A proposed change in regulations around how local governments contribute to school districts would cost the Unalaska City School District about $2 million.
The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is proposing new rules that would limit local contributions for non-instructional services, or special funds. For Unalaska, that includes things like academic clubs and sports, preschool, community use of school buildings and food services.
Unalaska Superintendent Kim Hanisch said if the state board approves the changes, the school district would lose a quarter of its roughly $8 million operating budget.
“We would not be the same school district, obviously, if we did not have that $2 million,” Hanisch said.
School districts already have a cap on how much local money they can receive for instructional services — resources meant specifically to improve students’ learning experience. The City of Unalaska grants the school’s full request pretty much every year.
But some local governments also contribute to non-instructional needs that aren’t directly related to learning or teaching — things like transportation, meals and facilities maintenance.
This year, the City of Unalaska granted the district’s full request of about $6.1 million, roughly $2 million of which falls into that non-instructional special funding.
The state is proposing a change that would now group instructional and non-instructional contributions together and count them all against the cap. It would also include in-kind services — where there is no exchange of money — toward the maximum allowed contribution.
“With the change of regulations, if no in-kind services can be accepted without them impacting the general fund, then we have to say, ‘All right, for the city to clean our roofs and keep our parking lot clean, that's costing them $100,000,’” Hanisch said. “That $100,000 now is part of the maximum contributions.”
She said the district relies on the special funds for several things, including paying half of its utilities and maintenance bills.
“If we didn't have that support, how do we keep our buildings heated for even a school day, or cleaned or maintained?” she said. “So that's big.”
The proposed changes are meant to help Alaska maintain its eligibility for federal impact aid. In order to receive that funding, they have to pass something called the “disparity test,” which the state has recently failed because they couldn’t demonstrate equitable funding across the state. And now, the Department hopes limiting local contributions could help get them a passing grade.
Hanisch said it would mean major changes for the Aleutian Island school district, which is frequently cited as a top reason families move to the community.
“It would change the way that our school district is able to provide programs that maintain a very, very high quality of instruction and engagement from both the kids and the community,” Hanisch said.
The state opened a public comment period on the proposed regulation changes earlier this month. It will close on July 23. Comments can be mailed physically or emailed to the Alaska Board of Education.
After the comment period closes, the board will either adopt the changes, adopt similar provisions, or take no action. The board is set to address the proposed rule change at its October meeting.
