Ketchikan school board approves FY2025–26 budget on first reading amid public criticism and state‑funding uncertainty

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School Board voted 5–1 on April 23 to approve the district's proposed FY2025–26 budget on first reading, moving the measure to a second reading next week while several community members raised detailed objections about missing numbers, internal inconsistencies and possible misuse of restricted funds.

Business manager Daniel Schueller presented the budget and told the board the draft uses a set of assumptions about state funding when calculating revenues. Schueller said the draft assumes a Base Student Allocation (BSA) increase that local advocates have discussed with legislators and that the borough will provide the ordinance‑level in‑kind contributions the district requested; he cautioned that the final state appropriation remained uncertain. "What I can speak to is the fact that that is the beginning fund balance for fiscal year 25–26; that does not mean that this budget is in deficit," Schueller said during the meeting, explaining that the negative beginning balance…