After a successful vote of the Alaska Legislature reversed Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of $50 million education funding on Saturday, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education said it’ll need some time to understand what an increase of $3 million means locally.
The Legislature in May passed an education bill that, among other things, increased per-student funding from the state by $700, to $6,660. Dunleavy in June vetoed money in the budget to reduce the increase to $500 — less than school districts received in one-time funding last year. In July, Dunleavy called a special session of the Legislature and asked Republican lawmakers to skip the first few days to preempt a veto override attempt, but an override was narrowly successful on Saturday.
The school district this year implemented deep cuts to staffing and programs in the face of a $17 million deficit. The veto override means roughly $3 million additional dollars, beyond what was projected in the district’s finalized budget last month, will be coming to the Kenai Peninsula from the state. KPBSD Board of Education President Zen Kelly cautioned against swiftly reversing some of the cuts made this year.
“We do have this additional money coming,” he said. “What happens is, we start to approach to dip into that pot, and I think it needs some time.”
He said that the board’s finance committee would consider what should be done with the increased funding — like reversing cuts, meeting the demands of union negotiations and restoring the district’s deeply dwindled fund balance — at their next meeting in September.
The district also in July received notice that it would be receiving another $3 million in federal grant funding that previously had been frozen by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
KPBSD Superintendent Clayton Holland said those grant funds are specific to multiple programs, including migrant education, Indigenous education and English language learning. The delay of those dollars “definitely has impacted our staffing and program planning,” he said, but is working quickly to move those programs forward.
The school board will meet next on Sept. 8 in Seward. Agendas and a livestream link can be found at the KPBSD BoardDocs website.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
