March 11 JSD Budget Update

March 11, 2024 – News

The Juneau School District has launched a special newsletter to keep the community informed of ongoing efforts to address the shortfall in the current FY24 budget and develop a new budget for FY25. The latest update is included below, addressing proposed amendements to the reconfiguration/consolidation model.

Newsletter updates are available after each budget meeting. To receive these updates as soon as they are available, download the free Juneau Borough Schools App from the App Store or Google Play and follow “District”. You can also visit the Juneau School District website and click on the 2024 Budget Information tile to read the newsletter as a PDF.

Board Member Frommherz submits new model & non-adopted model for reconsideration

The Board of Education voted 4-3 to suspend Board Bylaw 9322, to allow Member Frommherz to make a motion to amend the previously adopted organization plan for schools next year and place the topic on the next meeting’s agenda which will take place on Tuesday, March 12 at 6:00 p.m. in the JDHS Auditorium. Member Amber Frommherz submitted the following Amendments to the Reconfiguration/Consolidation Model for the 2024-25 School Year and will be presenting them at the meeting.

Model: K-5, 6-7, 8-12

Model: K-6, 7-12

Reconfiguration/Consolidation Model S.1.B – Amended

See Zoom meeting links at the end of this newsletter.

FY25 budget proposal introduced March 7

District administration presented a balanced budget proposal for the 2024-25 school year to the Board of Education on Thursday evening. The budget presents a spending plan based on a projected enrollment of 4,025 students, including 100 Intensive students, 84 Integrated Pre-K students (0.5 ADM), and 186 HomeBRIDGE homeschool students (0.9 ADM). The projected enrollment represents a loss of 140 students or -3.4% from FY 2024 (October 2024 Enrollment Forecast). The budget is built on a static level of state funding through the Base Student Allocation (BSA) of $5,960, and school consolidations as currently approved by the Board.

The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) has historically provided the maximum allowed local contribution, as specified in the state foundation funding formula. This proposed budget assumes that continued support and reflects a $3,656,239 increase in local contribution to $34,432,039, which is the maximum allowed local contribution for FY 2025. The maximum allowed local contribution from CBJ has increased for the 2024-25 school year based on the 2023 full and true value of taxable property.

The 2024-25 Operating Fund estimated revenue totals $67,827,373, a decrease of $(7,394,327) or -9.83% from the 2023-24 adopted Operating Fund Budget. The 2023-24 Operating Fund Budget contained material overstatement of revenue and understatement of expenditures.

It will take a combination of solutions to resolve the long-term effects of the District’s financial position. Immediate cuts to current operations and larger structural changes to reduce costs, including consolidations and closures, have been made to provide ongoing savings. Reconfiguration maintains as much support, opportunity, and programming for students as possible.

Although the board-adopted reorganization plan has prevented pupil-teacher ratios (PTRs) from skyrocketing, PTRs will still need to rise at all levels to meet the demands of a balanced budget and to make efficient use of school facilities.

The PTR used to calculate the classroom teacher allocation for the FY 2025 proposed budget is as follows: K-3 26.00, 4-6 30.00, 7-8 30.00, 9-12 30.00.

The District anticipates the budget environment over the next five years will be difficult. The State of Alaska continues to struggle with its constitutional obligation to adequately fund public education in Alaska. The Juneau School District faces continued inflationary pressures on personnel and other costs, combined with ongoing decreasing enrollment projections. Beginning with the 2025-26 school year, the Board of Education must also plan for repayment of its 2023-2024 loan.

Proposed FY25 budget

FY24 budget revision

The material overstatement of revenue and understatement of expenditures in the adopted current year 2023-24 Operating Fund Budget, coupled with an audited negative fund balance on June 30, 2023, of $(1,947,423), put the District in an extremely challenging budget scenario.

Current District administration has aggressively identified savings, adopted cost-saving measures, and worked with District partners, including CBJ, to address the ongoing district budget crisis. The Board of Education asked the CBJ Assembly for a 0%, five-year loan of up to $4.1 million and a shared-services agreement to provide for non-instructional costs attributed to the maintenance, utilities, and insurance on public facilities owned by CBJ and to provide for non-instructional costs for operations related to community-sponsored events, activities, and facility rentals.

