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Kodiak activities director outlines participation, fundraising and fees as board eyes budget decisions
Summary
Activities Director Deborah Rohrer told the board that roughly half of students participate in sports or activities and described $100,000 in raffle fundraising plus lost Bears Den revenue of about $45,000; trustees pressed for clearer program-by-program funding as they consider FY27 cuts.
Deborah Rohrer, the districts activities director, gave a year-end summary to the Kodiak Island Borough School District Board on June 1, reporting participation, fundraising and funding arrangements for athletics and activities. She said middle school enrollment was about 390 and the high school about 500, and that rosters produced totals of 347 middle-school and 434 high-school activity entries (with many students counted more than once because they participate in multiple programs).
Rohrer said eligibility rules require a minimum 2.0 GPA and no failing classes for students to compete, while they may still practice. She stressed that the often-cited $900,000 figure represents the entire activities budget (including coaches stipends, insurance and the activities directors compensation), and that the amount specifically budgeted for travel expenses was $402,000 by her accounting.
On fundraising, Rohrer told trustees the community raised roughly $58,000 in a first raffle and about $44,000 in a second raffle, "Pretty impressive that those two raffles, our community raised $100,000," she said. She added that the Bears Den food-service closure reduced booster-club income by about $45,000 this year.
Board members pressed for transparency and program-level detail. Trustee Mike Litzow asked for a breakdown of program-by-program expenditures and for a way to present the data in monthly financials; Krista Cowley, chief financial officer, said administration could include that detail in board financial reports. Trustees also questioned the decade-old district allocation formula (described by Rohrer as a 55-percent funding rule set roughly 10 years ago) and discussed revisiting that approach.
The board and Rohrer discussed fees and access. Rohrer said AK Teach and other homeschool students are allowed to participate and that the board earlier approved activity fees. For FY27 she indicated an activity fee of $250 for enrolled AK Teach and brick-and-mortar students and an added $250 for other homeschool students; waivers are handled administratively to avoid excluding students for financial need. "There is always a way. We will not not allow a student to participate," Rohrer said.
Trustees also raised staffing, travel and officials shortages. Rohrer described roughly 41 paid high-school coaches and 18 paid middle-school coaches plus volunteers, and said the district is sometimes required to fly in officials because of a local shortage. She suggested building local capacity (training and stipends) as a longer-term solution.
Why it matters: Activities are highly visible to the community and are partly self-funded through raffles, booster fundraising and event revenues. Trustees signaled they want clearer transparency on what the district funds directly versus what teams raise, even as they weigh district-wide budget reductions.
