School board members voted unanimously on April 18 to adopt the district’s budget for the 2022-23 school year, which is balanced on the assumption of $432,000 in additional state and borough funding.
The school district submitted a letter along with the adopted $5 million budget to the borough, requesting an additional $292,000 on top of the $1.3 million the borough has paid the district in past annual appropriations.
The district also is counting on an additional $140,000 in state funding for next year.
The borough funds its local contribution to the school budget with money from sales tax collections and federal payments in lieu of property taxes on national forest land.
Mayor Steve Prysunka said budget decisions need to be based on priorities, of which public schools are one.
“Public schools are absolutely vital to our community,” Prysunka said. “If a budget decision is made, it’s not being made to punish a school district. We have to weigh the priorities. We can throw tons of resources at one thing, and then something else comes up. … It’s about balancing the whole.”
Schools Superintendent Bill Burr said during the April 18 meeting that discussions between the district and borough have focused on the present circumstances but have also looked at making the school budget “future-proof.”
“We’ve been doing quite a bit (spending cuts) and none of it’s ideal,” Burr said. “Any time you’re dealing with staffing cuts, it’s pretty tough.”
The Wrangell district has almost 20% fewer students than in 2019, before the pandemic drove many parents to pull their children and move them into homeschooling or correspondence programs. State funding is based on enrollment.
Burr said he and Stromberg were optimistic that the borough would consider the request for additional local funds, a sentiment echoed by school board President Dave Wilson.
“I think it’s great we can take this to the borough assembly,” Wilson said. “I think we should be asking for more from them. They need to know how important education is in our community and we are in a position that we need their help.”
The school district request was presented to the borough assembly last month at a budget work session, at which no action was taken. The assembly will consider the funding request as it reviews its budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
In addition to seeking additional borough funding, the school district is counting on an increase in state dollars. The state has not increased its per-student formula for supporting local districts since 2017. The school district spending plan for next year relies on state funding to cover 64% of its operating budget, which assumes a boost in state dollars.
Schools Business Manager Tammy Stromberg said the district hopes the Legislature will pass House Bill 272, which would increase the funding formula. Based on Wrangell’s current student enrollment of around 250, that would bring in an additional $140,000 for the 2022-23 school year and an additional $68,000 for 2023-24, she said.
As of Monday, the bill was still awaiting action in the House Finance Committee before it can go to the full House for a vote and then Senate consideration in the final three weeks of the legislative session.
The full House, however, already has passed a backup plan in the state budget that would appropriate the same amount of money to school districts statewide, about $57 million, including $140,000 to Wrangell, as a one-time payment for the next school year, without changing the formula for subsequent years.
The Senate Finance Committee’s latest version of the budget last week accepted the House one-time payment, though the full budget still needs votes in the Senate and House before it can go to the governor for his consideration.
According to Stromberg, if the district and state come through on additional funds, the district would “break even” for the 2022-23 budget.
“While it is easy to say costs should be cut, 90% of the district costs are salary and benefits, insurance, fuel and electricity,” Stromberg said. “The district has little control over insurance, fuel and electricity. Salary and benefits can be cut, but at some point, cuts to this area can severely affect the educational program.”
If the borough agrees to the increased payment but the additional state money does not arrive, the district would be short $40,000 in the 2022-23 school year budget and $100,000 to purchase supplies for the 2023-24 school year since those are bought a year early. “The district is currently transitioning to bulk-buy supplies to the greatest extent possible in the prior year so we can be ready to start school in the fall and control the supply budget,” Stromberg said.
But if the borough holds its funding at last year’s level of $1.3 million, and no additional money arrives from the state, the district would have a $377,000 deficit for the 2022-23 school year, plus come up short on supplies for the next year.
”We’ll have to make some severe cuts and some other changes that will be political or uncomfortable or require discussion to get to a place where people are comfortable,” Stromberg said.
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