Assembly directs FY‑26 school funding plan, approves FY‑25 supplemental aid and ratifies a district technology lease

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly moved April 7 to give the school district immediate financial certainty while directing staff to prepare a FY‑26 funding ordinance that preserves a local education fund floor and phases funding for the coming year.

In a work session the assembly approved a FY‑25 supplemental funding package the borough will introduce April 21 that provides roughly $453,000 in cash to the school district and an additional in‑kind appropriation (debt forgiveness and accounting treatment) of about $485,000. That supplemental was approved by the assembly at the meeting’s close.

Simultaneously, the assembly directed staff to prepare a FY‑26 school funding ordinance that uses 90% of a $5,960 base student allocation (BSA) for preliminary budgeting — a step the assembly said would preserve the borough’s $2,000,000 local education fund (LEF) floor and allow the borough time to resolve budget risks tied to uncertain state revenues (Secure Rural Schools and other state actions).

Why it matters: the district faces continuing shortfalls and cash pressures that have prompted budget cuts, potential teacher reductions and personnel decisions — including the need for a special school…