001Good evening everyone. Call this meeting of the ASD school board to order. Today is Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025 at 6:07 p.m. Called ourselves to order. Student Representative Madison, would you please lead us in the flag salute and then the land acknowledgement? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> We acknowledge that we gather here today on the traditional lands of the Denina people of the Upper Cook Inlet. For thousands of years, the Denina people have been and continue to be the stewards of this land. ASD is committed to diversity and inclusion, and it is with honor and respect that we recognize all indigenous people who live and learn in our community. >>
002Thank you, Madison. Uh conduct a roll call briefly to state that um all board members are present in the boardroom. Members Bellamy, Hollowman, Wilson, Jacobs, Lessons, Donley, and Higgins. We now have in front of us um before we do that I'll read our opening statement. Welcome. We want to welcome you to our meeting and thank you for attending and supporting the work of the Anchorage School District and this board. The board thanks students, parents, teachers, staff, school business partners, and the entire community for your investment in our district with your time, your talent, and your tax dollars. At this point, we can approve our agenda. Is there a motion to approve the agenda as drafted? I move to approve the agenda as drafted. >> Second made by member Bellamy, second by member Hollowman. Is there
003any discussion? There any objection to approving the amend uh agenda as drafted? Seeing none, we have an agenda. Thank you everyone. We'll move on to reports under B1, student representative report. Madison, the floor is yours. >> Thank you. So, first I'd like to start off by saying the student advisory board um that I preside over. met on the 18th and in that meeting we were able to discuss with the delegates there from middle schools and high schools about how they show appreciation in their school community and most were answering with activities such as card writing, positive referral systems, gift bags, student/teer selections of the months, um snacks during finals service projects, gratitude trees, principal appreciation services and more. And it was really interesting and really great to hear how different schools are supporting their communities
004at this time. And then we were also able to get an opportunity from the youth of Philanthropus and they basically stated that um they are recruiting officers from each school and they were off able to offer the delegates there an opportunity to donate to nonprofit organizations and participate and help out with outreach. And then as well at at the meeting, we were able to see different school spotlights from schools such as Highland Academy, Golden View Middle School, Service High School, and Mirror Lake Middle School, and get to know a lot more about their school, their mascot, where they're from, their mission statements, and more. And finally, there was also an ASD budget workshop that's going to be happening on the 6th from 11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bartlett High School. And this is an
005opportunity for students to be able to pitch in their ideas about different things that the anchored school district can do when finalizing the budget for this year. And they're going to be able to view amounts of different data that they can see and help give contribution to our board and help with their ideas. That's all for me. Thank you. >> Thank you, student representative Madison. Is there questions for our student reparing? Seeing none, thank you for your report. Um, our next item of discussion is a report from our school business partnership. >> Welcome. >> You Thank you. Good evening, President Jacobs and members of the board, Dr. Bryant and the ASD community. My name is Hannah. I'm the current chair of the board for school business partnerships. Um, thank you for the opportunity sh to
006share a brief update on the Anchorage School Business Partnerships, also known as SBP. At the end of the 2024 2025 school year, schools have reported 538 active partnerships across the K through2 continuum. We continue to grow our partnerships throughout the school year. The number of partnerships reflects the tremendous commitment our community has made to supporting public education. Each partnership represents a connection between a school and a local business or organization working together to support student success, ultimately strengthening our entire community. SBP role SP's role is to nurture these connections and help build meaningful and sustainable relationships. We do this by supporting ASD personnel with partnership tools, guidance, and training. Recruiting and helping businesses, business partners identify, identify the best ways to contribute, whether through time, talent, and kind support, or financial investment. We also do
007this by celebrating and highlighting the collective impact these collaborations have on students, staff, and the community. Each fall, SP hosts an annual networking event that brings together SP coordinators and members of the business community. This event creates a space to exchange ideas, reaffirm existing connections, and build new partnerships. It's also a great opportunity to highlight our wonderful ASD culinary programs. These interactions strengthen the network for support that surrounds our students and staff. Each spring, we recognize partnership excellence at the Spirit of Tomorrow Awards, celebrating outstanding schools and business partners for their creativity, collaboration, and commitment to enhancing educational outcomes. These stories remind us that our schools are supported by a generous and engaged community that believes deeply in Anchorage's future. In addition, SBP plays a role in supporting the implementation of themies of Anchorage. Our
008executive director serves on the academy steering committee and works closely with themies of Anchorage specialist and the college career life ready team. Together we are working to ensure that business partners have a streamlined consistent approach to partnering not only with themies but across all K through2 schools. Thank you. And I'm Colette Moring, executive director for SBP. and we thought it best that our board chair provide the report. But just uh upon MJ's recommendation, wanted to share some of the really good things that are going on with partnerships. We work with uh our attendance cohort to supply um coffee every month for our parents at the school that's being recognized for attendance gains. In addition, the staff receive a meal from Texas Roadhouse and treat uh drinks from IBW. the UAA athletics team comes and does
009an assembly for the students to recognize their growth and encourage positive attendance. And so it's a really great way each month to celebrate um within that cohort attendance gains and really remind students that importance of being at school. Uh so that's really one of the great things and then we'll be supporting the budget meeting on Saturday. will be providing some pizzas to encourage hopefully the community to engage and participate in these important conversations. So, there's so many good things going on in the district and I just want you to to remind you that there's really good things going on in our community and you might not always hear about it, but we're here to support you. So, thank you for what you do. >> Thank you both for the report. Are there questions from the
010board for our school business partnership team? So, not as much of a question as um as comments. U I've worked with School Business Partnership on on that board for for many many years as well and really appreciate all the work that you do. We have so many partners in the community that bring um so many positive things to our schools and and things being time is is a huge one. uh lots of contributions in time, lots of contributions in in financial support in um so many different ways. So really appreciate all of our partners. Really really appreciate the work that that you two are doing um to help facilitate those partnerships. It it takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, but a lot of love to to make sure that um our partners
011continue working with our students and our staff. So thank you. >> Thank you, >> Member Beller. just want to say thank you for all that you this program has grown so much over the years. Not just in terms of people wanting to be involved, but the opportunities that uh our kids get. Just this last week, I'm just going to brag on um my neighborhood school. Uh the fire department came and gave every kid a new coat. Every student had a new coat. another partner, actually three partners, um did the turkey bingo. Every family that showed up took a turkey stuffing, um a pecan pie, all the mixings. And so with that, the value that you bring to the community uh to our schools, it is just it's just amazing. So, I appreciate it and uh
012it's just I remember uh being a principal at Windler and trying to figure out I had a school business partnership class actually way back in the day and um I'm just glad to uh to see that we have you have sustained and grown and continuing to create those opportunities for our kids. Thank you. >> Thank you very much for your presentation and your service to our students. All right. Our next item under reports is B3 board conference and committee reports. Is there a board member who wishes to make a report at this time? Hearing and seeing none, we'll move on to goals and guardrail monitoring at C1 student proficiency grade three state summitive assessment. We're now going to have our goal monitoring conversation on the technical report that was given to us at our November
