District overview
Lake and Peninsula Borough School District
How a roadless, ten-village district on the Alaska Peninsula is funded, governed, and spending its money
How is a district with no property tax funded?
The Lake and Peninsula Borough levies no property, sales, or income tax, so the district cannot rely on local property tax the way most Alaska boroughs do. Instead, most of its money comes from Alaska's Foundation Program, a per-student state formula, plus federal Impact Aid, which compensates districts for the national parks, wildlife refuges, and other non-taxable federal land that covers much of the borough. The Borough itself makes a direct cash appropriation to the district each year. When that combination still falls short of the minimum local contribution Alaska law requires for the district to draw full state funding, the district and the Borough can jointly agree to release money from a Borough-held School Endowment Fund — an option the board exercised for the FY27 budget.
The state Foundation Program is the largest single source
In FY2025, $7.91 million of the district's $14.71 million in general-fund revenue — about 54% — came from Alaska's Foundation and Quality Schools formula, which pays districts per student rather than from local taxation.
Federal Impact Aid stands in for property tax on federal land
The district received $1.53 million in federal Impact Aid in FY2025. Impact Aid exists specifically to offset school funding lost when a large share of local land — parks, refuges, and other federal holdings, in this district's case — cannot be taxed.
No local property, sales, or income tax
Unlike most organized boroughs in Alaska, Lake and Peninsula Borough levies none of the three. Local general-fund revenue in FY2025 ($1.84 million) came from investment earnings, E-rate reimbursements, and fees — not a tax roll — and the Borough separately appropriated $1.72 million directly to the district.
A Borough endowment fund backstops the required local share
Alaska law sets a minimum local contribution a borough must make for its district to receive full state aid. When the Borough's own appropriation and other local revenue do not cover that minimum, the district and Borough Assembly can jointly release money from a dedicated School Endowment Fund. The board formally requested such a release for the FY27 budget in April 2026, and the Borough separately raised the amount that can be drawn under the fund's governing code in early 2026.
None of this means the district is poorly funded on a per-student basis — Impact Aid and small-school funding factors exist precisely to offset the high fixed cost of running separate schools across ten roadless villages, and total revenue per student here is well above the U.S. average for a district this size. The real signal is the trend in the district's own cash reserves, not the funding mechanism itself.
Where the district stands
Up from about $415,000 at the end of FY2023, the low point of the FY2020-FY2025 period, but still well below the roughly $3.4 million the district held at the end of FY2020.
Three straight years of spending more than the district took in (FY2021-FY2023) drove reserves down about 88% from the FY2020 level before two years of smaller surpluses partially rebuilt them.
About 54% of FY2025 general-fund revenue; the state's main per-student funding formula.
About 10% of FY2025 general-fund revenue.
Federal data (2022), not from a district-published document collected here; the true current figure is almost certainly different, especially after the 2025-2026 closure of Levelock School. Source: U.S. Department of Education Common Core of Data via educationdata.urban.org.
Calculated by dividing FY2025 combined governmental-fund expenditures ($19.41 million, verified from the FY2025 audit) by the 2022 federal enrollment count (334 students, not verified against a district document and now stale). Treat as a rough order of magnitude, not a precise current per-pupil figure; small, remote districts also carry much higher per-student fixed costs than a typical district serving one community.
The Lake and Peninsula Borough's regular election is October 6, 2026. Source: Lake and Peninsula Borough election timeline (lakeandpen.com), not a district document.
Major projects
Levelock School closure
Closed for the 2025-2026 school yearFollowing the October 2025 student count, the board voted unanimously to close Levelock School for the 2025-2026 school year on a timeline presented by the administration. Board records collected here do not describe what happens to Levelock's students, staff, or building, or whether the closure is meant to be temporary.
- Board votes 6-0 to close Levelock School for 2025-2026
Funding
Not a capital or construction project — an enrollment-driven operating decision, not separately budgeted in records collected here.
FY27 budget and School Endowment Fund request
Adopted by the board; Borough Assembly action not confirmed in district recordsThe board took a first reading of the FY27 draft budget in March 2026 and approved it in April 2026, alongside Resolution 26-00 requesting that the Borough release money from the district's School Endowment Fund to help fund it. The Borough separately amended the code governing the fund (Ordinance 26-01) in early 2026.
- FY27 draft budget — first reading
- Board approves FY27 budget and Resolution 26-00 endowment request
Funding
State Foundation Program, federal Impact Aid, Borough appropriation, and — if released — the Borough's School Endowment Fund.
Teacher contract, FY27-FY29
Approved by the boardThe board approved a new three-year contractual agreement with the Lake and Peninsula Education Association, the teachers' union, covering FY27 through FY29. The approved minutes do not include compensation or other contract terms.
- Board approves LPEA-LPSD contractual agreement for FY27-FY29
Funding
General fund (certificated salaries and benefits).
Board meeting notices, minutes, and audited financial statements were collected from the district's own website (lpsd.com), the only public index of its board records. Figures marked verified are read directly from those documents; other figures are marked context and come from outside sources such as the U.S. Department of Education's Common Core of Data, cited by name.
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