As Ketchikan’s school district considers hard choices to make up budget shortfalls, parents have been making their displeasure known — and administrators have been a common target. At a packed meeting Wednesday night, the School Board heard from a long line of frustrated residents.
Amie Toepfer was one of the first to speak. She, like several others, argued that the proposals would have unacceptable consequences for students.
“The proposals are sacrificing our children’s education and well-being to maintain administrative luxuries,” she said.
Unlike administrative staff, Toepfer argued, school librarians and physical education teachers are essential to a well-rounded education. She was referencing the proposals presented at a budget committee meeting last week. At that meeting, Ketchikan’s schools superintendent unveiled two cost-cutting plans: one would consolidate elementary school students by grade level, and the other would cut a number of positions, including music, library and P.E. teachers.
Toepfer also took issue with a recent Facebook post from the district.
“I just want to touch on the tone-deaf social media post that the school district put out last week congratulating administration staff,” Toepfer said. “I hope that this board addresses that with administration and ensures that it never happens again.”
The post in question simply thanked administrators for their hard work, but it drew considerable backlash since it came just days after the contentious budget meeting. Many community members have argued since last spring that the district has become top-heavy, and administrators should be cut before teachers.
But Schoenbar Middle School assistant principal Jason House took to the podium to defend his colleagues.
“Maybe you all remember last spring when the board made the difficult decision to cut nearly 20% of our already small admin team,” House said. “There was literal applause and celebration in this very chamber as four of our friends, neighbors and colleagues lost their jobs.”
House, who’s also president of the union representing the district administration, suspected the negativity came from a lack of understanding about what administrators do.
“So I asked them, ‘What do you wish people knew about the work you do?’ And here’s what they said: ‘I wish people knew how much time we spend worrying about our staff and students. I wish people understood how much work we do, just so that teachers can focus more of their energy on teaching. I wish people realized that we also have our boots on the ground right alongside our staff,’” House recounted.
One speaker reminded the audience that there are bigger forces at play than the community-level disagreements. Dan Ortiz is the current House District 1 representative and former Ketchikan High School teacher.
He’s served in the Alaska Legislature for nearly a decade but decided not to run for reelection this year. He acknowledged that the state has its own financial troubles but said the Alaska Constitution mandates adequately funding education.
“What’s absolutely essential under the constitution is that the state fund public education and that they fund public safety. Those are the only two things. Everything else is optional,” Ortiz said. “And so you need to unite, get your voices heard and demand that the legislature do this.”
State funding makes up the vast majority of the district’s revenue, and Alaska hasn’t made a meaningful increase to its funding formula in years. Ortiz said that when you factor in inflation, state funding has effectively decreased by about $1,300 per student since 2012.
The board had an extended discussion about the proposals but took no action on them. They addressed some community concerns and ideas, like taxing cruise passengers for education. But the borough is already funding the district to the “cap,” the maximum amount allowed under state law.
School Board president Michelle O’Brien said they likely won’t make a decision on next year’s budget proposals until February, at the earliest.
Disclosure: Jason House is a member of KRBD’s volunteer Board of Directors, which is not involved in news coverage.
Michael Fanelli is the News Director at KRBD. He can be reached at michael@krbd.org.