0134th meeting. Tonight our conversation will focus on our reading proficiency goal 1.0 which states the percentage of grade three students proficient in English language arts ELA on the state sumitive assessment currently AK star will increase from 32.4% in May of 23 to 46.4% in May of 28. I want to confirm that all components of the goal monitoring report are present. The report clearly shows the following. Number one, what is being monitored and is focused on a specific goal or interim goal. Number two, data for previous reporting periods. the current current reporting period and the target reporting periods and number three the superintendent's evaluation of performance. With that said, Dr. Brian, any opening remarks before we open up for questions. >> Uh we'll go ahead and uh just get started with board questions. Thank you. >>
014Thank you, Dr. Bryant. Member lessons, the floor is yours. >> Um thank you for recognizing that I haven't turned my button on yet, but have a few questions. Um so I I did share some questions ahead of time and um I think the maybe I'll just start from the top right it things did not go the direction that we had collectively hoped for and planned and um perhaps predicted um aimed for maybe that's the word I'm looking for. Um, I think that district level results is certainly what our goal is looking for. I think it's really interesting to look at things at the school level, which is available on the D website, and I'm sure individual schools are using their own data. Um, how is the administration processing um the results? Sort of the 30,000
015foot question. >> We've looked pretty closely at the results. uh at a district level as well as at individual school levels. Um sorry, I'm Nicole Somerville, director of teaching and learning. And so for my department, uh we're looking at it both as a matter of training for teachers, what supports do we need to offer for teachers? What interventions and supports do we need to offer for students? as well as what um is working within our curriculum and what do we need to adapt, change, enhance, supplement uh also within our curriculum and then we need to look at this particular assessment and see how it fits with the results we've gotten from our other assessments such as the MClass and the MAP assessment because certainly as the Alaska Star Summitive Assessment It is different kinds of
016results on different kinds of tests and it's important to keep this one test and its results in that category and not use this result as necessarily an overall look for how all of our students are doing in what we're doing. >> Thanks. I I guess sort of the follow-up question that I had originally drafted you sort of touched on and that was were these surprising given access to other snapshots the map uh map results um from fall and winter for this particular cohort um or the MClass screening that was implemented last year uh for the first time for K through three Um these results were uh surprising. Uh we would have we were projected according to our map uh results as well as what we saw within our MClass screener to be performing higher about
017what nine percentage points higher I believe as a whole. So these results were uh surprising. Just as a note, um, to get a proficient score on the Alaska Star, uh, would be on on the MAP assessment, which the students take three times a year, you'd have to have a 70% or higher to be a have a 50/50 shot of being proficient on the Alaska Star Summitive. The Alaska State Summitive assessments and the Alaska State standards are very high. We want our students to achieve very high levels and so you have to be performing at a very very high level to even have a halfway decent shot of becoming proficient on our state standards. >> Thank you. I think that's an important um distinction to to understand. Um can you speak to um the dis the
018differences that we're seeing in what we are assessing our students in K1 and what and we're seeing growth. We've talked about that. We've celebrated that and we're really seeing stagnant if not declining outcomes measured here um in our older uh younger students, our second and third graders. Can you talk about what is happening at the young grades? It changes over time and may not be working as well in second and third grade. So this particular assessment, both the star and the map, starts in third grade. So it's not a second and third grade, it's a third grade and up. So you would look at third, fourth, fifth. And really, it's the difference between the younger grades. The M-class assessments, we are really looking at foundational reading skills. They are isolated reading skills. We're looking at
019decoding. Do they know their letter sounds? Do they know their letter names? Can they decode simple um words that have three letters in them? One uh one vowel sound or short vowel sounds. Sip, lip, cap, those very short words. Can they decode read complete sentences and read those words? How many of those words can they read or how many sentences can they read in a one minute timing? We don't ask them if they understand any of that. We just ask them, can they read it? And there's a very high correlation that those students that can read at a proficiently fluent level can understand what they're reading at the grade at grades K 1, 2, and three. And we in our district have spent many years and a lot of time making sure that our teachers
020are very good at teaching phonics, phenemic awareness, and those foundational skills. And that's showing because our kids are doing really well. However, when COVID hit was right as we were starting to teach our teachers how to teach comprehension and then we adopted a new curriculum when we got back from CO and the new curriculum has a lot of comprehension in it, but we haven't had the opportunity to really spend with our third, fourth, fifth grade teachers on really examining how best practices are to teach comprehension, not just phonics. And that's a whole different skill set and that involves time and um energy with teachers on how to change our teaching practices to focus on that. And so I think that's a lot of it is that our teachers are doing an amazing job, but we
021haven't had that focus in a while. And so we have to focus on math and we have to focus on reading. And that reading comprehension skill that's tested on the Alaska Star and in the later grades of MAP, it's a different skill. And it's a different skill that our students are still struggling with how to answer those questions appropriately. And our teachers are still working on how to do that metacognition with the kids, how to work those things out with our students. And I think that that's just something that as they get more use as our curriculum, which last year's third graders, the kids um would not have had for all three all four of their years. So, our new curriculum is working on. And then as they continue to age up, they'll have had
022it longer. As well as it's just more time with learning and work with our newer teachers. Oh, >> I have maybe one or two more questions and I'm happy to be yanked off anytime, but um um [laughter] sorry um the we when we launched CKLA in August of 2023, we invested a couple million dollars in professional development for K through three teachers I recall and what I think I heard you just say is that we perhaps have not had a whole lot of focus on older elementary. So, one question is, is that an area of um investment? Right? We're talking about our budget. You know, do we need to align dollars with areas of need? And is that an area of need that our students would benefit from? And two, this is kind of a
023wild card, but in your professional opinions, do you see value in a revision of the Alaska Reads Act um to enhance um the quality of um the quality of instruction at the end of the day um for readers especially beyond grade three. I think that's a pretty hot potato uh to bounce around. I mean, the Alaska Reeds Act's pretty new. With any type of program, you want to um give at least 3 to four years of implementation and um integrity in a program before you really start to see improvements in scores. We've started MClass assessments uh three years ago. Uh and that would have been the first time this year's third graders took that assessment and the scores were fairly low. Each year since then, we've seen increases in scores for K through two and
024we just really haven't had time yet for those K1 to students to be in the third grade. remember um also that this year's third graders started kindergarten in 2020 or that cohort started kindergarten in 2021. And so they um were a little limited in some of their prek opportunities. And so now now that we have cohorts coming behind them that have more opportunities for kindergarten or prek programs, we're seeing those increases. And we just need, I think, a little bit more time for those kids to get up into the third grade for us to really understand did the Alaska Reads Act and is MClass really a predictive assessment for us? >> And I would say in terms of the investment in training, the investment in the training for CKLA was really the roll out of
