Alaska districts must submit fiscal 2027 plans by May 15. Many don't yet know what the state will give them.

Alaska school districts have until May 15, 2026 to submit needs assessments, three-year improvement plans, and budgets for federally designated schools — and many of those districts are filing while still drafting wider budgets that include teacher cuts, larger class sizes, and in some cases school closures, without knowing how much state aid they'll receive.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is facing a roughly $8 million shortfall and weighing the closure of four schools — River City Academy, Seward Middle School, Sterling Elementary, and Tustumena Elementary — in every budget scenario the district has modeled. Anchorage is looking at a roughly $90 million gap. Mat-Su, Fairbanks, and Juneau are all running deficits. Nearly 80 percent of Alaska districts are in some level of fiscal shortfall, according to recent statewide reporting and district finance officials.

That is the situation Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland was describing when he told lawmakers earlier this year: "Districts are required to plan and budget much sooner than when we receive our actual revenue amount from the state. This creates a situation where we are making major financial decisions about staffing, programs, and in some cases even school closures without knowing what our actual revenue will be."

The Base Student Allocation — the per-student formula that drives most of district funding — was raised last year in a historic increase the Legislature enacted by overriding two of Gov. Mike Dunleavy's vetoes. Districts have said the inflation-adjusted result was roughly flat. Two competing BSA bills are again moving this session: SB 277 proposes a $124.56 per-student increase, HB 374 proposes $630. Dunleavy has said he is not pursuing education policy reforms this year and is focused on the state fiscal plan and the proposed Alaska LNG gas pipeline.

The May 15 designated-school deadline is one of several Department of Education and Early Development milestones in the FY2027 cycle, which begins July 1. Districts already submitted progress reports by Sept. 30 and Dec. 31 of last year, and could submit an optional report by March 31. Documents are filed through the state's Grant Management System.

What happens after May 15 depends in part on what the Legislature does, and when. The Alaska House passed a bill earlier this month aimed at stabilizing district budgets. The session is ongoing.