District overview
How Anchorage schools are funded, who decides, and what a $90 million budget gap changed this year.
Alaska pays districts through the Base Student Allocation (BSA): a fixed dollar amount per enrolled student, set by the Legislature, matched by a required local property-tax contribution that Alaska law caps. For 2025-26 the BSA is $6,660 per student after a one-time $700 increase; the Legislature did not raise it again for 2026-27. District staff say a BSA tracking inflation since 2011 would be worth about $8,100-$8,102 per student today, a gap of roughly $1,400-$1,440 per student. That gap, combined with declining enrollment and the exhaustion of the district's savings, produced a $90 million shortfall for the 2026-27 budget year that the board closed mainly through job cuts and, later in the year, several rounds of one-time state and local funding.
The Base Student Allocation is fixed by the Alaska Legislature and applies to every district. ASD cannot raise its own per-student state funding; it can only lobby, and its board voted against taking a formal position on one 2026 bill (SB 278) aimed at the local-contribution side of the formula.
The Municipality of Anchorage is required to contribute a set share tied to assessed property values, and the Anchorage Assembly (not the School Board) must approve the district's entire budget every year. When property values rise, the required local share rises and state aid falls by the same amount — a shift in who pays, not new money for schools.
ASD used roughly $49 million in savings to balance the 2025-26 budget rather than cut services. Those reserves were down to about 1% of general fund expenditures for 2026-27, well below the district's own targets, leaving no cushion for this year's gap.
The Legislature added about $11.6 million in 2026-27 funding (energy relief and a cap on local-contribution growth) after ASD's budget was already adopted, and a further $32.2 million depends on an August 31, 2026 state revenue determination that had not yet occurred when this page was last updated. None of this is guaranteed again next year; the district still projects additional deficits of at least $42 million in 2027-28 and $30 million in 2028-29 if state funding stays flat.
None of this means ASD mismanaged its budget — the same flat, non-inflation-adjusted state formula affects every Alaska district, and Anchorage's own reductions (a one-third cut to district administration since 2012, among others) predate this year's crisis. The district's problem is structural and shared statewide, not unique to Anchorage.
Down 850 students (2%) from the prior year; the district projects continued decline as Alaska experiences outmigration and an aging population.
Adopted at a lower figure in February 2026, then increased twice (May and July 2026) as new state and one-time funds became available; upper spending authority is $881.9 million.
Closed mainly through roughly 500 position eliminations (about 10% of the workforce); later state and local one-time funds partially restored some of those positions.
Up $700 (11.8%) for 2025-26 after remaining nearly flat since 2017; not increased again for 2026-27.
About $235.2 million; state funding was projected at 54.1% ($327.0 million), federal at 2.6%, and other revenue at 4.4%, before mid-year state funding additions.
Fire Lake, Lake Otis, and Campbell STEM Elementary Schools; two of the three were rejected for closure by the same board in November 2025 before being approved in February 2026.
Context: the board's own recap describes this as "more than 500 positions," an approximate figure from the meeting record rather than a single exact line-item count; some positions were later restored using new state funds and district reserves.
The board cut roughly 500 positions and closed three elementary schools to close a $90 million deficit, then restored some positions in stages as one-time state and local funds arrived through the summer. A further $32.2 million in possible state funding depends on an August 31, 2026 state revenue determination that falls after this page's collection window.
General Fund; one-time state funds (HB 263 energy relief, HB 28 local-contribution cap); district unassigned fund balance
The district's own reserves are down to about 1% of general fund expenditures, leaving little room to absorb further shortfalls without more cuts or more one-time state money.
Voters rejected a $73.76 million bond for school security upgrades and renovations (49.68% to 48.85%) and a separate $11.8 million one-time operating levy meant to fund about 80 teaching positions (49.65% to 48.97%) on the same April 7, 2026 ballot as the closures were being finalized.
Would have been voter-approved bond debt and a one-time property tax levy; neither passed
The bond's project list included $19.585 million for Lake Otis Elementary, one of the three schools the board later voted to close.
A proposed outdoor, project-based charter high school in East Anchorage, intended partly as a continuation option for STrEaM Academy K-8 students. The board approved the charter application in February 2026 but delayed its opening by a year to allow more planning time.
State per-student charter school funding, once operating
No ASD general fund commitment is described in the collected record beyond standard charter funding.
ASD closed the Ursa Major Elementary building on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson years ago, then discovered PCB contamination that added about $5.4 million to demolition costs beyond an existing 80% federal match. The board weighed proceeding with the costlier rebuild/demolition or cancelling and losing the federal match; the $5.4 million was folded into the April 2026 bond, which voters rejected.
Was to be partly covered by an 80% Department of Defense grant plus the failed 2026 bond
No new funding path for the building is described in the collected record after the bond's failure.
Anchorage
The Municipality of Anchorage's next regular election is April 6, 2027. Three of the board's seven at-large seats are up: Seat E (Pat Higgins), Seat F (Dora Wilson), and Seat G, whose seat covers Board President Carl Jacobs. All three current members are eligible to seek re-election; the district has not yet published a candidate list.
Official source · verified Aug 20, 2026
Anchorage
Two of the board's seven at-large seats were on the April 7, 2026 municipal ballot. Rachel Blakeslee won the open Seat C over Alexander Rosales (53.8% to 38.1%). Paul McDonogh won the open Seat D over Sharon Gibbons and Dustin Thomas Darden (46.4%, with Gibbons at 30.9%).
Official source · verified Aug 20, 2026
Anchorage · $73,760,000
A $73.76 million bond for school security upgrades (secure vestibules at 15 schools), major renovations at Romig Middle, Lake Otis Elementary, Klatt Elementary and other schools, and Ursa Major Elementary demolition. Failed narrowly: 49.68% against to 48.85% in favor, a gap of 550 votes.
Official source · verified Aug 20, 2026
Anchorage · $11,800,000
A one-time $11.8 million property tax levy (about $27.40 per $100,000 of assessed value) proposed by Mayor Suzanne LaFrance to fund roughly 80 teaching positions amid the district's FY27 budget cuts. Failed narrowly: 49.65% against to 48.97% in favor, a gap of 450 votes.
Official source · verified Aug 20, 2026
Figures come from the district's own FY2026-27 budget book, board meeting recaps published by ASD, and the Municipality of Anchorage Clerk's certified election results. Figures marked context are peer or external comparisons, or arithmetic derived from verified inputs, not a claim directly stated in a single collected document.
We read every agenda, packet, and set of minutes, and write up the decisions that affect families — each one linked to the document it came from.
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