025the curriculum. This is your curriculum. This is how you take it out of the box. This is what it is. And so now it's more of let's get into the nuance. Now you know the curriculum. You know what the subjects are, but let's get into the nuance and how you modify it for the needs of your students and and here's where you can dig deeper for engagement. Do I think we need a two days ahead of everybody else training? No. Do we need to make sure that we capitalize on the training we do have? Yes. Do we need to continue to invest to offer coaches in schools? Yes. With federal funding possibly going away for title 2A, title 4, title one, that's how we pay for our PLTE. Those are the people that work with
026new educators, paraprofessionals. Those are the people that work with our long-term subs, our emergency teachers at kindergarten through sixth or fifth grade. Those are the people that are modeling lessons, doing training before school, after school, during lunch, during planning time. Right now, there's 11 of them for all 55 schools, elementary schools. Plus, they help our charter schools and our alternative programs with other curriculum in every single subject in elementary school. Most likely, all of them are going away next year because that funding will most likely be gone from the federal government. I don't know how we're going to work with our new teachers, our long-term subs, our alternate search people to help them with reading. So, I mean, do we need an investment? Yes. Do we have the money? No. >> So, it it's a
027catch 22 no matter how you've how you do it. Is it for here? Is it for eighth grade math? Is it college career? It's for all of our kids. U member Halmer. >> Um I think we all know where the not proficient, proficient, advanced comes from. Um but it's simplistic and it has to be so that people like us can understand it. But it also has kind of created the perception among the public that if a student's not proficient, well, they can't read. But I'm guessing that you have more detailed analysis that there are some kids that just miss it by a certain amount. There are some kids that miss it by a whole lot. Um I'm wondering if you have the data and are able to show do we have students that are perpetually
028just a little under proficient year after year? Do we have students that are way below proficient but are getting closer? still not proficient but closer to being proficient. Um, and is it possible to put things like that in a report that's comprehensible? Because I know at some point when you you try to put that much information into something becomes very hard to understand. But about looking for movement um particularly from some of our most students are having our most difficulty. Um but also I I think it would help us a lot if we could convey to the public the student that's not proficient still has a fair amount of skill or a lot of them do. It's just they haven't crossed that threshold on the test. So, as um Nicole mentioned earlier, NWA redid their
029linking study to to see where students are at on the on the MAP assessment and their likely uh hood of proficiency on the AK star. She mentioned um the 70% nationally. So when we when we look at the number of our students that are at the 70th percent nationally, we have about 30 students that are proficient on the the AK star. So um you know we do check those students who are in the 50th 60th percentile. They do need a little bit of an extra support to get into that proficiency level to be at the top 30% nationally. um our our kids are are right where they are with their peers across the country and sort of their breakdown of not proficient, proficient, advanced. Uh what we want to do is is be better than
030that. And we we do at the school level. And I think um maybe our my counterpart working with elementary schools can tell you a little bit about how individual schools start to take a look at where students are at um how close they are to those percentiles and and some of their plans to actually move the dial for more students. >> I could talk a little bit about our professional learning communities. would. Okay. So, um that's a work in progress, of course. Um what we're seeing though is there are schools that have been very successful in their professional learning communities. Our teams are coming together in schools. They're looking at the data. They're designing instruction that will create some intervention for students who may be, as you mentioned, just below proficient or approaching proficiency. But
031having that protected time to get together to utilize that time in order to create and design these instructional practices that's going to help students be successful and create great student outcomes. Some of the things that we'd like to see is more consistency across the district and schools. Part of what we're doing is to um help build the instructional leadership with principles as they do walkthroughs and monitor so that they can ensure that students are getting what they need based on our professional learning communities that are meeting together. Boner. >> Yeah, that's a great segue into uh the questions that I kind of have. And I guess I I'm wondering, you know, what we did two or three years ago might have really been with a whole different set of teachers who for whatever reason are
032not with us anymore. And that has to have an impact on the classroom that impacts consistency. So, we may have trained, we may have put a couple of million bucks in the pot, but we're in a situation where it it's not just about the kids and what we are seeing them do. It is about the adults who are who who we have to figure out what they need. So I guess my wondering is how are we onboarding new to the district people especially in K3 and I'm glad to hear the PLC because I wanted to know because you know my support for PLC's is to give teachers some time to do some really incredible work. It's not enough time but it is sometime. So, how what does the onboarding look like for a new for
033new K3 teachers? Um, and and and what what do we need to know as we start talking budget? Uh and um you know I'm not you know I'm I'm not absolute when I consider the climate that we're in relative to declining funds um people making different choices uh and the whole situation regarding um just how people are feeling teaching for us these days. What is what do we do about that? And I'm just curious as to do you think there's an impact relative to the consistency piece and then how are we addressing that as we onboard new uh new staff. So onboarding is challenging especially because some of our educators don't get hired before many of our onboarding processes start. Um however uh we start with uh the new educator symposium at that we work
034really hard to do just an overview of everything and it's not enough. Um then of course we for all of our educators have the beginning of the year cross district day in terms of if we're looking for curriculum. All of our schools have building induction liaison and they have a specific role. In fact there's roles up and down that we provide for schools. If you're looking for specific curricular issues or reading and math, um we have mentors that are paid for out of title one funds that work with teachers not on curriculum but on just being teachers and some of those issues. Uh those are at some of our title schools. We also have um one of my leads is focused on new educators. um just that's her sole job and she works to make
035sure that we have training opportunities uh both at schools and regionally and here at the district for all of our interventions, all of our opportunities. Being a new teacher these days, especially in primary is really challenging with the Alaska Reads Act and all of the pieces that come with that. it takes a great deal of time and then you have to teach, you know, so there's all this extra to it and there's not enough time to actually make sure that they know that our new educators have everything that they can. Um, we provide as much as we can supports. uh our PLTE do a lot of work and this year we haven't been able to support our more experienced teachers as much as we want because we've with so few of them we've had to
036say your focus is on your new our newer educators because that's who needs us right now and that's really what we've been doing. There is some set onboarding things that our professional learning department has with mentors. Um, all of those pieces, but it changes each year depending on what we have, you know, who we have available. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm That's good. >> Memoriams. >> Oh, um, yeah, I'm interested in two areas. one is any correlations here as to academic you know we've got the tenure issue is a big issue on outcome we know that and I imagine we've got some data that probably reflects that because we've got so much turnover we're not ability to be uh competitive with the labor market is is a big factor but I'm also more
037very much interested in differentiated instruction because I Neil deGross is big on saying when we focus on test results we're not focused some learning. We've got kids in third grade who are ready to read fourth grade. We got fourth grade and fourth and fifth and the like. And and my concern is that because of class sizes and because of the focus on testing uh and I've seen some of the figures as far as the academic growth per year as what different schools are doing and how that's working. That's probably my biggest concern right now is that we're trying to provide for each one, but I'm not sure if there's a solution to that. Uh we've got so many kids starting off at kindergarten behind scale where they need to be. We've got so many kids
