NPS presents 2025 budget to Nome Common Council
Superintendent of Nome Public Schools Jamie Burgess presented the 2025 school budget to the Nome Common Council and Mayor John Handeland during a work session on Monday night, asking for a $3.4 million appropriation from the City of Nome.
The request is $200,000 higher than last year and comes at the time when the City is trying to balance their budget with a $2 million deficit.
When the school district began the 2025 budget process, the district was also facing a $1.5 million deficit due to an anticipated flat funding of the base student allocation from the state and inflation-driven costs.
The council had many questions for Burgess and the school board members Bob Metcalf, Nancy Mendenhall and Jon Gregg, who sat in the audience.
In the initial budget discussions, the school board was looking at cutting 11 instructional positions, as personnel is the main expense for the district. After facing major pushback from community members and teachers, the board looked to other funding options.
The current iteration of the budget finds savings through major instructional supply cuts and seeks an increase in the City of Nome’s contribution, as well as dipping into the Capital Improvement Project Fund for $350,000, and taking $250,000 from the Apartment Fund. Additionally, there is the prediction that the district will receive at least an increase of $400,000 in state funding. Last year, the state contributed $10,038,861 to Nome Public Schools.
Councilmember Scot Henderson inquired about the risk of dipping into the Capitol Improvement Fund which the school would need if they received state funding for the NomeBeltz roof replacement. Burgess explained that the roof project is far down on the list of state projects and will likely not get funding this year, giving the district time to bring up the fund balance for the future.
“The alternative to doing all these things is to lay off staff,” Burgess told the council.
Burgess made it very clear that dipping into the general fund and other accounts is a one-time solution. If the Alaska Legislature and the governor can’t make a permanent funding increase, NPS will not have the funds to solve another deficit and more extreme cuts will need to be made.
Alaska House of Representatives has approved a draft budget containing a one-time $680 increase to the base student allocation, or BSA. Meanwhile House Bill 392, which includes a permanent $680 increase to the BSA among other provisions, is advancing to the House Finance committee.
“The $680 increase that’s being proposed, if it happens that’s only about half of what we need,” Burgess told the council.
NPS will adopt the finalized budget in a work session taking place April 23 and turn it into the City by May 1 for approval.
The City of Nome then has 30 days to decide the amount that they will fund. The state appropriation will likely come in July after the legislative session and when the state budget is signed by the governor.
Councilmember Henderson asked if the City Council could make an initial contribution decision by their required date and if the State doesn’t provide funding sufficient for NPS’s needs the Council amends the amount to increase it. Handeland confirmed it was possible, but the amendment could only be to increase the city’s funding, not reduce it.