A first draft of the Wrangell School District’s 2020 budget was made public at last Monday’s school board meeting. In total, the proposed budget for FY 2020 allows for $5.37 million in revenue, and $5.34 million in expenditures.
This budget is fairly tight, and has several major cuts to expenditures, compared to previous years. For example, health benefits have been reduced by about $313,000. Funds for travel, supplies, and equipment have also been reduced.
Another major change to how the district operates is the combination of two positions. District Superintendent Debbe Lancaster will be assuming the role of special education
director upon adoption of this budget. The position is
currently contracted out to people outside of Wrangell, Lancaster explained. She added that this would not lead to an increase in her own salary, and would save the district about $80,000.
These budget cuts are in response to the state budget proposed by Governor Mike Dunleavy. The governor’s budget, if adopted, would reduce base student allocation by 23.4% as well as eliminate $30 million in extra funding to school districts across the state. Georgianna Buhler, who has been working on the budget for the district, said that these cuts would cost Wrangell alone about $1 million. She described the proposed state budget as being “forced to stare at the fiscal cliff.”
“I have to say this is, by and large, probably one of the toughest budgets I’ve ever had to start with, because I kept waiting and waiting for something to come out of the capitol as to what they were thinking about doing,” Buhler said. “Then when it came out I didn’t like what I heard.”
There was some concern amongst the school board about the cuts to health insurance. Buhler said that they were looking for ways to make sure staff members had good coverage, but they needed to be creative. They were talking with health insurance professionals, she said, and looking at options like district self-insurance, tiered deductible health reimbursement arrangements, and health savings accounts. Buhler also said that they are still looking for places to save money, but that cuts to the budget for classified and certified staff will only be seen as a “last resort” option.
School Board Member Jessica Rooney asked if Buhler had looked into cuts in sports programs. The governor’s budget also proposed major cuts to the Alaska Marine Highway, she said, so travel for sports teams could become an issue. They might want to look into the possibility of parent-funded sporting events. Buhler said that it was something they could look into, if needed.
The idea of switching to a four-day school schedule was also floated by the board. Board member Dave Wilson said that he could see several benefits to the idea. The school could save money on utilities if the district’s facilities got an extra day off, for example. It would also help with attendance, as students who travelled for sporting events would no longer be missing class on Fridays. Teacher Mikki Angerman, who was
attending the meeting as a part of the public, added that
giving families an extra day off could help them travel more and spend more time together. Rooney said the idea of a
four-day week was worth
researching, but there were several consequences beyond the classroom they needed to consider. Schools serve as much as a day-care as a place to receive an education, she said. Parents with younger children rely on schools to take care of their children while they are at work. By shortening the school week by a day, they would be increasing childcare costs for families across Wrangell.
There was some further
discussion on various aspects of the budget, including another member of the public advocating for not cutting dual-credit or challenging classes for Wrangell’s more talented students. As this was only a first draft, no action was taken. The school board has until May 1 to give final approval for the district’s new budget.
After the workshop, the board held a regular meeting. They heard from students Jade Balansag and Jing O’Brien on their recent trip to Juneau for the AASB legislative fly-in. They also received several letters from students, and watched a series of videos by Laura Davies’ fifth-grade classroom for “school board recognition month.”
The next school board meeting is scheduled for March 18.
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