Facing a projected multimillion-dollar budget gap next school year, Anchorage School District Superintendent Ed Graff asked the Anchorage School Board Monday that instead of cutting teacher positions, the board use reserve funds to narrow the shortfall.
Graff proposed that the board put $17 million in reserve funds toward the 2015-16 school year budget -- the available money stemming from an underspent budget this school year. In November, the district announced it was spending about 3 percent less -- or $22 million -- than it had planned, primarily because it failed to hire for all the positions included in its budget and hired more young teachers than expected.
Next school year, Graff said the district is projecting a $19.8 million budget deficit, which it will close using reserve funds and by cutting four central administration positions and one ancillary support position. Graff said Monday that he would not disclose the job titles the district plans to eliminate, and he would identify them later in the budget process.
The district is also anticipating broadband and fuel costs to come in below normal next school year, another factor pushing the district toward a balanced budget, Graff said.
Graff's proposed budget includes funding for new positions, including 11 elementary school teachers, 13 secondary school teachers, a charter school/alternative program director and a human resource position.
Graff's pitch to add positions contrasts with the district's tumultuous budget process last year. In January 2014, Graff announced that the district would eliminate 219 "full-time equivalent" positions in efforts to shrink a $23 million budget gap. Then, after receiving additional funding from the state and municipality, the district started the current school year having rehired all but three of the teachers who had received layoff notices.
Next school year, Graff said, the district hopes to prevent the "ongoing churn of staff reductions" by deploying its reserve funds. While creating the proposed budget, he said, his focus remained on "student engagement."
"Our No. 1 priority is our students," he said.
The proposed budget also includes funding for curriculum software and upgrades, assessment reporting and computer and technology replacements for school staff.
"It's about what our students need today," Graff said to the School Board. "It's about ensuring that we provide the best experience possible for them."
What Graff's proposed budget does not address is how Gov. Bill Walker's proposed budget could impact the district. Last week in his State of the Budget address, Walker said that he would cut some of the one-time funding the Legislature allocated to schools last year.
For the Anchorage School District, this would mean the loss of about $9.6 million in state funding and $2.2 million in local funds, according to School Board member Natasha von Imhof.
When asked about Walker's budget, Graff said, "The Governor's proposal was a bit suprising."
"We're just going to have work through that and understand fully what that impact might be as the session moves forward," he said.
In response to Graff's proposed budget, Andy Holleman, the head of the Anchorage Education Association teachers' union, said he was pleased that Graff proposed not laying off teachers next school year, adding that it would boost morale among staff.
"Psychologically, that's a pretty big deal," he said.
As far as looking into the future of teacher layoffs -- a future where the district has projected multimillion-dollar budget gaps -- Holleman said, "it's far enough away that it's hard to say what's going to happen."
Alyse Galvin, an Anchorage parent and a spokeswoman for grass-roots education advocacy group Great Alaska Schools, said she felt like the proposed budget was missing the larger picture -- a political climate that "looks very gloomy for education."
"What I would say is that it was surprising to see that ASD is feeling so flush with funds because that's not what we've seen in the past," she said.
The Anchorage School Board will hold two public hearings on Graff's budget proposal. Its first vote will take place Monday, Feb. 2, with a final vote scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19. Both meetings begin at 6:30 p.m.