The Kodiak Island Borough School District Board of Education is considering closing a school to balance its budget. At a work session last week on Sep. 8, KIBSD Superintendent Daniel Brigman proposed three potential scenarios for the FY'2028 school year’s budget. Two of them would see East Elementary School close next summer.
During the Sept. 8 work session, Brigman said that the closure of North Star elementary school last year saved the district $1.8 million. But he said that likely wouldn’t be enough.
“We continue to see ongoing financial strains impacting basic resources for students, staff, and schools," he said.
Brigman explained during the meeting that they had a fund balance—which is supposed to be the district’s financial cushion—of around $3 million at the beginning of the year. But the district had to spend around $2 million of that to balance the budget for the current fiscal year, FY’2027.
If the Board of Education closes East Elementary next year, it would be the second school to close in Kodiak in two years. Brigman started as superintendent this summer and did not oversee the previous school closure. He said a factor in the decision is student enrollment.
“So we have seen a decline of our student population of 23% over the last 10 years, or a loss of 566 students," Brigman said.
So he said there's an opportunity to optimize. In two of the three scenarios Brigman laid out for the next fiscal year, eighth graders would move to the high school, fourth and fifth graders would move to the middle school, Main Elementary would become a kindergarten to third grade school, and East Elementary would close.
“The reason for that, Main is located very centrally here with convenient access to the auditorium, the fields, the stadium, the pool, the ice skating rink," Brigman said. "And staff could access that facility easier without having to drive across town.”
Peterson Elementary, which primarily serves Coast Guard families, would either become a kindergarten through seventh grade or a kindergarten through third grade school depending on which scenario is chosen. The third scenario would focus on program and personnel cuts instead of closing a school.
Before Brigman’s arrival, the Board chose to cut staff and programs over closing another school going into the current school year. And when they did consider closing schools, it was either Main or Peterson instead of East.
During the school board’s work session on Sept. 8, Board member Jim Pryor said he wasn’t sure if closing East instead of Peterson was the best idea.
“I know we're anticipating icebreakers and an increase in the Coast Guard, but that still at this point is not there," Pryor said. "A K-3 Peterson just seems a little odd to me.”
According to slides Brigman presented on Sept. 8, Peterson is only using 40% of its total capacity, the lowest of all three elementary schools. But two Coast Guard icebreakers are coming to Kodiak within the next three years, which means more potential students.
Brigman emphasized that it’s not all doom and gloom for the school district. A state oil revenue boost of more than $100 million will be going to Alaska school districts soon. And there's some hope that state funding for schools will be restored with a new governor. Here’s Borough assembly candidate and former mayor Scott Arndt speaking during KMXT’s candidate forum on Sept. 8.
“I am optimistic that with the new administration in the governor's office, that that is going to have an effect on money for education," Arndt said.
And even with the ongoing population decline, this year’s enrollment districtwide is estimated to be 119 students more than it was this time last year, according to Brigman.
The superintendent said that there is no rush to decide which budget scenario the school board will move forward with. The Board will be discussing these ideas and other budget concerns during their retreat Sept. 19.
