal year will not be final until the September audit. Once the number of students is determined after the October count, the budget will be revised as needed.
While the Haines school budget is in good shape this year, Gretchell said that the current model is unsustainable, and is hoping for meaningful and permanent increases to state funding in the future.
“I’m concerned, I’m advocating strongly, but we are not in panic mode,” he said.