038in a classroom that a teacher is swamped with and trying to somehow be able to deal with. Are there some options here we haven't looked at that's going to help with that? I I think one option is to somehow have some better resources and get the parents more connected and provide them better support on how to tutor the kids, how to help because they said it can be outside the classroom to achieve that. But I'm concerned about the academic growth of all kids. I really want them all growing a full year or catching up where it need to be. But we're focused so much on particular test scores results that I feel like that's my concern that it undermines the ability to focus on the differentiated instruction necessary for these kids. And the wind doing
039it for so many minutes a week doesn't make up for the week. Uh from my standpoint that doesn't that's not the same thing. And I know we've had options in the past like on achieve 3000 where every child got a different uh re same same story but a different grade levels and moved up. Do we have is there some sort of perspective on how we might be able to go about increasing that that level of full academic growth for every kid who's behind and ahead given the given the resources that that teacher is under is tremendous for having that many students lower 48 1 to 15 K through three and we're way up there. Um, do we have any other options? And is there any correlation of data that we haven't seen here in regards
040to tenure or regards to school locations or things that we should be aware of that that not just based on on on race and special education and gender but other factors as well for different schools because I do see different schools performing differently on on being able to advance a four-year academically the percentage and some of them do a lot better than others I think. I know that wasn't a clear question, was it? Okay, I admit that wasn't a clear question. Okay, it was an editorial and an opportunity to respond. Is that better? >> I would say probably we don't have um data specifically on tenure of teacher. I would say we probably can pull data and and if that's a a board request, we can in terms of cohort of students and the number
041of moves that a student makes during the school year. And I would say that that's probably a better factor is the number of schools that a student has been in versus the number of um years that a teacher has taught. And that, especially when you're looking at some schools making more progress than others, may be a bigger factor is that in some of those schools, you can have a student that has moved three or four times in the course of one year versus students that have been in the same school for their entire educational career. Research shows that they tend to do better. In terms of differentiation, there is quite a bit of differentiation opportunities within our current curriculum. Um but class size does make that very challenging. Uh win um I know that um
042whether you're a fan of it or not is a great opportunity for us to provide interventions and extensions to meet the needs of our students. Um and we are providing um some great tutoring opportunities right we call it tutoring but it's high dose we it's highdosese tutoring for students uh especially right now at our second and third grade level we have uh 250 students right now that are involved with air reading um and they are getting in tutoring sessions of three or less students with one adult half an hour four days a week of direct instruction. Um, and they all be doing that all year. Um, unless they place out of it or their attendance becomes such um that we don't uh we need to change them to a different environment. Um, and so we
043are trying some different avenues, some different interventions to see if we can move the needle for some of these kids. I think Mr. U member Hollowman, you had asked if there was something different that we haven't tried yet and this is something different. Um, and we're really hoping that this will move the needle, especially for some of our second and third graders that might have been struggling for multiple years to really get some intense very small group tutoring. >> Member Les, >> um, thank you. If um I could just make a well I guess the the specific question is is the funding was the funding for those 250 students was that provided through our allocation of highdose t dollars to highdose tutoring via the August sort of legislative override is is that what's funding that
044great if there is a way for the board to be aware of um the su successes or failures, you know, how it's going. I think that would be really valuable even if we're able to get a snapshot of the first semester. >> The first data sets should be starting to come back with our MClass testing that started yesterday, >> right? But specifically, that's something that we could also take and share with legislative partners. Right? When you allocate dollars in specific targeted ways, 250 kids is a drop in the bucket. We've probably got 6,000 second and third gradersish and you're targeting 250 of them. Um, but imagine what we could do. Although you've said before you can't uh, you know, tutor or intervene your way out of a tier one problem. Um, but it would be
045helpful to know if that allocation of dollars is working. >> I hope so. We'll get the results and we'll get them to you as soon as we have them. And that would be one quarter worth because it took time to get it all set up, get their initial data, get everything in line. But it'll be a little over a quarter's worth of data. Um, and hopefully it will yield some good results. And we purposely um chose uh a population of students, title one, students that are at title one schools and students that had been struggling for multiple years. So, we were working on a group of students that um have been traditionally struggling and not a group of students that were, you know, easy catches that we could that we could work with, you know,
046that we wanted to really see if this could work for students that that are really having a hard time. >> Member Donald. >> So, we have some alternative in charter schools that use a different use Spalding reading instead of the regular reading curriculum. Are there test scores included in this proficiency total? And how did they perform? Did they perform any differently than the other schools that have the standard reading curriculum? >> I believe your um in the board report it had all of the schools rankings. Um and the two ABC schools are in there and they performed differently. So um I was the individual schools in there. So, you received the bicycle report in um board connect on Friday. >> How did they do? >> We don't that >> they Well, you you'll have all
047of the schools in alphabetical order. Um in that report, >> they did well, but we typically don't talk about individual schools and we you know, the Spalding curriculum is a great curriculum. However, that's one piece of why those students might have done very well, but it's not the whole picture. >> So, did they do significantly better? >> No. >> There are other schools that um performed as well or better than them. >> So, please take a look at that report and you'll see that there are schools that did very well that are using the school district, the CKLA, the standard curriculum that um most of our schools use. There are other schools um that use a different alternative uh alternate curriculum that did very well as well and schools that use a different alternate curriculum
048that didn't do as well as one would expect. >> Yeah, >> thank you. >> Um jump in the queue to [clears throat] ask a question about resources and our our goals. [snorts] Um we haven't yet in earnest begun discussions as a a group about what our budget will look like for next fiscal year. Um we did just highlight during this presentation that funding used to provide professional development for educators is going away. Um I I can't imagine um administration will be able to propose a budget that balances the roughly $80 million deficit that doesn't propose an increase to class sizes. And I'm trying to marry that with a a goal that got further away this last year. And I'm wondering if our current trajectory is realistic that we're proposing is moving from 29.2% to 34%
049in a single year given some of those realities a fair goal for our district to have. Not a a worthy goal or a noble goal, but is it something we can realistically achieve? So, we take a look at um our MClass assessment and our MAP assessments uh and have a fair bit of we call those um lead indicators that help us understand what our likelihood of student proficiency would be on the AK star. Um we are predicting that we will be back on track. uh not sure if we're going to meet our annual target for 202526, but that is our goal. Uh we're working toward that and um hoping to to see what the the winter data looks like according to NWA in looking at what they p predict. Uh we're we're sort of on
050target and I don't and please don't write this in stone. Um the the vendor site predicts that we will be at a roughly 35% proficiency rate for our third graders um this year based on their fall assessment, but we still have winter and spring to work with. Um anything can happen. We can have, you know, a large increase or um you know, another surprise decrease. We're just not there yet. you know, we're just we're trying to concentrate on that tier one um high quality instruction for all of our kiddos with our PLC's and and supports that we have right now. We're hoping to be able to continue doing that and um would love to add more uh based on whatever resources are going to be available. >> Thank you for that. Member Bellman, did I
