Ketchikan school board approves 2025–26 budget after public hearing on cuts and accounting errors

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District Board of Education approved the district's proposed fiscal year 2025'26 budget in a 6'1 vote Thursday after a public hearing during which residents raised questions about program cuts, apparent calculation errors and missing fund breakdowns.

The budget passed on a second-reading motion, with Board Member Steve Thomas moving the measure and Paul Robbins Jr. seconding. The roll call vote recorded six yes votes and one no, with Board Member Ali Ginter opposed.

At the public hearing, Sherry Montgomery urged the board to hold staff accountable and questioned whether the district's actions matched the commitments listed on its website. Montgomery told the board: "Accountability is when you accept responsibility for the consequences of your actions, your words, decisions, good or bad." She argued the board should "raise the bar and make your decisions and your employees meet the extra expectations of your greatest resource the people."

A second resident who identified several line-item and program concerns told the board the second draft differed substantially from the earlier…