Facing a major budget deficit, the Anchorage School District will likely need to make painful decisions about programs and school closures over the coming months, administrators and school board members say.
While it will be months before any specific, final choices are made, administrators and board members highlighted this week that those decisions will be likely be difficult given the extent of the budget shortfall, roughly $68 million.administration is currently informing the public and the school board about various budget options, including detailing how much programs cost and what it would cost to close a school, superintendent Jharrett Bryantt said.
The deficit didn’t emerge suddenly. Instead, it’s the result of mostly flat state funding for what’s known as the base student allocation, a significant part of how schools are funded in Alaska. Bryantt said since those funds aren’t inflation-proofed and aren’t enough to cover the district’s operations budget, ASD has relied on one-time funds, like federal COVID-19 relief dollars, which led to the shortfall.
“This is a process, and in order for the process to be successful, not just the board but, I think, our whole community needs to understand what our programs cost us,” Bellamy said. The administrators also described the potential for cost savings by moving sixth grade to middle school and presented multiple scenarios surrounding school closures. Timing-wise, the administration is still refining a list of schools for potential closures, Anderson said.that asks people to rank roughly eight priorities, from facilities closures to activities, for potential reductions.
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