Key takeaways:

School Board Passes Memo to Apply $11.6M in New State Funding to the 2026-27 School Year Budget
New funds will support 59+ new teacher positions, ELA curriculum pilot, 5.5 school-based nurse FTE, additional activity funds, and more

Superintendent Says Additional $37M in One-Time Funds Possible but Still Unknown
State did not respond to request to provide oil revenue projections ahead of the August 31 deadline

On Tuesday, July 7, 2026, the Anchorage School Board held a Special Work Session at 5:30 p.m., followed by a Special Board meeting at 6:30 p.m. 

Work sessions, committee meetings, and Board meetings are open to the public. Meetings take place at the Education Center and can be watched live or on demand on the District’s YouTube Channel.

Anchorage School Board Resources:

Calendar of upcoming meetings

School Board meeting agendas

The Special Board Work Session agenda and the School Board meeting agenda are available to review. Recordings of the Special Work Session and Board Meeting are available for playback. Both meetings provided the opportunity for discussion on the topic of Budget Revision.  

Board Meeting 

The agenda as amended was approved by the Board. 

Public Comment

Superintendent Update

During his Superintendent's Update, Dr. Jharrett Bryantt thanked the Alaska State Legislature and the Governor for approving the FY27 State budget, which provides approximately $11.6 million in new funding for the Anchorage School District. Because the State budget was approved after the Anchorage School Board adopted its FY27 budget, the Board considered a budget revision to direct the new funding toward immediate priorities.

Dr. Bryantt explained that the largest investment would restore more than 50 classroom teaching positions, helping reduce class sizes and preserve educational opportunities for students. Other recommended investments included funding for a potential grades 6-10 English Language Arts curriculum adoption, increased Alaska Middle College tuition costs, charter school adjustments, student activities, special education support, and several operational needs.

While expressing appreciation for the additional State support, Dr. Bryantt emphasized that nearly all of the new funding is one-time funding, not a permanent increase. As a result, the funding helps address immediate needs but does not resolve ASD's long-term structural budget challenges.

He explained that additional one-time State funding could become available following the Department of Revenue's August 31 revenue determination. However, the uncertainty surrounding that timeline makes staffing and program planning significantly more difficult.

Dr. Bryantt noted that he and School Board President Carl Jacobs recently sent a letter to the Department of Revenue requesting earlier revenue projections to provide school districts with better planning certainty.

"The timing of these dollars matters immensely because school districts need time to hire teachers, plan programs, and prepare. Unfortunately, it does not seem that the state is inclined to provide oil revenue projections ahead of that August 31 deadline."

Looking ahead, Dr. Bryantt said the Board and Administration will continue balancing two priorities: restoring targeted reductions where possible while remaining mindful of the District's projected FY28 structural deficit of more than $45 million. He cautioned that every one-time dollar spent on recurring expenses this year increases the budget gap that must be addressed in future years.

Following the Superintendent's remarks, Chief Financial Officer Andrew Ratliff presented the Administration's recommended budget revisions based on the newly approved State funding.

State Funding Bills

HB 263 – Energy Relief

Passed May 20, 2026, HB 263 provides $5,539,634 in one-time energy relief funding for ASD during FY2026-27.

HB 28 – Required Local Contribution Cap

HB 28 limits annual increases to the Required Local Contribution (RLC) to four percent beginning in FY2026-27, resulting in an estimated $6,119,153 increase in State funding for ASD.

ASD Memorandum #006 – Recommended Budget Revisions

The Administration's recommendations included $6.82 million to restore 50.5 teacher FTE, $2.79 for English Language Arts Curriculum, $0.44 million in additional funds for Alaska Middle College, $0.44 million for Charter Schools, $0.46 for Activities Addenda. The full details of the recommendation is available in the memorandum.

Full presentation from the Superintendent Update

Action Items

ASD Memorandum #006   FY 2026-2027 BUDGET REVISION

The Board voted 6-1 to approve a revision to the General Fund budget in the amount of $11,658,787 to allocate the initial funds approved by the State and increasing the total General Fund budget to $616,199,673 with an overall upper limit spending authority of $881,865,741, as amended.

The approved memo included the following three approved amendments:

1.  Lessens Amendment 1 (as amended)  Strikes the “English Language Arts Grades 6-10 Curriculum - $2,786,873” bullet point and supporting language on page 2 and replace with:

• $1,202,040 for 9 additional classroom teacher holdback FTE to address class size bubbles and scheduling conflicts at all levels 
• $715,000 to restore 5.5 school-based Nurse FTE and permit a FY27 pilot of a fully staffed regional nursing model 
• $187,000 to restore Riflery and the Dome for FY27 
• $52,000 to restore student transportation for the Career Expo & UAA visits 
• $5,000 to restore Freshman First Day expenses 
• $833 to restore reductions from student supplies 
• $625,000 for ELA (English Language Arts) grades 6–10 curriculum pilot materials 

During discussion, Board members said reducing the proposed funding for a districtwide grades 6-10 English Language Arts curriculum adoption would allow the district to conduct an FY27 pilot while providing additional time for public review and community discussion before considering full implementation. 

2. Move to Strike the words "Savvas: My Perspectives" from the seventh bullet point and replace with "ELA (English Languages Arts)" and to further strike the fourth paragraph, which begins, "The curriculum review process" and everything afterwards, from the Lessens amendment 1.

3. Move to strike the Alaska Middle College (AMC) appropriation of $437,000 from ASD Memorandum #006.

Member Paul McDonogh brought forward the AMC funding strike, saying it had not received sufficient public review or prior board discussion and therefore should be deferred for additional consideration. During discussion, the Board determined the Finance Committee would hold a special meeting to address the removal of the Alaska Middle College funding and how to move forward. The motion was adopted by a vote of 5-2. 

A third motion by Member McDonogh failed by a vote of 3-4 to replace all staffing and expenditure allocations in Lessens Amendment 1 with "$2,786,873 to fund the restoration of the Campbell STEM Elementary School." 

This report is from the ASD Administration and summarizes what was presented to the Board during each meeting. We hope that you find these updates valuable. As always, we welcome your feedback and thoughts at TeamASD@asdk12.org.