Budget focus of Assembly conclave with school board

DAWN De BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - If a bill that creates a windfall of $7.3 million for the Mat-Su Borough School District passes through the state Senate, the school district may be able to begin adding more classes, such as foreign languages, to next year's curriculum. That is, if the Mat-Su Borough Assembly approves maximum funding for the district.

Discussion about the annual budget is expected to take place at the Assembly's joint meeting with the school board, which is set to take place at 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 8, in the Assembly chambers. Other issues on the agenda for the joint meeting include the Settlers Bay and South Palmer school sites, consolidation of services, school bonds and the site selection process.

House Bill 1, introduced by state Rep. Carl Gatto, R-District 13, creates additional funding for the school district above the amount originally introduced by Gov. Frank Murkowski.

The bill would increase by $343 the per-student allotment. This increases the base student allocation to $4,919. The projected enrollment for 2006 in the Mat-Su Borough School District is 15,559 students.

"It's over $1 million that we hadn't anticipated," said Jack Sherman, MSBSD superintendent of business, adding that he expects this bill to pass through the Senate. "I think they're happy with the number, $4,919."

This bill passed through all the committees of the state House last month; and right now, it faces the Senate Finance Committee.

If the Senate approves the school funding bill this month, those funds will be available July 1.

"This extra money would offset budget cuts by the borough," said Sherman.

If the borough approves maximum funding for the school district, the extra money from the state will allow the school district to hire extra teachers for the 2006/2007 school year, to instruct classes that haven't been offered due to budget constraints.

The governor's budget proposal, which offered a figure of $4,576 per student, would have held the school district at status quo with no need to cut any current programs, Sherman said.

"There has been a concerted effort around the state to get a budget that was equal to or greater than the governor," Sherman said.

The school board will convene a public hearing on the fiscal year 2006 budget forecast at 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 16, in the school board room at Palmer High School.