How Craig City School District is funded, governed, and what's underway
How is Craig City School District funded?
State formula funding plus federal Impact Aid (the common case for a small Alaska city district)
Like most Alaska districts, CCSD's main funding is the state's Base Student Allocation (BSA) -- a fixed dollar amount the state pays per student, adjusted by district size and student needs. The BSA has been a live issue in Juneau: a March 2026 letter home told families the legislature was debating House Bill 374, which would raise the BSA from $6,600 to $7,290 per student. Because Craig sits partly on federal and tribal land, the district also receives federal Impact Aid -- board agendas repeatedly show correspondence from the state and federal government about Impact Aid entitlement and disparity calculations. As a city school district, Craig's board is elected on the City of Craig's own municipal ballot, and any local contribution to schools runs through the city budget rather than a separate school tax.
State aid rises and falls with the Base Student Allocation
The BSA is the base per-student amount in Alaska's funding formula. It was $6,600 as of the district's March 2026 letter, with a proposed increase to $7,290 (House Bill 374) still pending in the legislature at that time.
Federal Impact Aid is a recurring second funding stream
Board meeting agendas show repeated state and federal correspondence about Impact Aid -- an FY25 disparity test, an FY26 application, and an FY27 Title VII adjustment -- reflecting federal payments that offset the property tax the district cannot collect on federal/tribal land within the district.
The City of Craig, not a separate school board election, elects the board
School board seats appear on the City of Craig's own annual municipal ballot alongside mayor and city council, administered by the city clerk -- an unusual structure worth knowing before comparing Craig to a district with its own independent board elections.
Not having a CCSD budget document in this collection is a gap in what this page could gather, not evidence the district withholds one -- Alaska districts are statutorily required to publish annual budgets, and board agendas here do show a normal spring budget-development cycle (a budget committee meeting, a work session, and a draft budget presentation).
Where the district stands
Total enrollment across CCSD (all 4 schools)context
668 students
Craig Elementary 104, Craig Middle 51, Craig High 80, PACE Statewide Homeschool (correspondence, serves students across Alaska) 433. Not confirmed against a CCSD-published enrollment figure.
Alaska Base Student Allocation (per student)verified
$6,600
The base per-student amount in the state funding formula, quoted in the superintendent's letter urging families to support House Bill 374's proposed increase to $7,290.
Craig High School 4-year graduation rateverified
87.5%
State accountability designation: Universal Support.
PACE Statewide Homeschool 4-year graduation rateverified
47.06%
Craig High School, same 2024-25 state report: 87.5%
Peer figure: Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, System for School Success
Below the state's 66.67% graduation-rate threshold, which is why PACE carries a 'Comprehensive Support (Graduation Rate)' designation -- the state's most intensive support category -- while CCSD's other three schools are rated 'Universal Support.'
PACE overall accountability index (2024-25)verified
12.45 index, 0-100
Craig High School overall index, same 2024-25 state report: 37.13
Peer figure: Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, System for School Success
Alaska's composite index combining proficiency, growth, graduation, and attendance measures.
The plan names a lack of housing on Prince of Wales Island for new employees as a specific recruitment obstacle.
Major projects
Craig Elementary & Middle School (CEMS) rehabilitation project
in progress, delayed by roof damage
A major renovation of the combined Craig Elementary/Middle School building has been underway since before fall 2025. Crews found rot and leaks and a structural problem in the Craig Middle School roof, which required a board-approved change order in March 2026 extending the timeline. By August 2026 the district was processing a third amendment to the project's state grant agreement and a supplemental major-maintenance grant.
Next: Supplemental major-maintenance grant and the FY2028-2033 six-year capital improvement plan were both under board review as of August 2026.
Board approves change order extending the project after CMS roof structural damage found
Board processes grant Amendment #3 and a supplemental major-maintenance grant
Funding
Alaska DEED major maintenance grants (agreement numbers GR-23-003, GR-25-003, GR-27-003)
FY2027 (2026-27) general operating budget
in development
The board held a dedicated budget committee meeting and a budget work session in April 2026 and reviewed a draft projected general operating budget on April 29, 2026, ahead of adopting the FY27 budget. The available agendas describe this process but do not include the budget document itself, so specific dollar figures are not known.
Next: Formal FY27 budget adoption was not among the meetings reviewed for this page.
Budget Committee meeting on FY27 development
Board budget work session
Draft projected general operating budget presented to the board
Funding
State Base Student Allocation, federal Impact Aid, and a City of Craig local contribution
No total dollar figure was available in the collected agendas.
PACE School Improvement Plan
active; state 'Comprehensive Support (Graduation Rate)' designation
PACE Statewide Homeschool, CCSD's correspondence program enrolling roughly 430 students across Alaska, carries a 2024-25 'Comprehensive Support (Graduation Rate)' state designation because its graduation rates (47.06% four-year, 45.65% five-year) fall below the state's 66.67% threshold. Its school improvement plan sets goals across inter-school staff collaboration, expanded course offerings, and district-wide attendance and social-emotional-learning targets. PACE's principal role changed in mid-2026: Spenser Nelson, who is also Craig High School's principal, took over from Josh Andrews.
Next: No updated improvement-plan timeline had been collected as of August 2026, the new principal's first months in the combined role.
2024-25 System for School Success report designates PACE 'Comprehensive Support (Graduation Rate)'
Board agenda confirms Spenser Nelson as CHS & PACE principal
Funding
Same CCSD general operating and federal grant streams as the district's other schools
Local elections & school board members
Elections & votes
Board electionScheduled
Craig City School Board election (City of Craig municipal election)
Craig
CCSD school board seats are not elected separately -- they appear on the City of Craig's own annual municipal ballot alongside mayor and city council, run by the city clerk. The city has held this election every October from 2021 through 2025, so the next one falls around October 6, 2026. The certified results of the October 2023 election show a 3-year-term school board seat won by Josh Andrews (143 votes to Benjamin Page's 139); that seat is due for re-election in 2026. Other current board members' terms could not be confirmed from available city or district records.
Built from the district's own website: quarterly superintendent letters, board and board-committee meeting agendas posted directly on ccsd.k12.ak.us (not the district's BoardBook archive, whose terms prohibit automated copying), and the district's curated 'Public Documents' list, which includes Alaska's 2024-25 School Success accountability reports for each school and the district's 2023-2026 strategic plan. State funding figures come from a superintendent letter quoting the Base Student Allocation; enrollment context comes from federal Common Core of Data via the Urban Institute.
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