Winter in Unalaska by Sam Zmolek
Your voice in the Aleutians.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
The KUCB Newsroom provides newscasts Monday through Thursday at noon and 5 PM on KUCB Radio. You can find many of our local news stories here.

Avoiding Cuts, School Board Taps Into Savings To Fund UCSD’s Budget

Laura Kraegel
/
KUCB

Next year, the Unalaska City School District (UCSD) will draw on one third of its savings to fund a $7.7 million budget.

The board of education approved the 2019 financial plan last week, voting unanimously to tap reserve funds and ride out another shortfall.

“We’re going to end up taking $210,000 out of the fund balance, which is going to bring us down to about $400,000 left,” said board member Frank Kelty. “We don’t have a lot of money to play with.”

Still, Unalaska’s in better shape than many school districts across the state.

Others have made deep cuts to staff and activities as public education funding flatlines. But Kelty said UCSD has maintained its programs, in large part, thanks to the city’s port revenue.

“We don’t know how lucky we really are here,” he said. “As the saying goes, ‘Pollock provides.’ We’ve got to hope fisheries stay strong, because if we have any large downturn, we’re going to be in the same position as some of these other districts.”

For 2019, the school board is hoping to receive $4.1 million from the City of Unalaska, which will consider the request next month.

If that money is approved and state funding remains status quo, UCSD’s budget will grow about 8 percent over this year. Most of that increase will go toward two new teachers to keep up with growing enrollment.

Laura Kraegel reported for KUCB from 2016 until 2020. She was KUCB's news director starting in 2019. We are proud to have her back in the spring of 2023 filling in as an interim reporter for KUCB.
Related Content