Finance committee narrows plan for brief community survey on school budget priorities

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough finance committee on Feb. 16 agreed to refine a short community survey to gather public input on school budget priorities and cost‑saving options. The committee asked staff to prepare a compact ranking instrument and a QR code for outreach at community events.

Committee members said the survey should give the board usable guidance while avoiding options the board cannot legally or practically change. "What top 3 priorities should guide budget decisions?" the presiding member asked when introducing the draft survey, which lists items including instruction quality, retaining experienced staff, class size, student safety and equity. Business manager Lisa Pierce urged the committee to identify nonnegotiables first: "The board nonnegotiables are health, safety, core curriculum, special education, regulation," she said, arguing those items should not be presented as tradeoffs.

Staff described a three‑question model used elsewhere that asks respondents to identify their relationship to the district, sort program priorities and rank possible cost‑saving options such as increasing pupil‑teacher ratios (PTRs), reducing bus routes, increasing fees or eliminating programs. Committee members favored keeping the survey short and primarily rank‑based to improve response rates and produce clearer guidance for budget development.

Members also discussed how to frame optional versus required services. Several participants noted statutory and policy constraints limit what the board can cut, so the survey should focus on supplemental programs and clearly signal which services are legally required. "We want to put the rest out maybe on a priority basis to the community," one member said, while Pierce advised against implying the board can negotiate mandatory services.

To boost participation, members suggested a QR code to allow people at events to complete the survey on the spot. "Having that QR code makes that really easy to do," a member said, and staff volunteered to create one. The committee asked staff to produce a draft mash‑up of the proposed questions for review ahead of the scheduled budget work session.

The committee confirmed next finance meetings for March 2 and March 16 and said the survey draft would inform the board’s budget discussions at the upcoming work session.