Borough provides schools the same funding next year

For the third year in a row, the borough will provide $1.3 million in funding for Wrangell schools, the largest spending category in the municipal budget.

About $700,000 of the local contribution to next year’s school district budget will come from Wrangell’s general fund revenues of sales and property taxes, with about $600,000 in federal financial assistance directed to Wrangell under a U.S. Forest Service nationwide program of payments to rural communities.

The borough assembly approved the $1.3 million appropriation without opposition May 25.

The steady local contribution is important for the school district, where funding is tight.

Wrangell schools have suffered a deep enrollment drop the past year with more parents homeschooling their children during the pandemic and some families moving out of town. State funds, which comprise the largest part of the district’s budget, are based on enrollment numbers.

Wrangell public schools counted 300 students in the fall of 2019, but the number fell to about 200 during the pandemic year. The district has based next year’s budget on 225 students. Wrangell’s enrollment reportedly fell at a steeper percentage than any other district in the state.

The Wrangell School District budget for the coming year totals $5.2 million, about $300,000 less than the past school year. 

Federal pandemic relief payments this past school year, along with more federal aid for the next two years, are helping to cover the district’s budget gaps caused in large part by the declining enrollment.

The district received about $370,000 for this past school year under the federal CARES Act and, according to the school board and administration, expects to receive about $700,000 under this spring’s American Rescue Plan that can be used over the next two school years.

The board, when it adopted the district budget in April, designated half of that money for the 2021-2022 school year, saving the other half for the next year.

Generally, local districts can use the federal aid to fill budget gaps, though the American Rescue Plan requires districts “must reserve at least 20% of funds to address learning loss through the implementation of evidence-based interventions.”

The U.S. Department of Education also requires districts to “ensure that those interventions respond to students’ social, emotional and academic needs.”