School Board taps reserve fund to avoid program cutbacks GENERAL FUND BUDGET: Middle school sports, library aides make cut after testimony.

The Anchorage School Board on Thursday night passed a tight $638 million general fund budget for the next school year.

The decision came after more than two hours of testimony opposing various proposed cutbacks. Students advocated for continuing interscholastic sports in middle schools, and were backed by testimony of Olympic cross country skier Kikkan Randall.

Randall said she attributes where she is today as an athlete to what she learned as an eighth grade athlete -- goal-setting and training.

Chugiak High student Kody Trombley, looking back at his middle school athletics, said he "probably wouldn't have wrestled or played football" in high school if he hadn't gained confidence from playing earlier.

In other testimony, librarians argued to be able to keep their library aides. High school graduation coaches told the board their jobs make a difference, and so did high school secretaries.

The board decided to restore many of the programs and jobs that were initially recommended to be trimmed, including the middle school sports programs, the library aides, secretaries, graduation coaches, and summer school offerings.

The board found the money by agreeing to take $5.2 million from a reserve fund, a savings account, instead of just $3 million as had been initially proposed. And they decided to raise class sizes to save money, increasing the average class size for fourth- through 12th- graders by half a student. Class sizes in the younger grades will stay the same.

The operating budget approved for the 2011-2012 school year compares to a budget of $617 million this year.

The budget for next year isn't enough to cover the same programs and staff due to rising costs for goods and services, salaries and benefits, district administrators say.

In addition to the inflation and contract expenses, the municipality shifted $2 million in expenses it had been covering to the school district. The transferred expenses include the full cost of police officers stationed in high schools, and new municipal fees for programs using city trails or the football stadium.

The district expects flat funding from the state, which covers more than half of the school expense.

Superintendent Carol Comeau and some board members traveled to Juneau last week to visit legislators and talk up the need for Alaska schools to get an increase in state funding. But, Comeau said, "I don't think any of us should anticipate getting another dime from the Legislature."

Besides the general fund, the district has a food service fund, a fund used to pay back debt from bonds, and other funds. The total budget, including the general fund, is about $812 million.

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