Kodiak Island Borough School District's Board of Education President Kerry Irons laid the situation out during the board's meeting on Dec. 8.
“Now the next phase of the process is to explore options for where we can take $4.3 million out of our district’s operations," Irons said. "Last year we saved about $3 million by closing one of our beloved elementary schools, and this year, we have an even bigger target.”
That $4.3 million figure is a preliminary target.
The wound is still raw for many in Kodiak after North Star Elementary school closed its doors for good at the end of last school year to help balance the district’s budget.
Like last year, part of the issue is student enrollment is expected to continue declining. Most education funding from the state is tied directly to student enrollment. Despite the Alaska Legislature approving a $700 increase to the base student allocation earlier this year, district officials say it’s not enough.
According to Superintendent Cyndy Mika, the student enrollment in the district this year is down 4.3%, from 2,089 students enrolled including correspondence schools last year, FY’ 2025, to 1,984 students enrolled this school year, FY’ 2026.
Mika’s draft budget for next year assumes another 2% enrollment decline, although the district won’t know what next year’s student population will be until November of 2026.
At this stage, the budget preparers also have to guesstimate what the Kodiak Island Borough will contribute, and how much staff insurance costs will increase by next school year. Irons said there are many unknowns.
“This is really hard stuff. And it’s, just thinking about all of the potential cuts, many of those, I mean, they all are people. These are not nameless," she said. "And I think that is one of the really heart wrenching parts of this process.”
According to KIBSD’s budget documents, more than 80% of the district’s expenses are personnel-related costs such as salaries, benefits and housing allowances.
Irons said all options are on the table right now. That includes closing Main elementary, closing the Chiniak school, reconfiguring schools, and substantially cutting programs and staff. Suggested programmatic cuts were across administrative, classified, elementary and secondary positions within the district.
This is just the beginning of the process, but the board is on a tight timeline. Irons said the school board has to move quickly to approve a preliminary budget in February.
“There are deadlines like, for example, we have to be putting out contracts for our tenured teachers. And once those go out at the end of January, then they have 30 days," Irons explained. "And then, so the end of February is when, we will know who is returning and who is not.”
The school board plans to hold multiple meetings in January focused on gathering public input on the budget. Also, KIBSD will open an online survey to receive public comment starting on Jan. 7.
On top of the budget shortfalls, the board is also searching for a new superintendent after Mika announced in October that she will leave KIBSD at the end of June, 2026.
Irons said the school board hopes to offer a contract to Mika’s replacement by the end of January so that person can overlap with her.
