Anchorage schools approved to spend more, if state increases funding
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - An ordinance by the Anchorage Assembly passed on Wednesday, authorizing the Anchorage School District to spend in excess of their approved budget in the event of a state funding increase.
Earlier that morning, the district announced they were planning to displace 185 teachers within the district. At the meeting, Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt spoke for the first time after that number was announced.
Bryantt implored the Assembly to approve the plan and pointed towards a lack of state funding as the root cause of the problem.
“We’re unable to fulfill our promise for the aspirational vision that we have for our district if we don’t move forward, if action does not take place,” Bryantt said. “And I’ll close just by saying one thing that won’t happen if the state adopts a $1000 BSA [increase], is we won’t put a dime towards district administration.”
Earlier in the year, the Anchorage school board passed a budget that included major cuts to address a deficit of over $100 million. Bryantt said budget cycles like this year’s have become a repetitive cycle in recent years.
“This situation is not new,” Bryantt said. “This is a different verse of the same song as they say, and has been going on for nearly ten years. So our our eyes have been wide open for ways that we can make reductions that don’t affect the classroom experience.”
Legislators in Juneau are currently discussing an increase to the Base Student Allocation, which provides funding for Alaska schools on a per student basis. That bill has passed in the Alaska house but is still being debated in the Senate.
If state funding increases before July, the Assembly has approved the School district to draw on additional spending funds. The sources for those funds would be limited to the additional state funding and not property taxes or other “local sources,” according to the ordinance.
If the state passes a BSA increase of $1,000 or more by May 15, the school district has approved plans to roll back a majority of the cuts they have in place for the upcoming year.
“I do believe that there’s an opportunity,” Bryantt said. “With more resources, to lower class sizes, to improve our working conditions and to show our educators from the top down — and I don’t mean Superintendent down, I mean from the Governor down — that we value our teachers and we’ll do whatever it takes to compensate them fairly and adequately.”
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