051see your hand? Okay. Are there other questions for the team hearing and seeing none? Thank you very much for the presentation and your work. Uh we have another item today to catch up with our goal monitoring as we took our last meeting off. There's a technical report on the college career life ready high school graduation rate under C2. Uh Dr. Brian, floor is yours. >> Thank you, Mr. President. So, uh this is our first of two technical reports that we'll provide to the board. We'll start off with graduation rates. Let's go ahead and quickly go to the second slide. So again, this will be the report that we'll discuss at our next December meeting. The uh goal being discussed here is increasing graduation rates to 90% by 2028. We often receive a number of questions
052around the methodology for calculating graduation rates and that's um listed below on this slide. And then next slide uh will provide the board with the overall trajectory of four-year graduation rates. And this happens to be a goal where we appear to be on target and we did see a modest increase from last year to this year. Um, next slide. And what our f our conversation at our next board meeting can focus on is looking at the differences in achievement by various subpopuls and groups and gender. And that'll be another component of how we can utilize this information with our priority action steps to improve graduation rates. Next slide. And then we'll leave the board with the four-year graduation rates by school type to see how that data differs by school group. And then the last
053thing we'll leave the board with on this presentation will be our priority action steps. One more slide, please. Um, so we've condensed our number of action steps down to these five that we'll be monitoring and we will be ready to discuss more in depth at our next conversation. And then another question that we usually receive is uh how do you define different types of schools and that's that will be on slide 11. How choice schools are defined versus special schools versus comprehensive. And that again can inform the the broader conversation in two weeks. And that concludes this technical report. So I'll pause here. >> Any questions for Dr. Brian on the technical report before we move on? Hearing and seeing none completes item C. I apologize. We have another technical report on guard rail one
054um lottery and application based programs. >> Yes. Uh thank you Mr. President. So this is a slightly new process that we're we've adopted this year and perhaps the the remainder of last year. Uh we're providing this as a technical presentation to the board. We won't go through slides like we do with goal monitoring. Again, a guardrail differs slightly from goal monitoring where goal monitoring focuses on student outcomes, what students know and are able to do. Whereas our guardrails focus on other aspects that support the fulfillment of those board goals. So, the guardrail that we'll be focusing on at our discussion in two weeks will be on the the board's guardrail to ensure that there's access to choice programs across um various student subops. So what you'll see in this report would be an overview of
055the administrative actions taken over the past few years that support this goal. And then the rest of the report really focuses on student demographics where you can see um dem you can see information everything from the percent of applicants to choice programs, different types of choice programs and then information related to um which student groups are attending various different types of choice programs. And then the conversation will be with the board in terms of are there other ways that the administration can put in place strategies to increase access and opportunity to choice schools, which is ultimately what this guardrail is about. Uh so I'll leave it there. Um but I anticipate the bulk of our discussion will be in two weeks after you've had a chance to digest a rather dense report. There >> any
056questions for Dr. Brian on the technical report regarding our guardrail hearing? Seeing none, completes our monitoring for tonight. >> Mr. Chair, >> agenda. Just a sec. >> Just a question for Dr. Brown. >> Superintendent. We want just to clarify, we want questions on both reports, right? >> Yes, please. >> Okay, >> great. Okay, that completes item C. We'll move on to public comment. Item D, I'll give our introduction to public comment. Welcome to the school board's uh first um opportunity for public comment. The board has set aside a 1-hour time slot at the beginning of the meeting for public comment. Public comments in excess of 1 hour may be heard at the second opportunity for public comment at the end of the meeting where comments may be submitted in writing. During public comment, board members
057will not answer questions or engage in discussion with members of the public. This is your time to speak and our time to listen. The board welcomes the public to observe and contribute to our meetings through their structured comments. However, to be productive, our meetings must be civil. ASD conducts public meetings under Robert's rules of order, a set of rules that have been used since the 1800s. Specific stipulations of the rules include do not attack a member of speaker's motives. Please no profanity or foul language. Please refrain from disturbing the meeting. Please no cheering, applause, outbursts, or waving of signs or posters. If you have handouts that you wish to share with the board, please hand them to Miss Sullivan, who's seated to my left. Additional details and information can be found on the handout located
058at the door regarding audience participation. As always, we'll begin with our student testifiers and their parents. Uh, our first two speakers are Adele Eaton and Katherine Eaton. Good evening everybody and thank you for the opportunity to share something that matters to me. Getting weighted GPA for the 2027 class of the civic leadership program. My name is Adele Eaton. I'm a junior at South Anchorage High School and most importantly I'm a student in the civic leadership program or CLP. This means that I get the privilege of working with incredible teachers, students, and UAA professors to learn college level material in an entirely unique environment. It's a program that has helped me find my voice and genuinely believe that I could make a difference in my community. In doing this, it allowed me to stand before you
059today, not just on my own behalf, but on behalf of my friends, peers, and those I represent, just like you all do, in my role as one of the elected junior class representatives of the CL student board. I believe that there is no group of students that better exemplifies academic rigor than those in CLP. We take on the challenges of a college curriculum from the start of our sophomore year. The late night studying, abstract concepts, long readings, and more. Additionally, it seems that you all believe this too, given your previous ruling that sophomores and subsequent members of the program will receive these weighted grades. And I really appreciate your recognition of this hard work. However, I'm here to advocate that if you extend that privilege to them, our class deserves it as well. There is
060no reason I concede that we should not also be able to have our hard work recognized, something that would greatly benefit our futures. In my role as representative, I try to be extra aware of how my classmates are doing and what they need from me. And in doing this, I have been routinely surprised by just how amazing these students are. They're the type of people who deeply deserve the knowledge and opportunities for academic growth afforded by higher education. If you were to give our class weighted grades, it would massively help these students chances of being able to achieve this. By simply recognizing that the same work you deemed worthy of a weighted GPA in our younger counterparts also deserves a weighted GPA for our class. You allow us a chance to give colleges an accurate
061portrayal of our abilities and preparation as well as allow many students to qualify for scholarships that they otherwise would not have, letting them afford the success that they deserve. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, Miss Eaton. Um Katherine, welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Thank you. Um I appreciate the opportunity to bring in this important issue uh to your attention tonight. I'm here as a parent to advocate for the recognition for my daughter and all the students of South Anchorage High School civic leadership program that they have earned through their hard work and achievements in college courses in this program. The decision has already been made to approve a weighted GPA for CLP classes for some CLP students and for that we are grateful. However, the current juniors
062in the program, the graduating class of 2027, have been excluded from being granted this important, valuable benefit that accurately reflects the rigor and depth of CLP courses that they are taking. The same courses that the CLP students a year behind them will be taking and will be earned earning weighted grades in. This leaves the juniors in the CLP program without the benefits a weighted GL GPA would provide in college and scholarship applications. and it feels arbitrary, unfair, and discouraging. I strongly urge you to reconsider excluding the class of 2027 from the decision to wait grades in the CLP program and give equal benefit to the CL students of all grade levels. After all, they are taking the same courses and deserve the same recognition. Thank you for your consideration. >> Thank you for your testimony.
