The Petersburg School District approved the budget for the next fiscal year on June 30. Due to higher projected student counts, one-time state funding and one-time energy relief funding, the district anticipates receiving roughly $900,000 in additional revenue to spend.
Much of that money comes from the Alaska Legislature’s approval of up to $115 million in one-time funding for districts. But, that funding is contingent on oil prices staying high. The state Department of Revenue has until the end of August to make that determination.
Some of the state’s largest school districts have expressed concern about the delay in knowing whether oil prices will be high enough to deliver all of the funding.
Petersburg School District Finance Director Shannon Baird said the district felt confident enough to build that funding into the budget. If oil prices are too low, she said the district will revise the budget in the fall.
Baird said that additional funding is a big deal in the budgeting process. The school board passed a budget with $12.2 million in revenue. By comparison, the district was budgeting for $11.3 million in revenue in April.
“That’s a big difference for us,” she said during KFSK’s Campus Connection live show. “So, we’ve been able to fit in a lot more in staff.”
The district was able to add seven-and-a-half staff positions to the budget, mostly paraprofessional positions. They were also able to increase the budget for curriculum, student travel, and making copies.
Baird said the district has had to cut back on its copying in recent years, especially color copies. She said that’s been difficult for staff, and the additional funding will make a difference for the students.
“Students want to interact with something that’s engaging, and sometimes, especially at elementary, that means color!” she said.
In April, Baird anticipated a deficit of more than $343,000, but, under the current budget, the deficit has shrunk to $63,900. Baird said that’s a number she’s comfortable with.
“We also usually have a budget-to-actual variance, so that means we don’t spend all the money we budget,” she said. “Budgeting $64,000 more than we have in revenue is, for us, pretty safe, because there’s probably going to be different areas in the budget where we underspend that budget.”
Separate from the budget, the state also approved funding for multiple district capital improvement projects. That included reimbursement money for past projects.
Last summer, the district repaired the high school roof, remodeled the middle and high school office, and began making security upgrades to school doors. Those repairs were paid for by a bond approved by voters a few years ago. The district will receive a 65% reimbursement for those projects from the state.
“That reimbursement means that we’re still able to, in a way, stretch that capital improvement bond that the borough and the voters approved,” Baird said.
The Petersburg Borough will also receive a partial reimbursement for costs to repair the sewer line in the Parks and Recreation aquatic center. The state considers the building a partial school facility.
