Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly sets Oct. 5 work session on school activities funding

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly will discuss at an Oct. 5 work session whether it can pay for school activities that the school district has cut, after a long line of students, coaches, parents and school staff testified Sept. 21 that programs are turning into pay-to-play.

Last year the Ketchikan High School softball program had about $21,000 in district money for conference travel. This year it has nothing, coach and parent Lauren Munhoven told the Assembly. That money covered nearly 30 athletes and managers, paid for regionals and would have covered state had the team qualified. Families now face player fees of $1,500 or $2,000, she said. "Without reliable conference travel funding, coaches will be forced to decide which kids get to travel based on finances rather than their eligibility or development," Munhoven said.

The K-High activities director said about 82% of students have taken part in activities and warned the school is on track to become a "pay-to-play school." A wrestling coach said his program's season cost $47,119, all of it fundraised.

One Assembly member said a school board liaison committee had been told "multiple times that school activities, while pared down, were not going to be cut." The borough manager said he planned to meet with the superintendent and noted the school board made further cuts in June and July.

The manager also said the borough can't direct how its money is spent. The Assembly provides the district money, and the elected school board sets priorities. The borough's initial funding ordinance for the 2027 fiscal year lists $11.9 million in local money for schools, including the $6.5 million state law requires. A member who once served on the school board said a grant or a memorandum of agreement might be needed to make sure any new money went to activities.

State law also limits how much a borough can contribute to its school district. Members asked staff to report on the legality, cost and advisability of funding district activities outside that limit for the 2026-27 school year only, and folded that report into the Oct. 5 work session.

Members raised other points ahead of that session. One said the cross-country team skipped a meet in Petersburg for lack of money. Another estimated that a 0.25% sales tax increase would raise about $1 million. A third said the district first needs a balanced budget plan and pointed to concerns about a $5.4 million debt payment.