After the City of Nome hand-delivered a letter Monday notifying Nome Public Schools it intended to cut its budget, district Superintendent Jamie Burgess called the move “extremely unexpected”.
“There was absolutely no indication at any point in time, or for this entire school year, up until basically yesterday, that there was going to be any changes in the city appropriation,” Burgess said at Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting.
A draft budget unveiled at Monday night’s Nome Common Council meeting placed the city’s contribution at its statutory minimum, nearly $2 million shy of what the city provided to its sole school district last year.
Hours before its Board of Education (BOE) meeting Tuesday, the district invited new City Manager Lee Smith for an "impromptu" tour of Nome Elementary School. He was joined by Burgess, BOE President Darlene Trigg, Council Member Cameron Piscoya, and City Clerk Dan Grimmer. They discussed the district’s ongoing needs, like challenges hiring and retaining teachers and keeping up with inflation.
Trigg said at Tuesday’s BOE meeting she told Smith, who had been in Nome for just two weeks, how concerned she was about the timing of the move.
“I felt like we were being used as pawns to push city council members to take action,” Trigg said. “I think I made it pretty clear to him that that's just not how we treat each other.”
Burgess presented a draft of the district’s budget to the council at a work session held on April 14. She requested the city maintain its $3.4 million contribution from the previous fiscal year, which if granted would be the first time the district received the same contribution amount year over year in the last decade.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic inflation has driven up the cost of goods and services. The district’s budget has consistently lagged behind annual inflation rates, despite the rising expenses. If the city were to match 2024’s annual inflation rate of 2.9%, it would increase its contribution to $3,498,600, well within the maximum amount allowed by city code of $4,107,356.
The City of Nome is considering the cuts as it looks to balance its own budget. Last year, the city funded over $2 million of its budget through appropriations, or deficit spending. Over the month of May, the city and council will go back and forth on what will make the final budget.
During their Tuesday meeting, Burgess said Smith recommended the district move forward with its budget “as-is”, including the $3.4 million contribution from the city.
“This does require, in my opinion, a pretty significant leap of faith in someone that's been in our community for a little under two weeks,” Burgess said.
She said if the city ultimately comes in under the $3.4 million contribution that she recommends pulling the difference from the district’s apartment fund. The ledger in the district’s finances is earmarked for new teacher housing.
The BOE voted to adopt the budget Tuesday night. The council’s next work session is planned for May 5.