063Our next two speakers are Conrad Splain and Katherine Smith. Welcome Conrad. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Hi, I'm Conrad, a first grade at Rula. Please come to my school with week weekend for kiss kind. I want you to to meet K rampus. See all our pictures lining on wall the walls. I want you to know I am disappointed in you. You did not prioritize ROA for a prominent home. ROA as is ASD. ROA stands for in respect to integrity leadership kindness and excellence. Don that's going to be all. Thank you, Conrad. Welcome, Miss Smith. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Good evening, Katherine Smith. I'm a parent of a first grader here at Rilka, and I would like to invite you to Chris Kindle Mart this
064weekend for the Rilka's Abbott Loop facility where you will see firsthand that Rulka community their community commitment. This is a Christmas market helper in the entire Anchorage community where everybody is welcome. onto old business. I would like to res request that the prioritiz prioritization of Rilka be brought back to the ASB board's agenda action items. At the most recent board meeting, Rilka was not meaningfully discussed and appeared only as an afterthought. As a reminder, memo 128 does not satisfy the prioritization status given to Rilka under the memo 108 or excuse me 106 which states if Rilka Rilka Shoula German immersion school temporary occupies the Abbot loop facility, it would allow the school sufficient time to coordinate with the district and find a permanent location through the continuation of the ASD right sizing process as outlined
065in ASD memorandum number 106 which was approved by the school board on March 20 or March 4th, 2025. A permanent facility is a priority to the sustainable future of the ROA program as a as the current facility is only a temporary location. But what the last directive was not to improve but close and demo the building at the end of the 2027 2028 school year. and this is currently operating under a far marshall waiver set to expire in the 202829 school year. The facility does not meet program needs with continued growth. Our enrollment is increasing not declining contrary to many other ASD schools nearing 500 students with test scores that are higher than district averages and the program remains highly sought after as a school choice. I encourage ASB to work with the ASD administration
066to understand the importance of these recommendations for our students. We need assurance that. >> Thank you for your testimony. Our next two, our next speaker is Carol. >> Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. Hello, honorable school board. My name is Alana Carroll and I am a junior at South Anchorage High School. I've come before you today to ask you to wait the grades for all students taking part in the dual credit classes within the civic leadership program, not just the students enrolling after the class of 2027. Students in this program make real change in our community. We learn about the world and then take that knowledge and apply it to something that we feel is important by volunteering 80 hours. In this program, we take dual credit classes through UAA, though
067that dual credit is optional. The class grades are weighted only for the years after the class 2027, and I am not able to get the weighted credit that younger students now can despite the same coursework. I hope you can see how inequitable this is. As this program's third cohort, I can assure you that we want our GPA to reflect how much work we have put into our grades. Currently, both my weighted and unweighted GPA from my sophomore year are now at a 3.97. However, if the college level courses were made weighted, I would have a 4.14 GPA. I would like to emphasize how much this discrepancy puts me and my classmates at a disadvantage compared to students who take AP classes. When it comes to college, this decision means that students like me, students who
068depend on financial aid to enroll in a university become less eligible for the merit scholarships that only look at weighted grades. We are missing out on tens of thousands of dollars. For some people, that is enough to decide whether they will be pursuing a higher education, something I know all of you are committed to. for all ASD students. The students in this program have worked just as hard, if not harder, than AP students, and have made a large impact on our community. I urge all of you to consider waiting the dual credit courses in the civic leadership program for the class of 2027 GPA just like you were doing for other students. Thank you. >> Thank you for your testimony. Our next two speakers are Daniel Ayertis and Cassandra Aertis. Welcome, Daniel. You have two
069minutes. Please begin when you're ready. Good evening, school board members. I am Daniel Yurtis. My name is Daniel Yurtis. I'm and I'm a second grader at Rooula. I've come tonight to say thank you. The new building has made a big difference for our school. The library is one of my favorite places. Our library proud Jabell helps me find new books to check out every week. The playground is so much bigger than our old one to run, swing, and have fun. We also have a real cafeteria now that that serves hot lunch and a lot of us look forward to it every day. You should visit us someday and you should have lunch with us. The students, the staff, and our families work hard to support our school, but we know this isn't our permanent home.
070When we moved in, you promised to help Roachula find a permanent home. We are thankful for that. We all love our school and we hope you haven't forgotten about us. Please help us find a forever home. Thank you for listening to me today. Dona, >> thank you for your testimony. Welcome, Mr. Eertis. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Good evening, school board members. My name is Cassandra Aertis. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. First, I want to thank you for the providing Roachula with the Abbott Loop facility. Our family truly appreciates the opportunities our son has experienced this year. I'm here as a parent who is grateful for what Roachula provides the community. Their program is strong. Enrollment is growing, not declining, and test scores continue to exceed district
071averages. Families seek out their program because the German immersion model opens doors for our children academically, culturally, and so socially by next school year. They will serve over 500 ASD kids, but their long-term situation remains urgent. ROA is still housed in a building slated for demolition and operating under a fire marshals waiver that expires soon. The space won't meet the program needs due to next year that we expect two additional classrooms needed for the language immersion due to retention. Our children are growing but our building cannot grow with them. This is why our families are feeling concerned. We understand that the district's decision not to close any schools for repurposing this year. Those choices affect many communities. But parents are asking for clarity. What is ASD's plan for housing ROA between now and the demolition
072date? How will the district ensure a safe, code compliant, appropriately sized building before the waiver expires? And when will ROKA's facility needs be prioritized as memorandum 108 promised? We are not asking for special treatment, just transparency, fairness, and a clear path forward. Our family wants a sustainable long-term facility plan and communication about next steps and timelines. Our children deserve that and our teachers deserve that. Thank you for your time and keeping the well-being of all ASD students, including the 495 Royal Kushoula students, at the center of your decision. Thank you. >> Thank you for your testimony. Our next speaker is Ethan Herbert Miranda. >> Welcome, Ethan. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. Good evening everyone. My name is Ethan Miranda and I'm an 11th grader at South Anchorage High School. I am
073also a member of the civic leadership program. In this program, I participate in college level classes and complete community service hours. Last year was my sophomore year of high school and I worked very hard in all my classes. I especially worked hard in my CL classes. Last year I took philosophy and world history. I completed both semesters with an A and I try really hard in school. And because of this, I have only gotten one B in my entire high school uh four years. I try really hard in school so I can increase my chances of enrolling in the perfect college. Unfortunately, because CLP granted an unweighted GPA, those A's were barely effective on my GPA. I think CLP, the class of 2027, deserves a weighted GPA because we work just as hard as any
074other student in AP classes. Except AP students get a weighted GPA. Because I chose to be in CL rather than AP classes, I now have a 3.97 GPA. If I had done AP classes instead, I would now have a 4.18 GPA. In addition to AP classes getting a weighted GPA, the CLP class of 2028, the graduating class after us is also hitting a weighted GPA. They are doing the exact same work that than we did and in some cases less work, but they get better grades than we could have ever gotten. How is this fair? I personally would really love a weighted GPA because my goal since middle school has been to get into amazing college and a boost in my GPA would give me a great advantage in college enrollment. By granting my CLP
075class of 2027 a weighted GPA, a lot of juniors this year would get a better shot at college acceptance and the overall GPA of the school could also increase. Ultimately, it is equitable to give my class a weighted GPA and by doing so, a lot of juniors would be happy. Thank you for your time >> and thank you for your testimony. Our next two speakers are Annabelle Slinker and Amy Slinker. Sorry, only Annabelle is speaking tonight. The next speaker after Annabelle is Kylie Zachowski. >> Perfect. Welcome Annabelle. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Hello. I'm Annabelle Slinker and I'm a freshman at West Anchorage High School. I represent Girl Scout troop 436 in our project, the bioglitter initiative. This entire effort began with with the idea from my fellow Girl Scout,
