Alex Russin, the Cordova School District superintendent, is retiring at the end of the 2025-2026 school year after more than a decade.
Russin confirmed his retirement to the Cordova Times via email on July 31.
“My 30+ years in education has provided me numerous opportunities to work with students and staff from around the world, with each opportunity contributing to my personal and professional growth as an educator, and for that, I am grateful,” he said in a statement. “I am especially thankful to the Cordova School District Board of Education, along with the staff and community as a whole, who have shown their support since my arrival in the summer of 2015.”
Russin will retire after 11 years at the helm – the last few of his career while facing major challenges caused by large education funding deficits.
In March 2024 Alaska state lawmakers passed legislation to increase the Base Student Allocation (BSA) – the state’s per-student funding education model – by $680. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed it, citing his desire for more policy changes for charter schools and extra funding for homeschool students.
The governor vetoed two other attempts by state lawmakers to increase the BSA this year – once on April 17 that outlined a $1,000 bump, and another on April 30 to increase it by $700. Legislators overrode that last veto, but Dunleavy still line-item vetoed some of the education funding when he signed the state budget into law this spring. His rationale for the line-item veto was concern over the price of oil.
The Legislature and the governor are coming to a head over education funding once again as they convene for a special session tomorrow on Aug. 2, which Dunleavy scheduled a month ago.
Meanwhile, public school districts across the state have been working to balance their operating budgets with the BSA in limbo.
In Cordova, Russin and the school board announced $900,000 worth of budget cuts earlier this spring – which included not re-filling multiple staff positions, cutting down on classroom supplies, eliminating coach and chaperone per diems, and limiting students to one school activity trip per year (including varsity sports).
In the end, however, Russin said he was confident about the final budget the board passed, since it underestimated costs to be safe.
“While we’ll receive less state funding than what we built with the initial budget assumption, the district will be able to cover the reduction,” Russin told The Cordova Times in June. He reiterated that there would be “no changes or reduction to programs beyond what was initially addressed when we approved the budget.”
It’s not yet clear what Russin will do after next school year, but he reiterated his admiration for the Cordova community.
“Cordova was a wonderful landing spot for my family and me, at that time, after having left a 14-year journey in western Alaska,” he said. “Cordova memories of student interactions, chaperoning school trips, staff debates, community gatherings, and yes, even a pandemic, will surely stay with me as I explore what is described as the ‘next chapter’ in life.”
