District overview
Nenana City School District
A five-member elected board in a town of 455 people also runs Alaska's largest correspondence school program.
Why does a five-member board in a town of 455 run a program that serves families statewide?
Nenana City School District is a small city district in Alaska's interior with one in-person school, Nenana City School (about 185 students). The same district also runs CyberLynx, a statewide correspondence and homeschool-support program with about 1,673 students spread across Alaska — nine times the size of the district's own school. Alaska funds districts mainly through a per-student state formula built on total enrollment, so CyberLynx's size, not the city of Nenana, is what actually drives most of the district's revenue. The City of Nenana's own tax contribution is a rounding error by comparison: $87,832 out of $18.1 million in district revenue for the year ended June 30, 2024.
State aid, not local property tax, pays for almost everything
In the year ended June 30, 2024, the State of Alaska supplied $15.8 million of the district's $18.1 million in total revenue — about 87%. The City of Nenana's own cash appropriation was $87,832, under half a percent.
CyberLynx enrollment is what sets the state funding number
Alaska's per-student foundation formula is built on total enrollment. With roughly 1,673 CyberLynx students against 185 at Nenana City School, the correspondence program supplies most of the head count the formula pays for.
One board, elected locally, runs both
The same board — five voting members elected at-large plus two advisory-voting members and a student representative — sets policy and hires staff for Nenana City School and for CyberLynx. There is no separate CyberLynx board or governing body.
Board seats are decided by Nenana's city electorate
Board members are elected at the City of Nenana's regular municipal election, held every year on the first Tuesday of October. The next election is October 6, 2026.
This does not mean CyberLynx families are shut out — the board's public meetings, agendas and minutes cover CyberLynx alongside the local school, and CyberLynx has its own staff reporting to the board at most meetings. But families who rely on CyberLynx from elsewhere in Alaska do not vote in the City of Nenana's election that chooses the board making those decisions; their only avenue for direct input is public comment, not the ballot.
Where the district stands
Year ended June 30, 2024, across all district funds.
About 87% of total district revenue that year.
Under half a percent of total district revenue; the rest of the district's small local-source revenue is investment earnings, tuition, and similar items.
Up from $3,148,326 the year before — a $430,130 surplus for the year. The district's finance committee opened discussion of a possible future budget deficit in December 2025, without yet giving figures.
No material weaknesses, no significant deficiencies, and no going-concern flag; the district was also rated a low-risk auditee for federal awards.
The in-person school is a small fraction of what the district serves overall.
Major projects
New cell phone policy (Board Policy 5138)
First reading approved; second reading and final vote pendingThe board is adopting a new districtwide student cell phone policy, based on a model policy from the Association of Alaska School Boards and modified by the district's policy committee. The first reading passed 5-0 on December 3, 2025; the specific rules were not detailed in the board's minutes.
- Policy committee begins drafting a cell phone policy
- Board approves the first reading of BP 5138, 5-0
Funding
Not applicable — a policy adoption, not a funded project.
New preschool program (Pre-K added to Nenana City School)
Board-approved; still needs state commissioner sign-offThe board voted to change Nenana City School's grade span from K-12 to Pre-K-12, adding a preschool program. District staff told the board the program had already cleared department-level approval but still needed to go through the state commissioner's office.
- Board approves the K-12 to Pre-K-12 grade-span change, 5-0
Funding
Not specified in the board records collected.
Biomass heating project
Underway; limited public detail so farDistrict staff have given the board periodic updates on a project to change how the school building is heated, using biomass. The board's minutes record that updates were given but do not describe the project's scope, cost, or timeline.
- Superintendent updates the board on the Biomass project
Funding
Not specified in the board records collected.
Six Year Capital Improvement Plan
Adopted August 2025The board adopted its Six Year Capital Improvement Plan, the document Alaska districts use to rank future facility projects so they can be submitted for state grant-matched construction funding.
- Board adopts the Six Year Capital Improvement Plan
Funding
Sets priority for the State of Alaska's grant-matched school construction fund; individual projects are separately funded if and when submitted.
Board meeting minutes and the FY2024 audited financial statement were collected from the district's Google Drive archive (embedded on the district's board page, whose own site blocks automated access). Coverage runs from board minutes dated August 2025 through December 2025; the district had not yet posted 2026 minutes to that archive as of this page's last collection. NCES Common Core of Data and Urban Institute figures are marked as context, not verified against a district-issued document.
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