076Sylvia Whan, who first recognized how a big problem came from something as small as glitter. Our whole troop rallied behind her idea and has grown into an initiative we're presenting today. Over the past several months, we've been studying the tiny item that creates a very big problem, plastic litter. It may look fun and harmless, but it's actually an a big problem with microplastics. We've learned that microplastics, including glitter, have been found in stomachs of wildlife, Alaskan lakes, beaches, and even tap water, and classrooms, especially where younger students use use it the most. These tiny plastics don't harm animals, don't just harm animals and the environment. They carry chemicals that can impact human health, especially kids. Our initiative focuses on replacing plastic litter with biodegradable alternatives and encouraging simple, sustainable choices that keep microplastics out of
077our environment. We've also talked with teachers and their support has been unanimous. 100% of teachers who responded to our survey said that they would replace plastic glitter with safer alternatives. We presented to the student advisory board as well and the students support this initiative too. PLA plastic litter is tiny but removing it is a big step for a cleaner healthier school district. So tonight we are asking you to support memo 102 by voting yes on the anchor school district can be a leader for Alaska protecting our water, our wildlife, our students and our future. Thank you for your time and helping us continue what we started as one Girl Scouts idea to make our community better. >> And thank you for your testimony. Our next two speakers are Kylie Zowski and Sylvie Wayland. Welcome. You
078have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the board. My name is Kylie Chicowski. I'm a junior at South Anchorage High School in the CLP program. And today I'm here to talk to you about why CL grades should be weighted. This is a program that allows me to take college classes through UAA, but stay at South during the day. We take our English and social studies class, and they're integrated into our daily schedules. And so far, I've taken philosophy 101 and US history, English 3, and Western Civilization. And mind you, these are all college courses with college professors, and we are given mostly the same assignments as college students through UAA. My current GPA is a 3.78 unweighted. If the classes I just listed had a weighted grade,
079I would have roughly a 4.08 GPA. That difference can affect so many things in my future, such as college acceptance, scholarships, academic standing, and internship opportunities. And because of this, it makes the system unequal. Additionally, starting this year, the class below me, the class of 2028, will be receiving weighted grades for the civic leadership program. But I will not. Not because I have bad grades, not because I haven't put in the effort, but because I was born a year too early. Because of my poor timing, I have a lower GPA. And now I'm asking you to change that. While it may not seem like a large difference, for students like me, it is. For students like me who struggle with standardized testing like the SAT and ACT tests, my GPA matters. My current GPA of
0803.78 is perceived as not trying hard enough through college admissions officers. By inflating this grade, I will have a higher GPA, and this number is perceived as hardworking. You don't have to dig through my transcript to see my course load. All the hours of studying I've put myself through are reflected in that number. For college admissions officers, I want I will be just another number. So, if I'm going to be just another number, I want to make sure that it's the one that I've earned. Thank you for your time >> and thank you for your testimony. Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Hello, my name is Sylvie Wayland and I'm in ninth grade at Polaris. I am also a member of Girl Scout Troop 436. Our Girl Scout troop has
081created this resolution that we are asking the ASD school board to support in order to address an ever growing problem in our Anchorage community, microlastics. What is a microplastic? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the official definition of a microplastic is any piece of plastic smaller than 5 mm in size, which is about the diameter of a pencil. But microplastics are so much more than that. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that often contain harmful chemicals and will not degrade for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Microplastics linger in our environment, our homes, and even in the animals around us. This alone is bad enough. However, microplastics can also be found in our own bodies. These little bits of plastic have even been found in human brains. According to the Smithsonian magazine, the brain may
082contain up to 7 g of plastic, about the weight of a plastic spoon. Now, why am I telling you this? I'm telling you this because plastic glitter is an intentional microplastic. Once it's washed down the drain or swept into the trash, it ends up in our waterways, our soil, and even our food systems. And while glitter might seem like a small issue, microplastics are a growing threat. With this resolution, ASD would commit to making the switch from plastic glitter to biodegradable and eco-friendly glitter instead, and perhaps use less glitter overall. If we are successful, we will help teachers donate their unused plastic glitter and transfer it to Polaris, where a student led art project that we plan to create during Polaris' spring intensive. With this plastic litter from schools across ASD, we will create a
083resin sculpture to take these microplastics out of circulation, show that students can make a difference, and raise awareness about the harmful effects of microplastics. Thank you for considering this important resolution and showing that students can make a positive impact on our schools, health, and environment. >> Thank you for your testimony. Our next two speakers are Charlotte Nelson and Emily Brewbaker. Welcome Charlotte. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Hello. My name is Charlotte Nelson and I am from South Anchorage High School and I am representing Girl Scout Troop 436 and our project, the Bioglitter Initiative. Microplastics can be detrimental to not only the environment but also human health, especially children. Luckily, there's a safe alternative commonly known as biodegradable glitter. As part of the bioglitter initiative, we want to implement bioderadable glitter
084in our in our classrooms across the district. We want ASD to be a leader in sustainability and teachers agree. During the October 23rd art teacher inservice meeting, we introduced the bioglitter initiative and our mission to replace plastic glitter in classrooms with biodegraable glitter. At this meeting, we handed out a survey concerning glitter use in the classroom. Of the teachers who responded, 100% of them stated that they would support our efforts of banning plastic glitter in ASD. Additionally, 100% of teachers who took our survey agreed that they would swap plastic litter in their classrooms with environmentally safe alternatives. Because of the positive responses, we have provided over 30 biodegradable kits to elementary art teachers for no cost. These kits include a variety of bioglitter as well as lesson plans, materials, and videos for the teachers to
085implement in their classrooms. As you can see, we have already gained support from teachers for our resolution. We hope you consider supporting our initiative as well. Passing this resol resolution would be a momentous step forward. Please consider supporting our resolution and vote yes on memo number 102, the bioglitter initiative. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Welcome, Emily. You can begin and you have two minutes. >> Hello, my name is Emily Brewbaker from West High School and I am representing Girl Scout Troop 436 and the bioglitter initiative as well. Voting to get rid of plastic glitter in ASD schools would be an important first step for the Anchorage School District to start eliminating the use of plastics and microplastics in general. Microplastics negatively impact all aspects of Alaskan life, including humans, animals, and the environment.
086As a form of microlastics, plastic litter is something that turns into microplastic pollution immediately. Because of this, and because it has biodegradable alternatives that are equally as fun, we want to replace it with an eco-friendly version. In order to teach the generation of people who use glitter the most, children, I have written, designed, and published a children's book called All That Glitters is Not Gold, which aims to teach young children about harmful microplastics. We hope for this book for ages 5 to 8 to be put in ASD libraries and classrooms across the district and are willing to donate 100 copies for free. We believe that this book could be a great resource for young children to learn about environmental concerns in an understandable and fun way. We were able to educate young children through this
087book by selling copies at lo local craft fairs as well. We are trying to raise a generation of people who are willing to fix all of the environmental concerns that Alaska now faces. But as of right now, your support would be vital in order to reduce the amount of microplastics affecting our community. Please consider voting yes and improving the well-being of everyone in Anchorage and beyond. Thank you. >> Thank you for your testimony. Our next two speakers are Dalia Moutini and Jacob Marchesani. Welcome. You have two minutes. You can begin when you're ready. >> Can everybody hear me? Good evening. My name is Adalia Matini and I am a student of the civic leadership program, also known as CLP, in South Anchorage High School. Today I am speaking about how the class of 2027 in
088CLP do not have their GPA weighted for their dual credits like our peers in the class of 2028. At this point I should mention that I have an unweighted GPA of 4.0 and I have a weighted GPA of 4.06. However, that is only possible because I took AP classes. I can definitely tell you that the curriculum in those AP classes were hard, especially when math is not my strong suit. However, the dual credit classes that students in CLP are just as rigorous as AP. Last year in Western civilization, we had a quiz every Tuesday and had to read a chapter that was 20 to 30 pages. In philosophy, we were assigned to read difficult texts from ancient Greece to the 21st century in order to prepare for timed rights, graded seminars, etc. This coupled with
