The Juneau Assembly voted Monday night to loan the Juneau School District more than $4 million from the city’s savings to help address this year’s budget deficit.
The loan is a major piece in resolving the district’s deficit for this year. A finance consultant found in December that incorrect budget estimates had left the district with a $9.5 million shortfall. The incorrect estimates were partly due to accounting errors and overestimated enrollment numbers.
Members of the public told the Assembly on Monday that they wanted the district to be held accountable.
“We’re not asking for the loan to be denied, we’re just asking for stipulations to be put on it, for some accountability for the Juneau School Board,” said parent Bonnie Webster.
The ordinance requires that the district start paying back the five-year loan by fiscal year 2026. Assembly member Paul Kelly also suggested requiring the district to publish a budget book.
Superintendent Frank Hauser said that’s something he intended to do anyway.
“My goal is to make sure that we’re reinforcing that the Juneau School District is good stewards of the money that’s provided to the district, not only from the state but from the Assembly,” he said.
The Assembly agreed to add the budget book requirement in a 5-3 vote. Member Wade Bryson, who voted in favor, said it will help future school boards and district leaders avoid making the same mistakes.
“What has got us in this predicament that we’re in right now is the fact that a previous superintendent and a previous budget manager did not create a budget book,” Bryson said. “It had errors in it that have cost every student and every teacher in this community untold heartache.”
Last month, the school board approved a school closure plan that puts seventh and eighth grades at Thunder Mountain High School and ninth through twelfth grades at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé.
The Assembly also voted to give the district nearly $4 million this year and more than $1.5 million next year for non-instructional costs like maintenance, utilities and insurance. Last year, the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development threatened to limit that kind of local support starting in fiscal year 2026.
The school board will discuss next year’s budget and staff layoffs at a meeting on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
