The Anchorage School District is set to lose $3.3 million in federal grant money intended to support career and technical education, district leaders said Tuesday.
A Monday letter from the federal Department of Education notified the district that the money, under a federal Fostering Diverse Schools grant program, would not be disbursed.
“The Department has determined that continuation of this program is not in the best interest of the Federal Government,” stated the letter, “and that funds reserved for technical assistance and capacity building under the Title IV-A should be used for the School-Based Mental Health program that has been reworked to align with the Administration’s Priorities.”
According to ASD, the $3.3 million grant was funding the salaries of six full-time career and technical education teachers as well as eight academy coaches at each of the district’s comprehensive high schools.
The funding termination takes effect Sept. 30, and the district has seven days to appeal the decision, the letter said. The Education Department approved the district’s five-year grant, for over $14 million, in 2023.
In a report to the Anchorage School Board on Tuesday, Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt called the cancellation “unprecedented.”
“That’s not normal,” he said.
But Bryantt said the loss of funding will not jeopardize Career Academies or the Career Expo for freshmen on Sept. 26.
Career and technical education options have been available in Anchorage schools for decades. The Academies of Anchorage are a recent effort by the district to boost graduation rates by increasing access to career and technical education.
“Academies was meant to really accelerate what we know is successful for our kids,” Bryantt said.
In an email to school board members and others Tuesday, Bryantt said the school district is reallocating resources to retain the six teacher positions.
“We are using the coming days to evaluate next steps for other impacted staff, such as Academy Coaches, and to chart a sustainable path forward,” Bryantt’s email said.
“If your child is in a CTE class, they’re going to be OK,” Bryantt said at the meeting.
The district employs over 50 career and technical education teachers in total.
Bryantt on Tuesday defended the effectiveness of the academies program, noting an increase in freshmen on track to graduate after the implementation of the program last year.
“This is something that we need to be protecting,” Bryantt said. “We’re going to make sure that we do whatever it takes to protect our progress and protect our students.”
Academies were approved by the school board last summer, and this is the first year that academy courses are available for every high school student in the district, once they’ve passed the freshman-level College, Career Exploration with Personal Finance course.
The district added 25 new career pathways to high schools this year, and nearly 60 pathways in total are available to students. District data show that 98% of students who pass two career and technical education courses within the same path graduate on time.
ASD Director of Teaching and Learning Sean Prince said there’s been incredibly high demand for some of the new courses.
“We have added additional courses and pathways in our district. Those classes were selected by students who are interested in them, and they’re still full today,” said Prince.
Bryantt said Tuesday that Alaska’s congressional delegation has agreed to write a letter in support of the district’s funding.
The Anchorage School District already dealt with significant funding changes over the summer. A line-item veto from Gov. Mike Dunleavy in June cut $4.3 million before legislators voted to override the governor, providing a $10 million windfall for the district that was in large part reinvested in teachers to help with increasing class sizes. In July, the federal government announced it had frozen $6.8 billion nationwide for programs serving migrant students and English language learners, including $14 million for ASD. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski signed onto a letter with nine other U.S. senators urging Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to reinstate the funding, which was ultimately released. Several Alaska districts also joined a lawsuit that challenged the funding freeze with a coalition of school districts and teachers unions across the country.