Officials with the Cordova School District Board of Education are on track to cut around $900,000 from their operating budget for next year, while the state government continues to spar over increases to the statewide Base Student Allocation (BSA).
School board officials outlined their budget at a joint work session with the Cordova City Council on May 7, summarizing the cuts they’ve made in order to balance the budget. The board is poised to adopt its budget at its June 11 meeting, in time to send it to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) by the July 15 deadline.
While the district has managed to balance its budget, officials say their financial situation is nearing the point of disaster. On top of the already detrimental financial strain, they’re creating a shoestring budget on an assumed increase to the BSA – the state’s per-student public school funding model – which may not even happen.
“Over the last several years, we have reduced operating expenses to the point where we are treading water now in order to keep programs and personnel in place,” Cordova Schools Superintendent Alex Russin told The Cordova Times.
The cuts
During the joint session with the City Council earlier this month, Russin laid out the cuts the district will have to make for next year – all hinging on the wildcard hopeful $680 BSA increase. Currently, the state is waiting to see if Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy will approve a $700 BSA boost by May 19. To be safe, however, the Cordova School District has underestimated that figure.
“It’s a great leap and assumption of faith to make from the state level, and we’re just sort of in a wait-and-see pattern right at the moment,” Russin said during the session.
A chunk of the district’s budget cuts will come from not filling multiple staff positions – including an elementary aide, a 6th grade teacher, and a high school math teacher position. The district also plans to save money by cutting down on classroom supplies, eliminating coach and chaperone per diems, limiting students to one school activity trip per year (including varsity sports), and using half of the school’s scholarship fund to cover operating expenses.
As part of its budget each year, the district also relies on the city for funding. This upcoming fiscal year, the district is seeking $2.3 million and an additional $180,000 in in-kind services from the city of Cordova.
At the May 7 work session Russin recognized the city’s fiscal state also isn’t the most secure, but said anything short of the amount the district is asking for would cause bad ripple effects.
“Full transparency, I wouldn’t be doing my job in good faith for the district if I wasn’t asking for what we needed,” he said. “If there is any additional revenue that we do not receive from whomever, whether that’s the state or the city, quite honestly I’m not sure where we go as a district.”
Pete Hoepfner, who has been on the school board for two decades, said some Cordovans may not notice the cuts the district has had to make over the years – but assured the council that they’re significant. Just last year, the school district nearly had to discontinue all its school activities and its whole food service program. It was only able to maintain those services because of a last-minute $700,000 gift from the Native Village of Eyak.
“We don’t have librarians anymore, there’s just been so much that has been lost,” Hoepfner said during the work session. “We don’t have preschool anymore, we’re reading in kindergarten now … It’s pretty devastating what’s happening in the state of Alaska.”
BSA increase still in limbo
In Juneau, Alaska state legislators passed an education funding bill (House Bill 57) on April 30 that would increase the annual BSA by $700, or $183 million statewide. Cordova legislators Rep. Louise Stutes and Sen. Gary Stevens both voted for the bill.
It’s the third time in two years the state Legislature has approved an education funding boost, and lawmakers are hoping Dunleavy doesn’t hit the veto button on the bill this time around. The governor previously vetoed two education bills that would have raised the BSA – the first time in March 2024 that would have increased the BSA by $680, and another just now in April that outlined a $1,000 bump.
As his rationale for both of those vetoes, Dunleavy has said he needs more policy changes for charter schools and extra funding for homeschool students, among other amendments.
The Legislature failed in March 2024 to override Dunleavy’s veto by just one vote. This spring, however, the Legislature didn’t try override Dunleavy’s second veto. According to the Alaska Beacon, the state Legislature has not overridden a governor’s veto since the early 2000s.
Many Alaskans across the state made their dissatisfaction with the vetoes known, including in Cordova. Local teachers and staff joined statewide demonstrations after Dunleavy’s first veto last year, and Cordova High School students even staged a 40-minute walk-out of class – one minute for each vote the state Legislature needed in order to override the veto.
State legislators feel like they have a veto-proof education bill in the $700 BSA increase currently sitting on Dunleavy’s desk, the Beacon reported, however not all Cordova School District officials are convinced.
During the joint session with the City Council, Russin said the “rumor” he’s hearing is that Dunleavy might veto the education funding for a third time. If that happens, the Cordova School District will have to re-balance its budget – most likely by cutting more services.
Russin, who has been the Cordova schools superintendent for 10 years, said budget season is “often an extremely stressful time for everyone.” But, he also indicated that this year is different.
“It’s been a double-edged sword, of sorts, in making reductions and finding revenue that the public, as a whole, hasn’t really noticed the effects of the reductions,” he said. “We are no longer at that point if the BSA does not increase.”
Correction: This article was corrected to reflect the $2.3 million the district is seeking from the city, and the governor’s May 19 deadline. It was also updated to include information about previous override attempts.
