The Chatham School Board met Tuesday to amend its budget for this year as district administrators continue to grapple with the loss of Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act funding.
That federal funding is designed to help school districts near federal lands, and brought nearly $13 million to Alaska in 2023. When Congress failed to reauthorize it earlier this year, it left districts like Chatham with large budgetary holes.
Superintendent Ralph Watkins said the $245,000 cut in Secure Rural Schools funding came on top of another $300,000 reduction to the budget the district had to make when it enrolled fewer kids than projected.
The rural district includes schools in Angoon, Gustavus, Tenakee Springs and Klukwan. Currently, it has 26 teachers and other certified staff members and 36 classified staff. While district staff dug for savings, cutting staff time and funding for travel or projects that had not yet been spent, they didn’t find many at Klukwan School in this year’s budget.
Teri Hoover, the district’s business manager, said Klukwan had a long-term sub who was hired in the fall who had not been budgeted for this year. That added nearly $100,000 to the instruction budget. Additionally, some students and staff attended an ethnomathematics program in Hawaii which was originally charged to a grant which has since disallowed that expense. Between that and the regular reimbursement for staff travel is “why there’s $20,000 in staff travel and per diem cost there now,” Hoover said.
The district also did not budget for special education students in Klukwan and has added another $65,000 to cover those costs.
Watkins pointed out that Klukwan School is still enrolling students, up to 32 by his count, which he said is a testament to the strength of the school’s programming and relationships with the community.
The board also approved new staff for the Klukwan school, including pre-kindergarten teacher Tiffany DeWitt, hunter safety educator Jen Marschke and a language support aide, Kylee Larsen. All of their positions are grant-funded.
After extensive discussion, the board passed a budget revision for this year’s budget that has $71,000 deficit. Some board members said they were concerned about not having enough money to pay people at the end of the fiscal year, but Watkins said it reflected the financial uncertainty and a priority that no existing staff lose their health insurance this year. Stacey Proctor, of Gustavus, was the sole dissenting vote.
Board members also voted themselves into executive session on Tuesday evening as they hammered out the terms of a contract with a new superintendent. Watkins is leaving in June after a decade in the school district and two years leading it.
Board members said they have decided to offer a three-year contract to David Langford, who is scheduled to arrive at the district headquarters in Angoon with his wife on Wednesday for a site visit.