The Cordova School District (CSD) is into the current academic year, thanks in large part to the Native Village of Eyak — which donated $700,000 in May to help with operational costs. Now CSD faces renewed financial challenges in the year ahead.
Regulations call for the school district to have their budget for the coming year to the state by July 2025. Meanwhile, the deadline for the estimated budget is due this month to the city of Cordova, which is already having some significant financial distress, according to Barb Jewell, president of the Cordova School Board.
With no increase in the Basic Student Allocation (BSA) last year, school districts statewide got one-time funding through Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s capital budget.
Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, said school funding would be at the top of her list when legislators reconvene for a new session in January.
“We all know it is a problem and speaking for my caucus, it will be a priority to get an increase in the BSA,” Stutes said. “Last year we were one vote short of overriding Dunleavy’s veto. It was shameful.”
In a letter dated Oct. 2 to members of all of Alaska’s local boards of education, Alaska Commissioner of Education Deena Bishop contends that the education budget signed into law by Dunleavy for this year actually represented a significant increase for public education in Alaska over the past years, rather than a cut.
“The overall state budget reflects a commitment of prioritizing education, energy and public safety, with a historic investment in our schools,” she said.
Bishop told the boards of education that for fiscal year 2025 that Alaska’s public education system received an additional $174.6 million, resulting in a $680 increase in the BSA. Additionally, $93.7 million was allocated for school maintenance and construction (an increase of $23 million from a year ago), along with a $7.3 million increase in pupil transportation funding, a $1.5 million increase for boarding schools, and $87.5 million for University of Alaska’s operations and deferred maintenance, she said.
The Alaska Superintendents Association and Association of Alaska School Boards issued a response to Bishop’s letter on Oct. 8, questioning Bishop’s contention that her letter was intended to “spotlight misrepresented aspects” of their understanding of what was achieved in the last legislative session for education.
The $176.6 million of one-time funds outside of the BSA was the most funding appropriated in recent history, said Margo Bellamy, president of the Association of Alaska School Boards, and Clayton Holland, president of the Alaska Superintendents Association in a letter to school superintendents statewide.
“However, the funds did not result in a $680 BSA increase or address the impact of inflation since 2017,” they said. “Consequently, the BSA remains at $5,960. That is where the funding discussion begins for FY 26.”
Bellamy and Holland said that the $7.3 million increase to pupil transportation was the first increase since 2016, but it did not cover the cost inflation.
“The Legislature failed by one vote to override the governor’s veto of CSSB 140, which would have increased the BSA by $680,” they said. Furthermore, they said “the governor vetoes an additional $5.2 million to help implement his primary education policy, the Alaska Reads Act. Therefore, the Reads Act remains an unfunded mandate.”
Bellamy and Holland challenged Bishop’s contentions in her letter to school boards about student achievement on standardized testing concerning charter and correspondence schools. They said Alaska’s charter school distinction as the top performer in the nation is based on comparisons to other charter schools nationwide and is not a comparison of student proficiency to regular neighborhood or village schools.
They said while Bishop noted that correspondence school students score substantially higher on the The Alaska System of Academic Readiness (AK STAR) assessment than neighborhood schools, that in fact the percentage of correspondence school students taking the exam is quite low. The AK STAR is a standardized assessment system for students in grades 3–9 that measures their understanding of Alaska’s English language arts (ELA) and mathematics standards.
Bellamy and Holland noted that the state’s public school systems deal with high rates of poverty and with a diverse population of students who often speak many languages. Many students suffer from mental illness, hunger and the lack of a safe living environment, they said.
“While setting high expectations for students if a good thing in and of itself, it may not be the most significant factor for improving student achievement,” they said. “Instead, we know that engaging parents, families and communities in fostering a culturally responsive and inclusive public education system is the key to success.”
Bellamy and Holland also told school boards that while Dunleavy and Bishop speak of parental rights and choice as the preferred means to improve student outcomes, that school board also recognizes the need for parental or guardian rights, including access to public school options.
“Board members are locally elected parents, grandparents, guardians and community members,” they said. “We strive to meet the needs of all students through local democratic and public process of governance focused on student achievement.”
