The Cordova School District is preparing to ask the Cordova City Council for approximately $2.3 million in cash for the 2026-27 school year.
District officials say the funding is needed to overcome a $353,033 budget deficit for next year. The district also plans to request a $250,000 in-kind, or non-cash, donation.
“I do think that when we have to talk to our city government about education, I think we should really be putting our best foot forward in what we are providing for our community and really putting our educational program in front of them,” School Board Member Emma Merritt said during the body’s April 8 regular meeting.
“And we’re going to have to make a very compelling case,” she added.
Schools Superintendent Alex Russin said the district is currently crunching numbers to try “to find revenue streams and cost cut where we can.”
The first iteration of the 2026-27 budget showed a $1.4 million deficit, but the district has already identified approximately $730,000 worth of reductions to get the budget closer to balanced. Those reductions include leaving a 6th grade teacher position unfilled and limiting students to one school-funded trip per activity or sport (during the regular season) – as well as reducing administrative and classroom supply costs.
With those preliminary reductions, the deficit ends up being $353,000 “that we still have to either find in our budget to reduce, or to find revenue elsewhere to help support that,” according to Russin.
The district has also proposed drawing on reserves from its scholarship fund and the fund balance to help close the deficit gap.
Merritt said she wants the Board of Education to make it clear to the city that the district is already doing what it can to reduce spending.
“All of our sports (teams) fundraised, and this year we’re also planning on them fundraising,” Merritt said. “I actually think that goes a long way to show the community we’re putting in our time and our effort.”
Preliminary school district budget discussions mirror those of last year, when officials originally proposed around $900,000 in cuts to staff positions, activities, and supplies while the state Legislature sparred over the Base Student Allocation (BSA) – the state’s per-student public school funding model.
Cordova School District Board of Education members plan on engaging with the city on budget matters in the coming weeks.
