The changes came after the community sat before the Anchorage School Board for a second time Thursday.
“I’m sure that cutting anything is difficult it's just a matter of where they do cut and where it goes,” said parent Xavier Schlee. “I don’t think education is the most natural place to start cutting things.”
But in order to restore those cuts, Anchorage School Board member Jeff Friedman said the board had to dip into its reserves, $5.2 million dollars of it.
“We have a lot more students who don’t speak English but still expected to graduate, we have a lot more students coming hungry but they're still expected to learn,” he said. “You can’t do more with the same amount you have to have more money to do more.”
One trade-off was to increase class sizes for grades 4 through 12 by half a student. But some parents say that’s tolerable.
“To have one more student versus everything they would give up, as a teacher, I feel one more student is worth it,” said teacher and mother Jennifer Kozlowski.
“Most important to me is keeping what they've got going if the children succeed from it keep the program going the way it is,” said mother Wendy Pacarro. “This is our future. Your children are our future.”
But school board members say the community has to keep that future in mind, in regards to the budget.
“Next year we know we're facing more challenges. We have a one time jobs bill that's paying for 82 teachers right now that won’t be there next year so there will be some challenges,” Friedman said. “We have to decide as a community what we want our schools to be and how much we're willing to pay to have that.”
The budget will have to be approved by the Anchorage Assembly.
