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School board restores counselors, tutors and music staff in FY27 budget amid tense line‑by‑line debate
Summary
After hours of line‑by‑line debate, the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District board approved multiple FY27 budget amendments to restore counselors, classroom tutors, behavior support technicians, expanded music staffing and a communications specialist; the board recessed to reconvene March 18 to finalize the resolution.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District board spent much of its March 17 meeting debating and approving a string of amendments to the FY27 recommended budget, restoring dozens of staff positions the administration had proposed for partial or delayed return.
School finance staff opened deliberations by presenting a baseline “balancing act” scenario that assumed $64.55 million in local contribution and outlined a set of restorations and a modest top-line surplus for the board to allocate. “Virtually zero of you are going to agree 100% with this scenario. That’s not the point,” the finance presenter said as he framed the tool the board would use to make trade-offs.
From that starting point the board approved a series of motions by roll call or voice vote. Key approved amendments included restoring additional school counselors (.5 FTE positions at several…
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