The Ketchikan School Board is now considering closing a school, a decision several districts in the state have made recently to address budget shortfalls. During their meeting Wednesday night, the board will discuss closing Point Higgins, one of the island’s three elementary schools. They’re also scheduled to — once again — consider restructuring elementary schools by grade level.
But board president Michelle O’Brien doesn’t anticipate a vote on either plan this week.
“I anticipate no action, unless there’s some surprise to me,” O’Brien said during a phone call Tuesday. “And the reason I say that is we are launching into a series of community listening sessions.”
O’Brien said they need more time to hear public feedback about these newly presented budget options.
The idea of closing Point Higgins Elementary comes from the possibility that the district would receive no additional state funding for next year. Up until now, the district has been working with a budget that assumes a one-time state funding increase matching the amount passed last year. In that scenario, the administration projects about a $1.7 million budget deficit. But if the state approves no new increase to the student funding formula, as Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s recent proposal recommends, that deficit balloons to nearly $6 million.
Point Higgins Elementary is located about a half-hour drive north of downtown Ketchikan, serving the many families who live at that end of the island. Closing the school would cover less than half of a $6 million deficit, which would still require cutting 16 teachers plus librarians and athletic staff at the remaining buildings. O’Brien said they’re presenting a budget based on what they know now, but that could always change if the state approves more funding.
“Who knows what the state will do? They haven’t had the respect to give the communities any sort of notice in a timely fashion,” O’Brien said. “The prudent thing is to present a budget based on what we know now.”
The budget presentation also includes a list of what could be added back if there is an increase in state funding, or at least the same $680 per student passed last year. O’Brien is urging residents to reach out to legislators across the state to advocate for school funding. She’s slated to testify before the House Finance Committee in support of a bill to boost the base student funding formula. That testimony was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but has been postponed until next week.
O’Brien said the local decisions need to happen soon, and the board will likely vote on the budget during their first meeting in March.
