Nome Schools try to balance underfunded school budget

Nome Public Schools is no longer considering cutting teaching positions for the 2025 school year, according to their latest budget revision presented during their school board meeting last Tuesday.

The deadline to submit their budget to the City of Nome is May 1, the city figures out how much it will contribute and upon approval, the budget it is sent to the Alaska Department

of Education by July 15. The Nome Common Council and the Nome School Board will hold a joint session on April 8 to address the school budget.

During the current legislative session, the Alaska House and Senate have been working to pass an education bill that will significantly increase the Base Student Allocation, or BSA, which directly impacts the amount of funding NPS receives as it goes toward the per-student funding formula. Senate Bill 140, a comprehensive education bill that proposed a $630 increase to the BSA was vetoed two weeks ago by Governor Mike Dunleavy after passing through the House and Senate.

The Nome Public School Board and Nome Schools Superintendent Jamie Burgess advocated for the bill as it would greatly aid in the balancing of NPS’ 2025 budget.

The process of creating the budget has been complicated, without knowing how much or if they will receive more funding from the legislature, NPS has been forced to get creative in finding funds.

The BSA hasn’t increased since 2017, and is not keeping up with the rate of inflation.

In the first iteration of the 2025 budget, NPS had a $1.1 million deficit and the schools were looking to make up for that by cutting 11 teaching positions.

After a large amount of pushback from principals, teachers and parents NPS has shifted course. The current 2025 budget deficit is proposed to be funded by drawing $503,585 from the savings account, the apartment fund and the Capital Improvement Plan Fund; over $150,000 in supply cuts from the schools; and an additional $200,000 from the City of Nome, the full request to the city totaling $3.4 million.

“We are doing everything we can to not put teaching positions at risk. Per the Board’s input, we are looking at options that don’t involve teacher layoffs,” Burgess wrote in an email

to the

On Monday April 8, the School Board will meet with the Nome Common Council to present their current draft budget and request $3.4 million in funding from the city, 89 percent of the maximum allowable city appropriation. The third and final School Board budget work session is scheduled for April 23.

In the Legislature

Senate Bill 140 began in the legislature as am internet bill, aimed to help rural school districts in improving their internet connectivity at a reduced cost.

Following the failed override of the Governor’s veto, the Legislature passed House Bill 193, which will provide a discounted rate for rural districts to acquire faster internet speeds. The deadline for federal funding grants is Wednesday March 27 and the bill must become law before to be effective. As of press time on Tuesday, the bill is on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature.

Dunleavy vetoed Senate Bill 140 citing the “lack of meaningful education reforms” in his press statement on March 14. The following day the governor held a press conference where he criticized the lack of charter school provisions, and the non-inclusion of teacher bonuses and alternate reading program funding.

When asked about how the governor plans to achieve a compromise with the House and Senate on an education bill the governor responded, “I think at this point we move on, we’ve got energy issues we’ve got to deal with, we’ve got a whole host of issues we have to deal with.” He went on to say there will be money in education, but it will likely be sorted out at the end of the Legislative session which concludes May 17, after school districts are required to approve their 2025 budgets.

Meanwhile House Bill 392, sponsored by the House Resources Com

mittee, is making its way through the legislature. A hearing in the House education committee will take place for the bill that is similar to the vetoed Senate Bill 140, proposing a BSA increase of $680, rural internet funding, transportation funding, correspondence funding. It also has proposals that fit what Dunleavy’s wants, relating to charter schools and teacher retention bonuses.

Though it may all be for nothing, Representative Foster wrote in an email to the Nugget, the legislature worked hard to compromise when passing Senate Bill 140 and the Governor

still vetoed it.

“In the end the Governor will not commit to not veto any deal regardless of what the deal looks like. We asked, and that’s what his folks have told us,” Foster wrote.

A reoccurring increase to the BSA is Foster’s - and some of his colleague’s - goal, but if that compromise isn’t possible a one-time funding boost is still a good option.

“The Governor seems determined to keep funding for public education funding down. And unless we can get the votes to override, we’re stuck,” Foster wrote.