Anchorage School Board directs cuts planning, authorizes hiring freeze after governor veto

The Anchorage School Board on June 12 directed district administration to prepare a list of potential additional budget reductions and authorized a hiring freeze after Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s line-item veto reduced the statutory Base Student Allocation (BSA) funding that the legislature approved this spring.

Superintendent Doctor Bryant warned the board the information was "hot off the press" and said the Legislature’s override had put a $700 BSA increase into law but the governor funded only $500, leaving districts statewide with about $200 per student to find. "This is an education emergency," Bryant said.

The board’s action requires the administration to produce a menu of possible reductions prior to the board’s second meeting in December, so the board can deliberate if the Legislature does not successfully override the veto by the board-set deadline tied to the next legislative convening. The board also voted to authorize the superintendent to implement a hiring freeze on selected positions "as a result of Governor Dunleavy’s veto of the FY26 base student allocation," a measure the superintendent said he expects to use to limit harm to classroom jobs.

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