School board approves budget

March 20, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - The Mat-Su Borough School Board approved a budget last week for the 2005-2006 school year that contains more than $166 million in total expenditures.

The approved budget requests roughly $40 million from the Mat-Su Borough, with most of the remaining funds coming from state and federal contributions.

The budget now moves on to the Mat-Su Borough Assembly for final approval. Assembly members, however, traditionally wait to find out what state funding levels will be before they approve the education budget.

State legislators are still hammering out their statewide education funding levels for next year. Depending on how long the state takes, Assembly Member Bill Allen said earlier this month that it could be as late as May 31 before the borough passes its final budget.

School districts statewide are waiting anxiously for the state to pass House Bill 1, which was recently tied to controversial proposed changes in retirement benefits for state employees, a move that could slow passage of education funding.

School Board President Mike Chmielewski said earlier this week that he expects it will be a little longer before the borough gets a final number from the state.

"Each time the budget is delayed, we are forced, at a later time, to put together what will happen next school year," Chmielewski said. "When school ends we like to have a goal set of what we're going to do next year. When you have teachers not knowing what they're going to do or where they're going to go, it impedes starting a good school year."

Most teachers usually do their preparation work for the upcoming school year in the fall, before summer vacation, Chmielewski said. When they know exactly what's expected of them, Chmielewski said teachers can better prepare for the school year through continuing education courses and other classes.

Depending on what the borough and state funds, the school board might have to make additional changes to its budget.

"The real work for the school board comes when we get the actual number of our income," Chmielewski said. "That's when we have to face choices of what is going to happen in the school."

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.