Despite veto override, budget cuts will remain for MSBSD

As the first meeting of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) kicked off, on most board members minds was much the same during the last school board meeting in June—education funding.

During the Juneau Legislative Update to the school board, Ben Mohr gave a better picture of what happened during the special session that Governor Mike Dunleavy called earlier this month, telling the members that there was no debate or conversation leading up to the vote to override the Governor’s veto to education funding when he approved the state budget earlier this summer.

“It was a very quick special joint session,” Mohr reported, adding that afterward, the bodies returned to their respective chambers and passed a resolution to recess until August 19.

“I think he (Governor Dunleavy) underestimated the groundswell of not only the Democrats, but also the Republicans,” said Eldon Mulder via telephone to the school board about the veto override. “They were ready to move on.”

The governor had introduced three education bills for consideration during the special session, but Mohr said that currently there are no committee hearings scheduled and that the legislature pointed to the task force they decided to form late last spring. That task force is charged with looking at education funding and some education policy.

“Seeing the tension between the executive branch and legislative branch right now would suggest the bills will probably not be passed, not even likely to be hear with the legislative branch differing to the task force,” Mohr said.

Governor Dunleavy had previously said he is not opposed to increasing education funding, but that it must be tied to education reforms.

Despite the veto override by the Alaska legislation, which restored funding, Superintendent Dr. Randy Trani talked further about what the veto override means for the Mat-Su Borough, saying that it is likely the district will likely move forward with planned budget cuts despite the veto override, which is set to restore $7.1M in funding.

“What really happened was not an increase in funding for the Mat-Su…The veto override essentially equates to nearly flat funding for us.” said Dr. Trani. Flat funding still requires cuts due to inflation

He went on to say that when the regular legislative session ended and the Governor’s veto, the idea of the veto override seemed low. “We began making cuts and implementing measures to cover what would have been $7.1 million dollars in additional cuts.” He said that has been asked if the district plans to add the items cut back in, to which he indicated there is no such plan at this time.

Dr. Trani told the school board that there have already been cuts to staffing, with nearly 160 positions, as well as fiscal cuts across the MSBSD.

“We knew what the cuts were going to be. It was 159 positions, and between 15-20% budget reductions across all departments and schools.”

Other cuts Dr. Trani mentioned during his brief include reducing a dozen bus routes, stating that transportation was already underfunded by nearly $5M this year.

The depth of the current cuts will depend upon student enrollment, which he reported was sitting at 15,931.25 students registered and verified as of August 6.

“It is exactly like watching salmon runs on the Little Su or the Kenai. We’re watching the student sonar every day, and the fish are coming up.” Dr. Trani said that current projections for student enrollment sit at 19,164, and remains positive about student enrollment, though ultimately the district will have a better idea of enrollment at the end of the October count period.