Wrangell’s school district is looking at downsizing to one school building in the coming years as enrollment declines and prices rise. The school board, borough assembly and community members say it’s not a decision to be taken lightly, but the district is running out of ways to save money.
The district’s $5 million draft budget requests around $1.6 million from the borough: $725,000 from local taxes and the remaining $875,000 via a passthrough of federal money given to former logging communities.
Even with that contribution, the district projects it will absorb a $53,000 deficit, with savings. It’s going to get worse in the coming years.
“There are financial concerns coming from the school district,” Superintendent Bill Burr told Wrangell school board and Borough Assembly members at a joint work session March 6.
He painted a dire financial picture.
“We had requested last year for an increase in the contribution [from the borough] because we needed it to break even,” he said. “And that was cutting positions where people were leaving, we just didn’t fill it. Even with that, we were on a razor-thin margin, as you can see that our reserve substantially depleted and won’t sustain the principals coming back on board.”
That’s because the district is currently paying the salary and benefits of the elementary and secondary school principals out of a federal pandemic relief grant, ESSER-III. But next year, that grant will run out, and the salaries will have to be paid from the school’s general fund. It won’t be able to absorb the cost.
Inflation has also hit Wrangell Public Schools hard, especially since per-student state funding has plateaued over the last six years. There are also just fewer students.
Enrollment in Wrangell’s schools dropped precipitously in 2020 – the district lost more students per capita than any other district in the state. While numbers have bounced back somewhat – there are 263 students enrolled this year up from 140 during the pandemic – it’s still lower than the past. That means less money from the state.
Brittani Robbins sits on both the borough assembly and school board. And she suggested an idea that’s been floated more and more frequently – consolidating Wrangell’s schools. She said the district estimates it would save around $266,000 if it wasn’t operating the elementary school building.
“$260,000 for two principals,” Robbins pointed out, “Which is what we’re spending on to operate a single building [the elementary school] at a very small capacity.”
Consolidating would mean moving around 130 elementary students to the middle and high school building, which houses about the same number of students: 133 secondary students, 64 in the middle school and 69 in the high school.
Teacher Arlene Wilson represented elementary school teachers and students at the meeting. She brought up a host of issues and questions: toilets in the secondary schools aren’t designed for small students. Would there be a library for younger students? What about crosswalk safety in the busier downtown area? What about storage for multiple subjects’ worth of materials in elementary classrooms? Plus, there’s no playground.
“Outside free spaces are extremely important for the development, for many different physical as well as social-emotional skills, and in a gym for recess does not allow for free play,” Wilson said, “Nor does the gym have the equipment needed for developing physical skills.”
Another teacher, Winston Davies, also pointed out that a K-12 school isn’t ideal for growing a larger student population on the island.
“You’re trying to attract families to this community,” he pointed out, “If they see that they’ve got K-12 crammed in this one building, there’s a playground way over there that we can’t use, they’re gonna be like ‘I don’t know about this, this doesn’t look good.’”
The superintendent also isn’t sold on putting all students under one roof is the answer. He said the district needs the borough’s help to brainstorm solutions.
“Is it good for kids?” Burr said. “Moving everybody to one building is not the best concept. But neither is the inability to have classes, to have electives, to have staff. We’re at a paper-thin level of staffing.”
Other cost-saving measures are on the table, too. Some school board members have proposed a four-day school week or adding a Wrangell-run homeschooling option. Assembly members proposed trying to share an IT professional between the borough and district. Mayor Patty Gilbert suggested that the borough could give the district a price break on borough-run electricity.
Teacher and parent Mikki Angerman said the situation is heart-rending.
“Consolidating schools is not a perfect answer, but I don’t want to see us also lose more programs.” she said. “I wish we could do better for our kids.”
