Juneau School District is eligible for more city money than it initially thought.
That’s because the number of students within the district exceeded projections, which determined the cap on what City and Borough of Juneau could contribute to the district.
“There is an opportunity for the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly to provide $279,000 in additional funding to the cap,” Juneau School District Chief of Staff Kristin Bartlett said Wednesday in a phone interview.
That discrepancy is because during the budget-making process, projections for the number of students within the district are used to determine how much funding the district anticipates receiving from the state. The amount of funding from the state determines what amount of money City and Borough of Juneau can contribute to the district.
After the official counting period concluded in October, it was determined the district had 43 more students than projected, Bartlett said.
That meant an additional $1.2 million from the state, and an increase in $279,452 to the local contribution cap.
At Tuesday’s school district meeting, the board voted to request funding to the cap.
Back in April, School Board President Brian Holst outlined exactly this sort of scenario at a CBJ budget-making meeting.
[City holds first budget-making meeting]
“The one thing we’re pretty sure that will be different is the number of kids that show up,” Holst said at the time.
He expressed his hopes that the Assembly would understand the cap had increased and that the district wasn’t simply asking for more money.
Bartlett said historically, the Assembly has funded to the cap and spent on allowable school-related programs.
“They’ve been consistent with funding as much as they can,” Bartlett said.
• Contact reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.
