Katie Gardner is the Deputy Superintendent for Business and Operations for the Mat-Su Borough School District. She talked with Emily Forstner about the district finances, staffing, school nurses, legislative priorities, and enrollment last week on Valley Edition.
Gardner oversees the areas of the district that are not instructional. That includes finances, facilities, technology, and many of the services that keep schools operating every day. She also supports the school board as it makes decisions about both operations and instruction.
She has been connected to the district for most of her life. She was a student here. She was a student worker in high school and college. She started working full-time for the district in 2004 after graduating from college.
She says that one of the biggest issues the district is dealing with is funding from the state.
The Legislature approved additional money for K-12 education this year. About two million dollars for the district is confirmed to help with higher energy costs.
Additional funding is expected. The legislature set aside 115 million dollars for K-12 education statewide. The amount the district receives depends on state oil revenue.
That calculation is expected by the end of the month. The district expects about 16 million dollars. But this is one-time money. And that’s important.
Gardner expects that money to come through this year. However, the district does not want to use one-time revenue to pay for ongoing expenses. It might not have that money next year.
Instead, it is looking at immediate needs and one-time projects. That includes things like infrastructure and roof replacements. It wants to use the funds to help lower expenses in the long run.
Gardner is concerned about finding sustainable funding for public education over the long term. That’s the bigger challenge.
School nurses are another important issue for the district.
The Mat-Su Health Foundation stepped up and provided funding for about 16 school nurses for one year. That gives the district time to develop a long term plan.
The district is testing different models for providing health support in schools. It will form a committee comprising school nurses, administrators, and medical professionals next month. The committee will look at what health services schools need and what level of staffing is sustainable.
The school board made classroom teachers the top staffing priority last year. Teachers are at the heart of the district. The district has a strong teacher retention and recruitment. It’s doing a good job of having teachers in classrooms when school begins.
That doesn’t mean other employees aren’t important. The district needs people keeping the heat and lights on. It needs technology, transportation, meals, payroll, maintenance, and many other services.
Enrollment is a challenge. It has declined over the last three years. Gardner noted that the district was about 600 students below its projection at the time of the interview.
She explained that enrollment projections use a two-year cohort-survival model that examines changes at each school and grade level. State funding is tied to student enrollment so accurate projections are critical to the district’s budget.
Gardner recognizes the people who work behind the scenes.
She likes to think her team is invisible. If people don’t hear about them, that usually means everything is working.
They keep the internet running. They maintain the buildings. They provide meals. They process registrations and handle the business of the district.
They make sure schools are ready when the students walk through the doors.
And that is what they are here to do: support students and schools.
The full interview with Deputy Superintendent Katie Gardner is on bigcabbageradio.org in Valley Edition under podcasts. The School Board meets in a work session on Wednesday to talk about legislative priorities.
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Mike Chmielewski reported this Page Two article and yours truly, Lee Henrikson produced it. If you have an idea for a Page 2 topic, please email us at page2@radiofreepalmer.org.
That’s it for today and the news on Page Two on August 24, 2026.
Image credit: matsuk12.us