Juneau families care deeply about how our schools are staffed, supported, and funded. The first draft of the Board of Education’s FY26 budget revision highlights how important it is that financial decisions align clearly with what students and educators experience in classrooms.
According to the FY26 Budget Revision report provided in this week’s board meeting documents, approximately $8.5 million in available budget authority is largely the result of ongoing staffing vacancies rather than restored capacity in schools. This follows a similar situation last year, when a significant surplus was also attributed to unfilled positions.
I understand that managing these vacancies is complex. However, when surpluses are repeatedly generated through understaffing, they inadvertently mask ongoing capacity gaps, erode morale, and make it harder to hire and retain qualified educators and support staff.
District-wide, funding for core learning in the classroom is flat. Teachers continue to manage large and sometimes mixed-age classrooms. I have seen how these classrooms—such as combined K/1 settings—can work well for some students and teachers, but also create real challenges depending on developmental needs and instructional capacity. Also, Para and support staff shortages remain, and families continue to experience missed IEP hours that the District committed to in early FY25-26.
Over the past several years, Juneau families, educators, and staffers were asked to absorb cuts, closures, and instability in the name of long-term sustainability. Many reasonably expected that recovery would aim for fully staffed schools, restored contracts, and greater stability for the schools that survived the cuts while increasing in student headcount.
My letter comes timely as the Board of Education opted to take the budget revision approval off its most recent meeting agenda, Jan. 13. As budget decisions move forward, this is an opportunity to prioritize filling essential positions to avoid a repeated surplus in FY27, and to consider one-time investments, such as back pay for educators who weathered the financial and logistical storm our District faced this year and last.
I know these are difficult decisions, but I also know the community is eager to support the Board in finding ways to strengthen our schools. We appreciate the Board’s commitment to finding solutions in a challenging financial environment, and we hope to see the Board offer reprieve to those who took on salary cuts and extra work. We want to see morale and trust built up among our cherished educators so that we can -all- honor our shared goal of long-term stability for Juneau students and their families.
