Alaska Beacon

Alaska’s state school board has postponed consideration of a rules change that could limit the amount of money that cities and boroughs are allowed to give their neighborhood school districts.

The board voted unanimously on Wednesday to open a 30-day public comment period on the rules change rather than to enact it immediately on an emergency basis, as the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development had proposed.

“I never want this board to (have) its integrity compromised by rash decisions,” said board chair James Fields. “Our intent is to just try to uphold the law and do what’s best for kids. And so I think giving it time (for) public comment is definitely what’s best for kids.”

Currently, state law limits the amount of money that municipalities may give to local schools. The department proposed adjusting the definition of the limit so that services provided by municipalities to the school district, such as parking lot plowing or the use of pools and libraries, also must be considered local contributions.

Cities and boroughs already at or near the contribution cap, such as Anchorage and Juneau, would be required to reduce their local funding in response.

The vote followed almost two hours of impassioned and unanimous public testimony against the idea.

Jason Weber, superintendent of Valdez City Schools, said adopting the state’s proposal “would lead to an immediate reduction in the funding for student meals at a time when many states are expanding access to student meals.”

“Alaska should not be taking food off of kids’ plates,” he said.

Weber wasn’t alone: School administrators, parents and elected officials testified against the change on Wednesday morning, urging the board to reject the proposal.

“The magnitude of this emergency regulation passing could result in tens of millions of fewer dollars for students across the state,” said Jharrett Bryantt, superintendent of the Anchorage School District, as he testified against the proposed change.

Bryantt said he and other officials did not receive adequate public notice about the proposed emergency regulation, something required by law.

“It is my counsel’s belief that this use of emergency regulations is unlawful at worst and unethical at best,” he said, referring to the advice of his attorney.

“We need a thorough, transparent process immediately, if there’s any hope of restoring trust, it is my duty to pursue legal action against the state to challenge this immediately, if this were to pass,” Bryantt said. 

Regulations similar to the one up for a vote Wednesday have been discussed by the state education department since late last year, but the timing of this particular proposal came as a surprise to many across the state.

Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, noted that when education commissioner Deena Bishop testified in the Alaska Legislature in mid-May, she did not say that the department was considering an emergency regulation.

“This will have a catastrophic impact on my constituents and people all across the state, students and parents alike. What this is is a pretext. It is, to be blunt, a ruse to undermine public education in the state of Alaska,” Wielechowski said on Wednesday.

Alaska is unique among U.S. states in that it substitutes federal “impact aid” — given to states to compensate for untaxable federal land — for some state public-school funding. All other states spend the federal money on top of their usual support.

To keep Alaska’s practice from running afoul of the U.S. Department of Education, the state must pass a pair of accounting tests intended to limit the financial gap between the state’s richest school districts and its poorest ones – called a federal equity test.

Alaska recently failed both tests, but rather than reduce the gap by increasing the amount of funding that goes to schools, the state proposed the opposite — limiting local governments’ ability to contribute. 

Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, advised the school board to wait for the state to appeal the feds’ finding of a failed test. A prior failure was reversed on appeal.

School districts operate on a fiscal year that ends June 30, and the proposed change would have been retroactive to the current fiscal year, even though most school districts have already finalized their budgets.

Budget officials, testifying Wednesday, said that a last-minute change could result in cuts to programs and services. Department of Education officials, speaking during a school board work session on Tuesday, said the timing was necessary to reduce the chances that the state will fail the accounting tests in 2027, when the current year’s audited financial statements will be examined.

The board could pass the department’s proposed regulations after the end of the 30-day public comment period, or those comments could lead to revisions that would themselves be subject to new public comment. The board could also vote down the proposal or not take it up at all.

Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew Kitchenman for questions: info@alaskabeacon.com.

Alaska Beacon

  Alaska, local-funding, schools, vote