Senate finance committee hears that Mount Edgecumbe faces $1.6M shortfall, enrollment drop and urgent maintenance needs

Juneau — Department of Education leaders told the Alaska Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 12 that Mount Edgecumbe High School is operating under immediate financial and facilities stress, with a FY2025 projected shortfall of about $1,600,000, declining enrollment and long‑standing maintenance problems that the department is re‑prioritizing to address.

“[In] our projections that Mount Edgecumbe was going to be $1,600,000 over budget,” Commissioner Dina Bishop said, describing how expiring COVID‑era and one‑time land‑sale dollars masked deficits until the 2024–25 school year. Bishop said one land sale generated roughly $900,000 that was directed back to Mount Edgecumbe’s accounts, and that COVID‑era inflows of “over $5,000,000” in a three‑year span had temporarily concealed operational shortfalls.

Why it matters: Mount Edgecumbe is a state‑operated boarding school with roughly 402 beds intended to serve students from rural Alaska. The committee’s appropriators said they are concerned that sustained use of one‑time funds for recurring costs left the school with structural deficits and eroded upkeep, contributing to the current enrollment and facility problems.

Superintendent David Langford told the committee the school had 311 students at the time of the presentation, a roughly 25% drop in midyear departures compared with prior counts. “We’re counseling and working with every one of our students as a priority,” Langford said, adding that staff have not identified a single dominant reason students left and are tracking departure reasons to inform retention efforts.

Budget and staffing moves: Bishop and Deputy Commissioner Karen Morrison described steps to “rightsize the ship” by protecting classroom instruction where possible. Morrison said the FY26 management plan reflects a look‑back at actual expenditures; the department signaled it trimmed noninstructional positions (including four teacher positions and several administrative/support roles in the prior cycle) and reallocated some services previously paid by the state back to contractors.

Vendor and food service changes: The department ran a request for proposals and awarded a new dorm/food services contract to Nana Management (Nana/NMS). Bishop said review of contracts found state payments for services that were no longer being delivered and that some responsibilities were reassigned to the contractor to reduce state expense. A USDA inspection in 2024 initially identified multiple violations; Bishop said corrective work, deep cleaning and contractor changes reduced those findings to clerical errors on a later follow‑up, and Langford said students report improved meals and portion sizes.

Student supports and programming: Langford described shortfalls in after‑hours supervisory support after three AmeriCorps positions and one Yale fellow position were cut the previous year. He said those positions cost about $18,500 each and provide evening supervision and student engagement that are hard to replace: “The primary role of these people was to do nothing but be with students in the evening,” Langford said. The department said it is pursuing restoring similar supports in next year’s budget.

Facilities and deferred maintenance: Committee members displayed photographs of leaking roofs, dilapidated dorm furniture, broken washers and dryers, outdated mattresses and pest issues. Langford said the school had to replace 40 mattresses and purchase new furniture in December, and the department has identified priority capital projects, including multiple roof replacements planned for the coming summer. Bishop said some major‑maintenance appropriations dating back to 2016 had been sitting with state maintenance accounts and that the department reprioritized available funds to the most urgent projects.

Land and contamination queries: Senators raised parcels conveyed to the state by the Bureau of Indian Affairs that remain contaminated and asked whether the department intends to request cleanup or reuse for teacher housing or program space. Bishop said she toured the sites and would follow up with additional research and options.

Follow‑up and next steps: Committee members requested a three‑ to five‑year look‑back of Edgecumbe’s revenues and expenditures, an asset inventory, student origin and attrition data, the facility master plan and a clearer accounting of how land‑sale and one‑time funds were applied. Bishop and Morrison committed to provide the master plan, management‑plan details and requested data to the committee for review. The committee adjourned without taking formal votes at the conclusion of the presentation.

What the record shows: The committee’s questions focused on the school’s use of one‑time funds for recurring operational costs, contract and vendor transitions, the loss of low‑cost student‑life positions funded by AmeriCorps, the approximately $1.6 million FY2025 shortfall identified by the department, a midyear student count of about 311 and multiple deferred maintenance items identified for reprioritization. The department committed to provide financial detail, student‑count breakdowns, the facility master plan and a list of outstanding capital projects to the committee.

The Senate Finance Committee scheduled further follow‑up work; no formal appropriation or vote was recorded at the Feb. 12 meeting.