Drafting a budget for the coming year that assumes a $400 increase in the $5,960 Base Student Allocation was suggested to the Juneau Board of Education by district Superintendent Frank Hauser during a meeting Saturday where impacts of the Trump administration’s drastic reshaping of the federal government were also pondered.
Assuming state lawmakers will increase the per-student funding formula is a departure from the district’s past approach to budgeting and some school board members said they are uncomfortable doing so now. Hauser said those concerns are understandable, but there seems to be a general agreement at the Alaska State Capitol some type of increase will occur this spring.
“I’m uncomfortable in some ways having it, but yet it is truly reflective of some of the realities that we are facing right now,” he said.
“There’s some good conversations happening at the Capitol right now that is recognizing a need for funding to be in the BSA, actually in the formula. We don’t know what that number is yet, though, but there seems to be a recognition, an acknowledgment that that reality is here, and that there has to be reliable, stable and predictable funding in the Base Student Allocation.”
The school board, meeting in a budget work session Saturday, took no formal action on Hauser’s suggestion. However, board President Deedie Sorensen said any draft budget that anticipates a BSA increase should also include what will be cut if extra funds are not approved.
A first reading of the proposed budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 is scheduled during a school board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Thunder Mountain Middle School. Hauser has said the district will incur a significant deficit without a BSA increase if a status quo budget is passed, although how much has fluctuated in recent weeks as additional data has been collected.
Whether a $400 BSA increase — or some other amount — results in a balanced budget will depend on a multitude of unknowns including level salary negotiations, state budget and policy decisions, and federal changes that include Trump’s declared intent to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education.
Both the Democratic-led bipartisan legislative majorities and Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy have said they expect an increase in education funding this year. However, Dunleavy is proposing a package that specifies how funds would be spent · on student transportation and year-end teacher bonuses, for instance — rather than letting districts determine how to spend extra money through a BSA increase.
The statutory BSA hasn’t changed since 2017 except a $30 increase implemented as part of the 2022 Alaska Reads Act, which advocates of a funding increase say has resulted in a significant loss of real-world funds to districts due to inflation. One-time increases of $340 last year and $680 for the current year were approved by lawmakers after bills implementing permanent increases failed.
This session a House majority bill is seeking to boost the BSA by 22% to $7,249, at a cost of more than $330 million. Dunleavy has countered with a bill with a variety of provisions costing about $180 million — roughly the same the $680 BSA increase is costing this year — which also pursues numerous policy goals such as boosting support for charter schools and linking some funding to student performance.
An effort to seek a compromise package between a working group of legislative leaders and a senior member of Dunleavy’s staff was announced Feb. 3, but legislators said late last week those efforts have stalled.
Meanwhile, at the local level Juneau School District and the Juneau Educators Association began contract negotiations last Wednesday, Hauser said. The district’s initial offer is a 2.5% wage increase next year that would cost about $770,000, while the union is seeking a 10% increase that would cost about $3.5 million. There are also discussions about other issues with potential costs including insurance and leave time.
Hauser also suggested the school board consider lowering the pupil-teach ratio for grades 4-6 to 28-to-1 instead of 30-1, which would incur some extra cost. The K-3 ratio of 26-1 and grades 7-12 ratio of 30-1 would remain the same.
At the state level the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) is considering a policy that would further restrict funding municipalities can provide school districts for non-instructional purposes. DEED officials have said enactment of such a policy likely would be delayed until next year to give districts time to adjust, but local officials have said it could affect about $1.9 million for programs such as student activities and food service if enacted for the coming year.
A wholesale shakeup of federal workers and agencies occurring since Trump returned to the White House four weeks ago also was cause for concern among some board members. Sorensen, noting a mass firing of government workers that began Thursday, said that could affect Juneau’s already shrinking student population if terminated workers depart Juneau with their families.
“Juneau has a substantial number of federal workers and the number that I am most nervous about is that we will lose 100 students,” she said. “That number could be significantly more complex, which could really throw a wrench into our projections and I’m not seeing anything positive on the horizon…So while we’re doing all of these things, and even with the BSA going up, if our student numbers drop by 50 more we will be right back in a major crisis.”
Hauser said each student accounts for about $7,200 in per-pupil funding. He also noted fewer students would also likely mean hiring fewer teachers.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
