What you need to know:
- A national freeze on federal education grants could strip the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District of more than $8 million, jeopardizing student programs such as after-school tutoring, preschool and professional development.
- District officials said they hope the funding will be restored. The district is already facing a $7.1 million shortfall due to Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto reducing the base student allocation, compounding the financial strain and potentially leading to a total deficit of $15.2 million.
- Popular programs, including an after-school program at Burchell High School, are at risk of closure because of the freeze.
PALMER — A national pause to some federal education grants could reduce Mat-Su school funding by millions for the coming year, potentially shutting down a bevy of programs.
The indefinite pause comes as the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District continues to grapple with state education funding uncertainty, including a veto by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and a possible override vote by the state Legislature.
President Donald Trump's administration announced the funding freeze early this month. Last year Mat-Su received more than $8 million in funding for programs under those grants, including:
- Migrant education (Title I-C): $4.2 million
- Teacher and school leader training (Title II-A): $1.5 million
- STEM, college and career counseling (Title IV-A): $1 million
- English learner education (Title III-A): $68,000
- Before- and after-school programs and summer school (Title IV-B): $538,000
- Adult education and literacy programs: $220,000
Specific programs supported by that money include before- and after-school tutoring, preschool, swimming lessons, babysitting training, student supplies, internet access, and professional development for teachers and administrators, district spokesman John Notestine said in an email.
Without that money, those programs could be eliminated, he said.
“If these funds are not released, we would need to reduce or eliminate the programs they support and/or make cuts in other areas to offset the loss,” he said.
Details on how many district students annually use programs funded by the paused federal grants was not immediately available.
The Anchorage School District sent layoff notices to employees Wednesday, citing budget shortfalls created by the funding freeze.
Mat-Su officials said they are not currently planning similar notices and are hopeful the federal funding will be released before school starts in mid-August. But state officials warned in an email newsletter earlier this month that districts may need to review their spending plans.
“It remains unclear whether the Office of Management and Budget and Department of Education simply intend to review and revise the conditions of each grant, or whether the agencies will attempt to repurpose federal funds,” the email said. “The Department of Education has also not provided any information on when funds may eventually be available, meaning districts may have to revise budgets to adjust for reductions or withholding of funds.”
A total of about $6.2 billion in education grants is indefinitely paused nationwide, including an estimated $46.4 million for Alaska.
A coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia is suing the Trump administration to release the funds. Alaska is not part of the lawsuit.
A letter sent Wednesday to the federal Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought by Sen. Lisa Murkowski and nine other Republican senators asked him to unfreeze the grants. Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan did not sign the letter.
The new federal funding uncertainty joins Mat-Su district budgeting shortfalls already in play.
A $272 million operating budget approved by the school board in early June for the 2025-26 school year included a more than $14 million cut compared to last year. Those cuts include the loss of 100 certified staff members, including about 60 classroom teachers.
That budget was based on money that may no longer be available. A $700 increase in the base student allocation approved by the Legislature this spring was later vetoed and reduced by Dunleavy to $500. A veto override by the state lawmakers in August is needed to restore that money.
If the money is not restored, the district will need to cut another $7.1 million from its budget to make up for the newly lost state funding, assistant district superintendent Katie Gardner told the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly during a regular meeting Tuesday.
Combined with the paused federal grants, the district could face a more than $15 million shortfall for the coming school year.
The school board is expected to discuss the budget next at a meeting Aug. 6. A vote on whether to override is expected from the state Legislature on Aug. 2.
After-school programs at risk under grant pause
Among the programs likely to be eliminated due to the federal grant pause is a popular after-school program at Burchell High School known as 21st Century Community Learning Centers. It was previously also offered at Wasilla Middle School, but was set to shift in the 2025-26 year to drop that location but add Valley Pathways School and Redington High School, former administrator Charles Carte said in an interview.
The program offers additional for-credit classes and career-focused learning, said Carte, who retired in May after 34 years with the district. It serves hundreds of students each year from Mat-Su’s most vulnerable population, he said.
Carte secured a new five-year, $2.7 million federal grant for the program just before retiring. But if that funding doesn’t come through and the program shuts down, students who previously spent their afternoons in those classes will be left unsupervised and with few options, he said.
“It’s going to impact those kids that need it the most,” he said. “It has a ton of good benefits for these kids who are just hanging on — they’re just barely hanging on to being able to get through high school, and just barely hanging on to not falling off and becoming dropouts.”
That challenge is particularly acute at Burchell High School, an alternative program for students with academic challenges or credit deficits. Federal officials considered it one of the top program locations for the program in 2011, and students regularly rely on its offerings to meet the district’s 25.5-credit graduation requirement, Carte said.
Without it, students there will likely struggle to graduate, said Carte, who also served as Burchell’s assistant principal.
Notestine, the district spokesman, said that while the Burchell after-school program offers valuable hands-on learning, students will still be able to graduate without it.
“In the absence of the program, Burchell students would still be able to earn the necessary credits toward graduation through the school’s flexible regular-day options, though without the added opportunities the program has provided,” he said.
-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com
