Student, school board president advocate for HB 69 in Juneau

Each year the Alaska State Legislature hosts representatives from school districts across the state to hear about the issues schools are facing as they put together their bills that determine how the state funds public education. This year, Nome was represented by junior Angela Omedelina and School Board President Darlene Trigg, who advocated for House Bill 69 during a joint house and senate education committee hearing.
Omedelina is on the student council, co-president of United Youth Courts of Alaska, and part of five other clubs. She also plays volleyball in the fall and has an afterschool job at the Nome Recreation Center. A lot on the plate of a 17-year-old but Omedelina likes the challenge.
“It’s a lot of running around, I usually don’t have a day off,” Omedelina told the Nugget.
In her testimony to the joint committee, she told the representatives she attends the same high school that her parents did, and there have been very little upgrades since they were there, resulting in the degeneration of many facilities like the gym.
“In my English class, there’s a giant bucket of oil right next to me and my peers. Not only is it in my English class, but it’s also in the hallways, and it’s scary to look at,” Omedelina said.
HB 69 proposes raising the per student funding formula by $1,000 for the 2026-2027 school year, with increases of $404 the following two years and adjustments based on inflation-informed by the consumer price index.
This increase in funding is something many districts in Alaska, including Nome Public Schools, have advocated for.
Nome Public Schools proposed the first draft of their budget last month, an extreme version of what will be finalized this May, it called for removing 11 teaching positions, among other cuts.
Omedelina also explained how teacher turnover impacts students, and the difficulty current teachers experience affording life in Nome.
“I’m tired of hearing that my teachers have struggles and cannot keep up with their work,” Omedelina said. “I relate because I’m a busy lady in many pursuits and I would like to see change with all the words we have said.”
Joining Omedelina and Trigg in Juneau was freshmen Macy Hukill and school board member Jon Gregg.
Trigg, who is also part of the Association of Alaska School Boards —one of the biggest advocates for a per student funding increase in recent years —spoke at the joint session with Omedelina.
Trigg reinforced Omedelina’s point about transient teachers, mentioning that many of them want to stay in Nome, but with the high cost of living they end up leaving or taking on other employment in town that pays better.
The main request from Trigg was to have the school funding resolved early.
Last year an education omnibus bill that included a permanent increase to per-student funding passed the legislature but was vetoed by Governor Mike Dunleavy.
The legislature failed to override the veto by one vote, and school funding was provided via a one-time boost, as has been typical in the past few years.
The yearly one-time funding boosts make it difficult for districts to plan their budgets, especially if they find out how much they’re receiving from the state after they’ve already finalized and approved budgets.
“I think what I want to leave you with is that we really want you to resolve this early. We want the opportunity to make plans. We want to know what kind of funds we’re going to receive and if any policy changes are adopted, we want time to plan for them,” Trigg told the committees.
Senator Löki Tobin, originally from Nome, and a graduate of Nome-Beltz, is chair of the Senate Education Committee.  She asked Trigg, in the context of recent events like the February 6 Bering Air plane crash, if school resources like counselors have been cut. Trigg answered yes.  
House Bill 69 is currently going through hearings in the House. Its sponsor, Sitka Representative Rebecca Himschoot, said in her sponsor statement “The BSA is the best way to increase education funding because it supports all forms of public education in Alaska.”
Omedelina is “super glad” she had the opportunity to travel to Juneau and learn from other districts what issues they’re dealing with. She also was grateful she got to know her own school board representatives better.
“I was able to expand not just what I know about our school, but other schools,” she said. “It was a very good moment.”