The Alaska State Board of Education may again hold off on a rule change that could further limit the amount of money cities can give to their local school districts. Even so, the Sitka School District’s superintendent hopes the community keeps the pressure up.
The state board first postponed a vote on the emergency regulation to change the guidelines for local contributions in June after public pushback. At a school board meeting on Wednesday, (10-1-25) Superintendent Deidre Jenson said the State Board of Education has a motion on the table at its next meeting to “take no action” on the item again.
“They’re putting a pause on just making any actions at the State Board of Education, but they still need to hear that, you know, this is concerning,” Jenson said.
The state limits how much local governments can contribute to school districts- this is called the “cap.” If the state can’t pass a pair of accounting tests demonstrating its schools receive equitable funding, it may lose out on federal education money. Alaska recently failed the federal equity test, but rather than contribute more money at the state level to even the playing field, the board looked at further limiting local contributions in order to meet federal requirements.
The Sitka Assembly, in recent years, has funded the school district to the cap, and it also contributes additional non-instructional money on top– funding the management of the Blatchley Swimming Pool, for example. Jenson said amending the definition so things like in-kind contributions are counted toward the cap would hurt schools across the state.
“So if they plow our sidewalks in the winter, or playgrounds, that could be counted as in-kind services, and what’s the fair market value?” Jenson explained. “It leaves it open to interpretation for municipalities to decide how much they’re going to provide, in-kind.”
The state board will take the item up again in a work session at its meeting on October 9. In a memo, Alaska’s education commissioner Deena Bishop recommended “no action” on the item and that the board direct the Department of Education to “seek further input and collaboration with stakeholders.” View the full meeting agenda here.
