The Juneau School District Budget Committee received the administration’s proposed budget for the 2012-13 school year on Tuesday, January 17. The committee takes public testimony and begins its discussion of the preliminary draft of the FY 2013 budget, on Tuesday, January 24, at 6:00 pm in the Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School Library. The draft budget is available on Our Budget page.

The proposed budget balances the expected $73,046,516 operating budget revenues with expenditures for the next fiscal year. A decline in student enrollment, a drop in the total revenues the school district receives, along with increasing operational costs, and the need to begin replacing outdated curriculum and technology have resulted in an estimated $5.8 million shortfall in the coming year.

According to Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich, “The current level of funding available for next year represents an unprecedented level of program and personnel cuts.  These reductions will be felt at every level of our school district.”

The Budget Committee will be looking at how best to balance the budget while at the same time maintaining a focus on increasing achievement and success for all students.

Proposed Changes

The proposal attempts to minimize cuts to the classroom, taking the largest percentage of reductions from administration for the second year in a row. The reductions impact every level of the district. With 90% of the budget dedicated to personnel, the reductions come from all employee groups, cutting top managers 16.7%, administrators 12.7%, exempt staff 12.5%, support staff 10.8%, and teaching staff 6.9%. It includes an increase in the pupil teacher ratio (PTR) at each grade level by two students, unless additional funding becomes available.

Public Process

The 16-member budget committee is chaired by Board of Education member Barbara Thurston and includes School Board Members Phyllis Carlson, Mark Choate, Sean O’Brien, Kim Poole, Andi Story and Sally Saddler; community members Laurie Berg, Rebecca Braun, Brian Holst, Laird Jones, Bill Martin, Richard Monkman and Mark Smith; and Juneau School District employee group representatives Mike Heiman of the Juneau Education Association and Billy Richardson from Juneau Educational Support Staff.

The public is encouraged to participate in the proposal review process. Questions, suggestions or comments can be given verbally during public testimony at the meeting or in writing to budgetinput@jsd.k12.ak.us. 

FOR MORE BUDGET INFORMATION SEE OUR BUDGET PAGE