
Petersburg School District Finance Director Shannon Baird will present a revision of the 2024 budget to the Petersburg School Board tonight.
The district spent less than expected this year. That’s partly because the district makes a habit of being financially conservative. It’s also because the number of students enrolled in the district went up. The State of Alaska gives school districts money per number of enrolled students, something called Base Student Allocation, or BSA.
When the district made its budget last year, it didn’t factor in any state funding increase beyond the standard BSA. The state legislature passed a one-time funding increase to school districts. While Governor Mike Dunleavy cut that funding increase in half with a line-item veto, it was still money the school district had not counted on.
The district also has a lot of grants this year that are covering operations costs that would normally come out of the general fund. [WEB:That means that the funds in the budget aren’t necessarily representative of what’s available to the school district each year.]
Finance Director Baird is recommending that the district carry forward the money not allocated in the budget as a beginning balance for next year. The money can also be used for unexpected expenses, and Baird says it’s good practice to have at least one month’s operating costs available.
Also on the school board’s meeting agenda, the middle school robotics team will present on competing at the FIRST LEGO League Challenge in Juneau this weekend. Participants build and program small LEGO robots that then compete in challenges. Each year the event centers around a different theme. This year competitors imagined new ways to create and communicate art around the world.
The school board will meet in the middle and high school library at 6 p.m. tonight. The meeting will be broadcast live on KFSK. A link to the agenda can be found on the community calendar at kfsk.org.