Montessori school's September repairs top yearly budget as child care fund grants face cuts

A break-in and a fire-code repair cost Anchorage Montessori School more than $21,000 in September, not counting a roof leak, executive director Laura Roark told the Anchorage Assembly at a Friday work session. The school's "entire repairs and maintenance budget for the year is $15,000, and in September we already passed that," she said.

Replacing failing door hardware and locks after the break-in cost more than $16,000. A fire inspection then required new exit lights. "That was nearly $5,000 and wasn't optional because we can't operate without passing fire inspection," Roark said.

The fund that helps cover such costs faces a steep cut. The Anchorage Child Care and Early Education Fund, known as ACCEE, is financed by the city's marijuana sales tax. The board's fiscal 2027 proposal totals $5.2 million, down from $8.18 million in 2026. Its letter to Mayor Suzanne LaFrance says Anchorage School District pre-K and Best Beginnings early literacy were moved into the fund in 2025 as a one-time adjustment, and rollover resources, money carried over from earlier years, are now depleted.

The board's preferred plan zeroes out those two programs and recommends returning them to the alcohol tax or another source. It cuts pilot and capital grants, which test new approaches and pay for facilities, from $1.25 million to $572,000, according to the board's work session presentation; the budget appendix sent with its letter lists $672,000. A contingency plan that keeps district pre-K at about $1.69 million would eliminate pilot and capital grants entirely and cut operational grants by nearly 43%.

Roark said an ACCEE capital grant this year replaced 23-year-old classroom flooring at the nonprofit, which cares for 142 young children. "We would still be waiting on new floors," she said. "For a smaller center or a home provider, one month like our September could be the end."

Roark urged protecting all three funding streams rather than directing dollars to the district or Best Beginnings. "I absolutely agree with Laura, there are, there was needs," board chair Trevor Storrs said. "We just don't have the dollars." In 2025, only 20 of nearly 50 applicants received pilot and capital awards.

Other providers have urged prioritizing operational grants instead, arguing they reach more providers. In the board's survey, 32 of 58 respondents named operational grants as having the greatest impact; two named capital projects.

The board's recommendations are advisory. The Assembly will set the 2027 allocation.