New numbers now indicate that in 2022 and 2023, the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) failed to provide school districts across the state a total of $29,577,912 of American Rescue Plan Act funds intended for local education agencies (LEAs).
A letter obtained by KSRM sent from the U.S. Department of Education to DEED Commissioner Deena Bishop shows that in 2022, the Kenai Peninsula Borough and Anchorage School Districts did not receive $22,389,141 of intended ARP Act funds (KPBSD: $7,186,852, ASD: $15,202,289). Then, in 2023, KPBSD and ASD, along with the Juneau School District and Fairbanks North Star School Districts, did not receive $7,178,772 of intended ARP Act funds (KPBSD: $2,494,871. ASD: $1,391,681, FNSSD: $3,097,911, JSD: $204,309).
The amounts provided in the letter are labeled “funding reductions considered disproportionate under the FY maintenance of equity requirement.” According to the letter, “ARP Act State maintenance of equity requirements help ensure that State funding supports LEAs with high concentrations of poverty and the students who have been subject to longstanding opportunity gaps in our education system and experienced the greatest impact from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
A letter leaked in February originally indicated that the Kenai Peninsula School District was shorted just over $5 million (as well as the Juneau and North Slope School Districts just over $2.7 million) by DEED in 2022.
The letter obtained this week by KSRM does not indicate amounts owed in addition to the first letter; the amounts provided are amended totals.
According to sources in the KPBSD, the district was notified in early March by Commissioner Bishop’s office that a response had been sent to the U.S. DoE and that a repayment amount was being negotiated. At that time, however, the district was told they would receive an update on the situation in “a couple weeks.”
This new letter states, “The U.S. Department of Education (Department) received your amended plan for a reasonable level of tolerance when calculating whether the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) has met State maintenance of equity requirements…” seemingly confirming that the State has responded to the letter leaked in February (which was initially sent to DEED in Dec. 2023).
According to KPBSD Superintendent Clayton Holland, the DEED Commissioner’s office is currently negotiating with the federal government on how much money they will pay to school districts. Holland, who spoke with Commissioner Bishop on Monday, said he was told that if any amount does come through, the district might not see it for almost a year.
“I was informed that the state is still in negotiations with the federal government about that money and what’s going to go where,” said Holland. ” [Bishop] told me to anticipate another two weeks to a month before I hear back on that, and anything that does come through … would likely be in a January amendment to the budget.”
The timeline Bishop provided to Superintendent Holland is curious, considering: A) the state was required to submit a compliance plan to address the FY 2022 maintenance of equity compliance by Jan. 22. 2024 (now two months past), and B) the state was asked to resolve the full 2022 and 2023 maintenance of equity funding reductions matter by Mar. 22, 2024 (last week).
Also, the recurring indefinite time frame provided by the commissioner of “a couple weeks” is once again leaving a district in the lurch that is currently facing a $13 million deficit in the upcoming 2024-25 school year, a deficit that might not even exist had it been properly funded in the first place.
That initial letter gave DEED a 30-day deadline to respond; however, a response was not sent until more than 60 days later. In fact, since February, DEED has refused to respond to queries from news entities around the state regarding the maintenance of equity shortage. Moreover, according to KPBSD officials, inquiries by the district submitted to DEED were flatly ignored for weeks before Commissioner Bishop’s office finally responded the first week of March to indicate her office was in communication with the U.S. DoE.
Why the state is ignoring these now past deadlines and is instead choosing to provide ambiguous future dates for further information, and an estimated resolution date of next year is a question that has yet to be answered.
On Mar. 18, the Alaska Legislature failed to override a veto by Governor Mike Dunleavy of a bill that included a $680 increase to the base student allocation. Now, the legislature is scrambling to root out a solution to education funding, which was at the top of most legislators’ lists for the current session.
Considering that the state apparently underpaid school districts almost $30 million in 2022 and 2023, a veto of education funding is, if nothing else, bad optics.
KSRM reached out to Commissioner Bishop’s office with questions regarding the ultimate destination of the $30 million of ARP Act funds meant for schools but did not receive any reply.
Here is a copy of the letter sent on Mar. 18 to Commissioner Bishop’s office by the U.S. Dept. of Ed.
