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Sitka School Board reports Juneau advocacy; assembly copies resolution supporting House Bill 69
Summary
The Sitka School Board updated the assembly on a February advocacy trip to Juneau and urged broader community outreach on education funding. Board President Phil Burdick praised student testimony and said the district's budget is largely personnel costs. The assembly later adopted a resolution supporting House Bill 69 on first and final reading.
Phil Burdick, Sitka School Board president, briefed the assembly Feb. 25 on recent advocacy work in Juneau and the district’s budget challenges.
Burdick said the board traveled to Juneau Feb. 8–12 to meet with legislators and that students who joined the trip provided powerful testimony before the education committee. “They all came in and did an amazing job testifying,” Burdick said, naming students from Pacific High School and Sitka High School who testified.
Burdick said the district is examining efficiency measures but that roughly 80–85% of the Sitka School District budget is personnel costs, leaving limited non-personnel areas to cut. He described an upcoming annual tribal consultation and joint work session with the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the Alaska Association of School Boards as part of district planning.
At the same meeting, the assembly approved a resolution copied from the school district supporting House Bill 69 on first and final reading. Assembly discussion accompanying the resolution emphasized outreach to legislators and concern that many districts are similarly underfunded. The motion to approve the resolution passed on a roll call vote of 6-0.
No changes to district policy were made at the assembly meeting; the presentation was informational and the resolution indicates municipal support for the state bill.
