City officials in the middle Kuskokwim River community say they’ve decided to suspend library services due to staff turnover, low patronage, and the tumultuousness of federal grants.

The governor's counterproposal, announced along with his veto Thursday, would tie a smaller funding increase to policy changes.

Supporters of the bill, which passed by one vote in each chamber, say poor school funding threatens Alaska's future. Opponents say Friday's vote was a political maneuver.

The University of Alaska Anchorage recently announced it’s restructuring how its Native Student Services program functions, and some Alaska Native students are protesting the change. They worry the program will become less responsive to their specific needs.

At an oversight hearing, Sen. Murkowski highlighted programs that fund tutoring, language initiatives, and post-secondary education opportunities for Native students.

The Alaska State House has passed an education bill that includes a $1,000 increase to its per-student funding formula. But many school districts throughout the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta say even the proposed increase to the state’s per-student funding would leave them in the red.

The district says it has taken steps to ensure better protection after the social security numbers of more than 12,000 students were downloaded by an unknown entity in December 2024.

Nunacuarni school district-aat akikiterkaat kitugutkanun state-amek kingunengqelartuq. Taugam allrakut yuinaq talliman cipluki, Alaska-mi alerquuciurcet nallungualarait amlleret ikayungcaucet elitnaurvignek nunamta nutem yukekain elitnaurviit.

Rural school districts depend on the state to fund construction and maintenance projects. But over the past 25 years, Alaska lawmakers have ignored hundreds of requests from public schools that primarily serve Indigenous children.

This week, KYUK will release the first part of an investigation with ProPublica that looks at infrastructure issues in rural Alaska schools.