A school budget presentation meant to engage the public in the decision-making process on Feb. 27 drew a scant few to ask questions and offer suggestions.
Outgoing district business manager Tammy Stromberg, whose last day was Feb. 28, went over the draft budget for the 2023-2024 school year, detailing projected revenues, expenditures and where the Wrangell School District could fall short.
According to the current draft, the district is projected to be short by $53,179 in its spending plan of about $5 million, and will draw on its general fund balance to cover the difference. The district has been drawing down its fund balance the past few years to fill budget gaps and using one-time federal pandemic relief aid.
Stromberg noted that inflation and rising fuel costs contributed to the shortfall, but the majority of costs come from payroll expenses.
“Most of your expenses are salaries and benefits at 80% (of the budget), and then you add another 10% on there for operations and maintenance, it doesn’t leave you a lot of places to go if you don’t get additional funding,” Stromberg told those in the Zoom meeting.
“So, you have the choice of cutting people — and in a school district, we’re really people-intensive because it takes people to teach kids, to watch kids, to be with kids, to do activities with kids … that’s how we operate.”
She added that many school districts in Alaska are in the same budget squeeze as Wrangell, no matter the size. She cited an example of Anchorage and Fairbanks districts consolidating programs “because they cannot operate at their current levels. … Even in a municipality as large as Anchorage, it’s just not possible.”
The Anchorage School District announced possible school closures last fall, along with cutting programs and other cost-saving measures.
One thing that could help ease tight budgets is an increase in the base student allocation that determines how much the state sends to local districts each year. Legislative approval is required for any change, and two bills have been introduced, both of which would increase state funding to Wrangell by more than $600,000 a year if passed.
In early February, the Senate Education Committee introduced a bill that would add a 17% increase to the base student allocation, and Rep. Dan Ortiz last month introduced a bill that would increase it by 21%. Lawmakers have until mid-May to pass legislation and approve a budget.
Stromberg and members of the Wrangell School Board encouraged parents and others to contact legislators in support of an increase to the per-student formula.
The base student allocation hasn’t been increased in more than six years.
After her presentation, Stromberg invited questions and comments from the gallery. DaNika Smalley, the Indian Education director for the district, asked if funds could be secured through any of the federal grants offered by the federal Office of Indian Education.
“It has all these things that it lists that it can accommodate if the school district can prove that they need it, if we can’t find other funding,” Smalley said, suggesting a means to help pay for principals’ salaries that are currently covered by other federal grants until the 2024-2025 school year.
Stromberg said she wasn’t sure what restrictions come with the Indian Education grants, but she said limitations had lifted quite a bit over the years. “I think it still needs to be focused on Indian (education) students, but anything that available, we’re interested in taking a look at and seeing what the possibilities are.”
Kristy Woodbury, a parent who homeschools her child, asked the board if there was a possibility of creating a homeschool program through the district.
“I know that there’s expenses involved in developing the program and staffing it, but other districts do have those as a way to generate income and increase student enrollment,” Woodbury said. “Homeschooling just works better for my kiddo, and it just breaks my heart that I can’t contribute to that student enrollment amount because we’re big supporters of the school system. I think it could be a win-win if you could get that going.”
School board president David Wilson said a homeschooling program is something they could look into. He encouraged questions and comments from the public, though there were only a couple other questions to clarify budget items.
“If you have comments or questions that you’re not able to verbalize today, please send them in as soon as possible to the school district,” Wilson said. “We want to be aware of what everybody is thinking, what you like, what you see, what your feelings are about the budget and the programs that the district has.”
Comments and questions can be emailed to the board at schoolboard@wpsd.us.
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