School district representatives from around the state sit in for a Q&A with senators at the Capitol on Monday, Feb. 11, 2019. (Mollie Barnes | Juneau Empire)

School district representatives from around the state sit in for a Q&A with senators at the Capitol on Monday, Feb. 11, 2019. (Mollie Barnes | Juneau Empire)

Health insurance costs strain school districts’ budgets

Students, school representatives voice concerns to senators at Q&A

Even teenagers are getting worried about budget cuts to education.

In an emotional meeting on Monday, high school students and school representatives from all over the state spoke passionately about the importance of teachers at a Q&A with senators.

“It’s not taking money; it’s taking people,” said Kevin Lubin, a student from Anchorage, to a standing-room only crowd of about 80 people. “It’s not a budget, not an approval — it’s students lives.”

While the students gave emotional testimonies pleading the cause of education to the senators and representatives at the meeting, some school board representatives played to the numbers, specifically the high cost of insurance and retirement for teachers across the state.

Pete Hoepfner, former Association of Alaska School Board President, spoke about how Cordova School District is experiencing budget strain.

[University of Alaska officials expect major budget cuts]

“A lot of it boils down to money,” he said. “One of the things that struck me recently was the health insurance, we’ve seen in the last four years a huge increase, 16 percent of our total budget is going to health insurance.”

It costs $369,000 a year for Cordova School District to pay for health insurance, he said. Per student, that’s $1,130 dollars. He said this is money that is being taken out of the classroom. He also mentioned how cuts to the ferry system affect the Cordova School District, because then schools have to fly in students or eliminate education services.

“I know there isn’t money out there, but these issues that come up are going to start hitting pretty hard in our school districts,” he said. “It’s getting to such a point now that it’s going to start hurting pretty bad.”

[Alaska’s teachers are leaving at much higher than the national average. Here’s what’s being done about it.]

Some school districts said they were using a pool of city workers to decrease insurance costs, but Hoepfner said he hoped the state could do something to address the issue unilaterally.

Other issues brought up by audience members were the proposed $20 million cut to school districts in the governor’s proposed supplemental budget, rising costs of utilities for school buildings, internet bandwidth shortages, required certifications for people teaching Alaska Native languages and whether the formula used to determine school’s budgets is current and benefits all schools in Alaska, even in rural areas.

Juneau student Forrest Davis questioned the legislators about why the school’s budgeting formula hadn’t been revised in almost 20 years. Sen. Tom Begich, D-Anchorage, said the formula had withstood the test of time fairly well, according to an audit from two years ago that cost the state a quarter of a million dollars.

“We want to base (formula rewrites) on research and expert testimony,” said Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, adding that perhaps it would be better to look at reworking the formula once session was over.

The meeting lasted only an hour, but legislators encouraged all those in attendance to reach out to them personally to elaborate.

“We are doing everything we can to stretch those dollars that we have,” said Wrangell School District Board President Aleisha Mollen. “When we come to you guys, I want you to know we’re doing everything that we can.”


• Contact reporter Mollie Barnes at mbarnes@juneauempire.com or 523-2228.


More in News

David Brighton (left) and Leslie Byrd (right) prepare to lead marchers from the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex to Soldotna Creek Park as part of Soldotna Pride in the Park on Saturday, June 3, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna celebrates LGBTQ+ pride

The event featured food trucks, vendors and a lineup of performers that included comedy, drag and music

Judges Peter Micciche, Terry Eubank and Tyler Best sample a salmon dish prepared by chef Stephen Lamm of the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank at Return of the Reds on Saturday, June 3, 2023, at the Kenai City Dock in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai celebrates ‘Return of the Reds’ in food bank fundraiser

Chefs competed for best salmon recipe; fresh-caught fish auctioned

A freshly stocked rainbow trout swims in Johnson Lake during Salmon Celebration on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at Johnson Lake in Kasilof, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Excellent lake fishing, good halibut and slow salmon

Northern Kenai Fishing Report for June 1

Map via Kenai Peninsula Borough.
Assembly to consider emergency service area for Cooper Landing

Borough legislation creating the service area is subject to voter approval

Peter Micciche (center) listens to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly certify the results of the Feb. 14, 2023, special mayoral election, through which he was elected mayor of the Kenai Peninsula Borough, on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Thousands respond to borough services survey

Many of the survey questions focused on the quality of borough roads

Two new cars purchased by the Soldotna Senior Center to support its Meals on Wheels program are parked outside of the center in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 30, 2022.(Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion file)
Soldotna budget defunds area senior center

The unanimous vote came after multiple people expressed concerns about how the center operates

An Epidemiology Bulletin titled “Drowning Deaths in Alaska, 2016-2021” published Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (Screenshot)
Health officials say Alaska leads nation in drowning deaths, urge safe practices

A majority of non-occupational Alaska drownings occur in relation to boating, both for recreation and for subsistence

Chief J.J. Hendrickson plays with Torch the cat at the Kenai Animal Shelter on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna, Kenai to extend animal control partnership

So far this year, the Kenai shelter has served roughly 190 animals

Transportation professionals tour the Sterling Highway and Birch Avenue intersection in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, May 22, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna brainstorming pop-up pedestrian safety project

The temporary project aims to boost pedestrian safety near Soldotna Creek Park

Most Read