The School Board approved using $6.8 million from ASD reserves to restore up to 45 positions —teachers, aides, substitutes, and others. The measure aims to soften the cuts and strengthen student support, but it doesn’t solve the problem.
SOL DE MEDIANOCHE requested information from ASD. Corey Allen Young, assistant director of Communications and External Relations, says our figures “are accurate” and that there will continue to be “significant long-term financial challenges driven by structural costs.”
Projections point to a deficit of at least $45 million by 2028 and more than $35 million by 2029. Rising salaries, health insurance, and other expenses account for this financial pressure.
“The $45 million structural deficit for fiscal year 2028 is a projection and could change depending on the amount of one-time state funding ASD receives this year, if any, and how the School Board chooses to use it,” Young explains. “Projections for future years will continue to be refined as additional information becomes available.”
ASD expects new state revenue in the form of additional one-time funding. This “extra” money could buy time, but it would not provide stability.
Superintendent Jharrett Bryant has set three priorities for 2026–2027: improving academic outcomes, managing resources responsibly, and rebuilding the relationship among the Anchorage Education Association (AEA) and the community. The challenge is turning those priorities into results without worsening the district’s finances.
“The key is maximizing resources to provide the greatest possible benefit to students,” Corey A. Young adds. “Looking ahead, ASD will continue evaluating how we organize schools and services to better support student outcomes in an environment of limited funding and staffing challenges.”
Adding to these budget pressures is the reconstruction of Inlet View Elementary School. The Board approved an $849,673 contract increase after PCBs were found in the building’s concrete. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are carcinogenic and can cause neurological damage, among other harms. The Department of Environmental Conservation requires their removal, raising the cost to approximately $42.74 million. “The total budget is $52 million. The project is expected to remain under that amount,” Young explains.
For now, school closures have been avoided, but the threat of closures still looms. Uncertainty over the future of the schools has not disappeared; the problem has only been postponed.
The question isn’t how to balance the books for the 2026–2027 school year, but how to protect schools and restore families’ trust when resources aren’t enough for everything. The financial cliff remains. Every decision will move ASD closer to —or farther from— the edge.