On March 4, 2024, the CBJ Assembly voted to approve the $4.1 million loan and in support of non-instructional, shared services.

Ongoing effort and collaboration could ensure that the deficit is eliminated through Board action by June 30, 2024.

Community outreach and transparency

Between January and March 2024, the District and Board of Education held numerous budget, finance committee, public input, staff, and board meetings to garner community, staff, and student feedback on the district’s budget and on reorganization models.

The Board of Education held 15 public meetings on the budget and district reorganization between January 9 to March 7, 2024. Superintendent Hauser presented at each meeting. Each meeting was publicly noticed, meeting recordings were posted on the website, and packets of meeting materials were posted on the Board of Education page.
Questions and answers were posted on the district website and answered during public meetings. A variety of informational documents were posted in the Budget Information page linked to the district homepage.
Four community and staff input sessions were hosted and facilitated by the Alaska Family Engagement Center in partnership with the District on January 31 and February 2, 5 and 6. Approximately 300 participants attended these sessions at the Virtual, Thunder Mountain, Yaada.at Kalé, and Staff sessions.
A JSD Budget Survey received 595 responses. 32% of respondents were from staff or families with students attending Thunder Mountain. Yaakoosge, HomeBridge, Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen Elementary School had the least representation on the survey.
The Tlingit and Haida Office of the President and Cultural Heritage and Education Division hosted a Community Conversation on the District budget and reorganization, at which Superintendent Hauser presented and answered questions. More than 160 participants attended. Tlingit and Haida also circulated surveys to those in attendance, including Tribal citizens, parents, extended family, community members, and students.
A JSD 2024 & 2025 Budget Feedback and Questions form online received 168 responses. All feedback was shared with the Board of Education and questions were used to develop informational presentations. Respondents were 72% parents/guardians, 35.1% staff, 12.5% community members, and 4.2% students. Some respondents represented multiple categories.
The District [email protected] email received more than 350 messages during January and February 2024.
The District launched a new Budget Update newsletter that was sent out to staff and families after budget meetings to keep the community informed. Seven issues were published, and each included links to meeting recordings, meeting schedules, budget information documents, survey links, meeting links, and model information to make it easy for members of the public to find information. District announcements, including the newsletter, were also sent out through the Juneau Borough Schools App and CBJ social media accounts.
Superintendent Hauser sent multiple budget messages to families and staff to communicate important updates throughout the process. He attended all board and public meetings, as well as staff meetings, site council meetings, and student council meetings. He also hosted a staff question-and-answer session in the Thunder Mountain High School auditorium.

In addition, the District and Board of Education engaged extensively with the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly.

A special joint meeting was held between the Assembly and Board of Education on January 30, 2024.
Meetings of the CBJ Assembly regarding the school district budget and the Board of Education response were held on February 7, February 12, February 23, February 26, and March 4, 2024. See agenda packets and recordings at juneau-ak.municodemeetings.com.
CBJ issued five press releases between January 19 and February 27. These notices, as well as information on upcoming Board of Education meetings and Assembly meetings, were also disseminated on the CBJ Facebook page.
The CBJ Assembly has received extensive community response regarding the Board of Education decisions.

Upcoming meetings

Board of Education Work Session

Topic: JSD Transition – Logistics/Planning Discussion for Board-Adopted Reorganization Plan, including final summary of Non-Board-Adopted Models

Tuesday, March 12, 4:30 pm – 5:45 pm

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kale Auditorium

Zoom: https://juneauschools-org.zoom.us/j/84174288537?pwd=UmJpR3grR0pWdEQ5aXpvdW9KT3Rzdz09

Board of Education Regular Meeting

Topics: First reading of amendments to reconfiguration/consolidation model

Second reading of the FY25 budget

Tuesday, March 12, 6 p.m.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kale Auditorium

Zoom: https://juneauschools-org.zoom.us/j/89715156521?pwd=ZTZXdXBIRzNvZ290V2FEL3Y0OFBDQT09