Assembly advances $ study for Sitka childcare on first reading

The Sitka City and Borough Assembly on Jan. 13 advanced Ordinance 2026-1, a first-reading vote to make supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2026 to fund a contracted childcare needs assessment. The motion passed on a 7-0 roll call and the ordinance will return for second reading on Jan. 27.

Sponsors told the assembly the study would identify Sitka’s childcare needs and possible solutions before any funding mechanism is adopted. "The whole purpose of this big picture is to pay for a study, to look at the need and look at possible solutions," a sponsoring assembly member said during the introduction, noting the community’s ongoing meetings on childcare.

Multiple community members urged approval and recommended inclusive outreach. "This study would help answer some of those questions and move us forward in the right direction," said Deidre Jensen, superintendent of the Sitka School District, adding that childcare affects student counts and staff labor. Early Childhood Coalition members and local providers praised Blue Scheibler’s experience; Annette Evans urged the assembly to fund the contracted study so the city can identify sustainable, collaborative solutions.

Speakers addressed scope and outreach. Lauren Wild asked that engagement sessions include community agency partners such as the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the Center for Community Early Learning; Margaret Golanan and others recommended expanding the number and type of stakeholder meetings beyond the two engagement meetings described in the memo. Assembly sponsors said they would ask the contractor to include additional partners and that any minor scope changes could likely be absorbed within contracted services.

Assembly members also discussed summer capacity, provider wages, facility locations and how money would increase childcare capacity. One member said that while direct grants to providers (for example, $25,000) are attractive, the assembly must first understand where funding would have the most effect so the city does not “throw money in the spots that we don't need to.” Another member said the study is intended to inform decisions on sustainable funding mechanisms to be considered later, possibly ahead of upcoming elections.

The ordinance’s first reading passed unanimously. The assembly directed staff to follow up on outreach language and scope questions with the proposed contractor. Second reading is scheduled for Jan. 27.