Anchorage School District outlines deep FY26 cuts as state funding lags; board hears hours of public testimony

Anchorage — Anchorage School District leadership on Wednesday presented a draft FY26 budget that assumes no new state funding and would require deep cuts across instruction and student services, prompting more than an hour of public testimony and repeated pleas to the Legislature to raise the base student allocation.

Superintendent Dr. Bridal told the board the draft is a ‘‘contingency’’ plan that reflects the district’s legal duty to submit a balanced budget in March while the state appropriation remains uncertain. ‘‘This budget...does not reflect our aspirations as a school district,’’ she said, urging community advocacy for a long‑term fix to the state funding formula.

The district’s chief financial officer, Andy Ratliff, laid out the numbers for the board and public. He said the district is planning for roughly a $43,000,000 drop in revenue from the state compared with the current year, driven by lower enrollment and the absence of one‑time operating grants. The draft budget uses more fund balance than last year and shows a combination of inflationary pressure and lost state funding that leaves the district with hard choices about staff and programs.

Why this matters: Anchorage officials must legally deliver a balanced FY26 budget to the municipality in early March so the city can set tax requests. That calendar forces the district to prepare a budget before the Legislature finishes its appropriation work in late spring; if the Legislature later provides additional money, the district can restore items but cannot guarantee rehiring of people whose jobs were cut.

Key details from the presentation and budget proposal

- Revenue and enrollment: The district reported an enrollment decline of a little over 1,000 students this year and projected a further modest drop next year. That shrinkage is one of the drivers of the roughly $43 million projected reduction in operating revenue.

- Cuts and reallocations: Ratliff identified a combination of enrollment‑driven reductions and targeted program cuts. The draft increases the pupil‑teacher ratio (PTR) by 4 across the district (a measure the district said would reduce roughly 195 teaching positions and carry an estimated $25 million cost when reversing it). The presentation lists proposed reductions to principals, counselors, librarians, nurses, paraprofessionals, noon duties, some custodial and maintenance posts, and district administrative positions. Special education is also affected in the draft; Ratliff said the district reviewed special education positions and that the proposal includes about 54 FTE reductions in that area (including about 24 FTE in gifted program/testing tied to Ignite and Ignite‑adjacent services).

- Athletics and extracurriculars: The draft removes funding for many middle school activities and trims or eliminates several high school sports lines called out by multiple public speakers, including high school swimming, hockey, gymnastics and some club sports. Students and coaches testified that, for many families, high school sports are the only affordable option and are central to students’ wellbeing and scholarship opportunities.

- Nurses and health services: The proposal includes moving some school nurse positions to part‑time in smaller schools. Multiple school nurses and pediatricians told the board this evening that part‑time nursing coverage risks student safety, because medical needs (asthma attacks, seizures, diabetes crises, anaphylaxis) can occur any day and minutes matter.

- One‑time money and the funding formula: The presentation described roughly $49 million in one‑time operating funds that are not included in the FY26 baseline. Ratliff and the superintendent stressed the district cannot reliably budget on uncertain one‑time allocations. The board and administration repeatedly framed the underlying problem as a long‑running erosion of the base student allocation (BSA), the per‑pupil figure set in state law and applied by the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development (DEED).

Legislative bills and possible relief

Administrators and board members flagged several bills in the Alaska Legislature that could materially change the district’s outlook if passed: HB69 (would tie the BSA to recent inflation and would add a one‑time catch‑up amount), and HB76 with companion SB82 (a governor‑backed package that includes a $450 per K‑6 reading proficiency incentive, changes to correspondence funding, a proposed teacher recruitment bonus and adjustments to transportation and CTE multipliers). Ratliff showed an illustrative scenario in which passage of HB69 would allow the district to restore some reductions but still require use of fund balance in the near term.

Public testimony and community concerns

The board set an expanded public comment period and reduced individual time to two minutes because of the large turnout. More than 100 speakers testified. Several themes dominated testimony:

- Language immersion programs: Teachers, parents and students from French, Russian, German and Chinese immersion classes repeatedly implored the board not to cut immersion teacher FTEs, warning that immersion hires often require international recruitment and J‑1 visas and that late funding decisions would make rehiring impossible. ‘‘You can’t undo this later if the money comes in,’’ said several parents; multiple speakers said the district must fund immersion teacher hires now to meet visa timelines.

- Ignite and gifted services: Parents and district staff described Ignite as a critical enrichment and identification program for gifted students. The draft cuts would eliminate some Ignite positions; parents and teachers argued that the program serves students who otherwise become disengaged.

- Athletics and student wellbeing: Dozens of high school and middle school athletes and coaches—many students from swim, hockey and gymnastics programs—urged preserving sports that students and families said improve mental and physical health and create scholarship pathways. ‘‘Please keep high school swimming on the budget,’’ said Andy, a Diamond High junior and three‑year team member.

- Deaf and hard‑of‑hearing services: Staff and families from the Alaska State School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing warned that losing the school counselor and ASL‑fluent intervention coach would break specialized supports for a low‑incidence, high‑need population. ‘‘Their skills and highly specialized positions are irreplaceable,’’ said Amy Bobich, who described classroom experience teaching combinations of pre‑K to grade 1 alone and urged visits to the school to see the work it performs.

Facility requests and repurposing proposals

Public speakers also pressed for specific facility moves and repurposing: parents and APC representatives urged the board to move Rilke/Rilka (district transcript used several spellings) German Immersion School into the vacant Lake Hood Elementary facility to save roughly $1,000,000 a year in rent; Highland Academy supporters urged relocation to Nunaka/Nenaka Valley Elementary to gain a gym and more classrooms; and Anchorage Stream Academy urged the board to repurpose Nunaka for a middle school stream program. Administrators said the district would evaluate repurposing requests as part of a larger rightsizing conversation but that any move must balance enrollment, timing and logistics.

Board actions during the meeting

The board adopted the evening agenda with amendments to postpone one monitoring item to March and to move another agenda item to the March meeting. The consent agenda passed by roll call.

What happens next

Administrators reiterated the district must submit a balanced budget to the municipality by the first Monday in March. Board members and the superintendent urged community members to contact state legislators and the governor to press for an increase to the BSA or passage of bills that would add recurring, inflation‑adjusted funding. If the Legislature increases funding after the district files its March budget, administrators said the board could restore positions and programs where possible—but several speakers warned that late additions would not undo the hiring and visa timing problems for immersion teachers or quickly restore programs that require programmatic lead time.

The board did not vote on the proposed cuts themselves; this meeting was a public presentation and comment session. The district will continue budget work and return to the board with proposed final actions that will be revisited as state appropriations become clearer.

Ending note

Administrators and board members emphasized the same constraint: the district’s statutory calendar and the unpredictability of state appropriations force the board to prepare conservative, balanced plans now while asking the public to press the Legislature for sustainable, inflation‑sensitive funding.