Mat-Su teacher layoffs uncertain amid ongoing state budget debate

By Amy Bushatz on Mar 24, 2025

PALMER – Whether the Mat-Su School District will move to lay off teachers for next school year remains undecided as administrators await final funding numbers from the state – a process that could take months.

A Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District budget approved by the school board Wednesday cuts about 75 positions across the district through retirements and resignations, officials said.

But the $281.3 million spending plan depends on state lawmakers in Juneau approving a $1,000 increase in per-student payments sent to districts, a boost that is far from certain as debate continues about the state’s overall finances.

The district would have to cut about 120 more positions if that increase does not happen and levels instead remain the same as this year, officials said Wednesday. That’s a move that would likely require pink slips, they said.

“We would likely have to implement some form of layoff or termination reductions based on [staff] probationary status in order to implement that level of cut,” Deputy Superintendent Katie Gardner told the school board.

The district is required to submit its approved yearly spending plan to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly by the end of each March so it can be included in the borough’s budget process. But that timing means officials are annually forced to shape a budget based on their best guess of what the state will ultimately provide, district officials said.

Just when school districts will see final budget numbers from the state remains unclear, a district lobbyist working in Juneau warned the school board Wednesday. Lawmakers could delay that decision until a special legislative session in June, he said.

Money for the current school year was not final until late last June when Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed the state’s operating budget.

Any budget changes or staffing cuts triggered by the final state school budget will have to be brought to the board as an update later, officials said, with staffing adjustments made at that time.

The district budget approved Wednesday also calls for about $2.8 million in cuts to nonstaff spending, including individual schools’ discretionary budgets, according to district budget documents. That money is typically used for things like classroom supplies and school-specific professional development, Gardner said.

The district budget is slated for discussion at a joint session of the school board and assembly meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

— Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com

Republished with permission from the Mat-Su Sentinel, an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan online news source.