089being involved in AP classes, extracurriculars, jobs, and volunteering hours proves how CLB students in the class of 2027 deserve to have our dual credit classes waited. While we are working hard in our college level classes, we are trying to keep our grades afloat while being involved in school and our community. In my experience, I am involved in drama, debate, and forensics, which constantly takes my time due to researching, memorizing, and writing informative or persuasive speeches each month. I have to balance that with volunteering every Wednesday for my CL capstone project while trying to find volunteering hours for the National Honor Society. While I am volunteering to help foster kids in Alaska, others in CLP are volunteering for musical education, humanitarian aid, raising awareness for sexual assault in Alaska, and many, many more. Remember, multiple students
090in CLP who are working to be dedicated leaders for our community are also in jobs and sports that take up most of their day while also working to be academically successful. for our dedication and hard work. >> Thank you >> and thank you for your testimony. Not seeing Jacob Marches come forward. Our last student testifier is Althia Parish. >> Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Hello, my name is Althia Parish and I am a student at West Anchorage High School and a member of Girl Scout Troop 436. We are here to introduce a way to take microplastics out of the Anchorage School District and make it a safer place for everyone. In order to spread awareness about micro the microplastic issue in our community, our troop hosted a Girl Scout
091event called the Glitter Gala and Governance. This workshop having over 100 Girl Scouts attend uh consisted of fun-filled bioglitter activities from a fun uh from a photo booth to glitter face painting and anformational station concerning microplastics in Alaska. Our main event of the workshop was the governance panel where we had four inspiring Alaskan women in government share their experiences. Mayor Suzanne Lef France, Senator Elby Gay Jackson, Representative Carolyn Hall, and schoolboard member Kelly Lessons. Um, at this workshop, we were able to teach children about alternatives to plastic glitter, the accessibility, and how much fun they can be. We have started the bioglitter initiative to both eradicate plastic glitter from schools and provide plastic glitter alternatives such as biodegradable glitter to the Anchorage School District. Many organizations um and companies have started to cut back on
092plastic delivery use or plastic use by choosing to instead use alternatives to plastic. The Anchorage School District could be become one of those by voting yes on the resolution to introduce alternatives to plastic litter such as biodegradable glitter. This is why we hope you will vote yes to pass memo 102. Thank you for your time >> and thank you for your testimony. That completes our student testifiers tonight. Thank you all for being so engaged in our meeting tonight. Our first two testifiers uh from community speakers to be heard are Drew Huskin and Adrien West. >> Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Good evening. Um a elementary colleague of mine just recently reminded me what the word listen refers to in elementary classroom. And the word listen means to hear with
093an expectation of a response or to respond. Um, and speaking quite frankly, I have been up here listening and uh testifying to you uh schoolboard members about our contract negotiations and the current uh condition at uh of of the bargaining team. And quite frankly, I have not heard a response. So I I perfectly to be honest don't think you guys are listening um to our our uh conversation and um because of that I feel like I am kind of wasting my time. So I when I was thinking about a testimony up here I figured the best use of my time in order to not be wasted um would be to do something useful. So, I brought a pack of papers with me, of which I've been grading throughout the whole night, and I'm going to
094spend my last minute doing something useful for me, and I'm going to grade these. So, you'll excuse me. Thank you. >> Thank you for your testimony. Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> I am a teacher with ASD and every year I wonder if next year will be the year I don't come back. Teaching right now is unsustainable. More and more is being asked to us. While our benefits dwindle, our pay is not competitive with other districts, and the increase in our health insurance premiums caused every teacher take home co-pay to drop this year. Enrollment is falling, yet class sizes are at an all-time high. In my building alone, we have fourth and fifth grade combo class with 36 students. 36 9 to 11 year olds with one teacher who is
095expected to build relationships, manage behaviors, and effectively teach them. And my school is one of the lucky ones. My elementary school is fortunate to have a principal who supports and encourages us. Our staff lifts each other up and creates a community that is welcoming and safe. But it is not enough. We are constantly asked to do more with less and to do it with a smile while keeping the attention of 20 to 30 plus children whose attention spans average 3 to 8 seconds. We are exhausted. We don't have time to plan, grade, collect data, or complete other essential parts of our jobs. And those 36 students, that means around 72 additional people, parents, families to contact an update. The district is hemorrhaging teachers. Yet somehow the low test scores are our fault. We are not
096failing. The system is failing us. We deserve a fair contract. We deserve competitive compensation. We deserve support. Teachers are the backbone of education and the district should not be balancing its budget on our backs. If ASD wants great teachers, it needs to start treating us like we matter. We love our students. We show up for them every single day. It's time for the district to show up for us. >> Thank you for your testimony. Our next two speakers are Marvet Oetti and Mandy Curry. Marvett and Mandy. Let's see Marvet or Mandy. Our next two speakers are Susan Ritter and Kristen Jones. >> Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Thank you. Good evening, members of the school board. Dr. Bryant. My name is Susan Ritter. I work at West High School.
097I'm a special education teacher. Uh, first of all, thank you for my 15 and 20 year pins. My parents, if they were alive, would be very proud of this accomplishment. And I am very proud of that accomplishment. These pins represent my commitment to my job, my students, and my employer. For 20 plus years, I have worked to ensure our life skills students are receiving the best education and are life ready upon leaving ASD. I work hard for my students. And my question to you, school board members, are you working hard for me? And for the 3,000 other educators who are come to school every single day and do their job and take care of our kids, the answer to my question is I'm not feeling it. I feel that I'm being taken advantage of. I
098feel my hard work is recognized and acknowledged, but I am not seeing your appreciation in my salary. I want a raise. I want a significant raise. one that which reflects my skills as a teacher, as a teacher mentor, as a collaborator, and as a loyal, valuable employee. Direct your negotiation team to work with Aea on a contract page that will keep your educators working in our schools. Thank you very much >> and thank you for your testimony. Welcome. You have two minutes. Please pick them when you're ready. >> Hi, my name is Mandy Curry. I'm here to discuss my disappointment in the recent right right sizing initiative. Um Reichula wasn't really I mean we were told at the end of last year it was in the meeting that okay we see what we need to
099do. We need to rightsize with a plan you know and that's what we were hoping to see. We believe that you guys saw what needed to be done and um you know, you put a couple schools up this year and then nothing happened. They decided, oh no, we're not going to do that because people don't like change. I get it. Our school didn't want to change. They weren't thrilled completely. Everybody wasn't thrilled about moving schools. But what they didn't know was there was so much more waiting for us on the other side. And so once we've gotten to this new new school, people are thankful. they are great grateful. We love our facility. Um however, it has a timeline. It's going to end. We we don't get to stay there. Um and we were told
100that we were going to be prioritized in the right sizing initiative and we were talked about as an afterthought. We weren't really prioritized at all. I think it's financially irresponsible to open all these schools that are not at capacity. We're busting at capacity and people still want to come to our schools and our test grades are amazing. Support schools that are, you know, working. Um, the right sizing would help with everything that you guys have talked about tonight. Um, you guys want greater test scores, fill up the schools that you have and then fully put staff in there to get all the supports. They need pair of professionals. They need TAs. they need full-time um people there working and that would help teachers be able to hit the benchmarks that you guys are looking for.
101But with these halfbaked schools, it's not happening. >> Thank you for your testimony. Is there a Christian Jones present with us tonight? >> Great. And then our test next testifier afterward is Dr. Kim Yokum. Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> My name is Kristen Jones and I teach roughly 120 robotics students at MERS Middle School through engineering, coding, and hands-on problem solving every day. I also teach an eighth grade science class, adding another layer of prep, grading, and student support to my workload. Separate from that, I built the only competitive public middle school robotics program in Alaska, Mir's Gears. With 20 dedicated students across two teams, they compete almost entirely against high school teams, and they've already making their presence known. This year, my colleagues honor me with the Beyond
102Award for the way I connect with kids who might otherwise slip through the cracks. I take that seriously because I see what's possible when someone shows up for them consistently. This year, or sorry, I do show up every day after school, on weekends. I show up because this work matters, because these kids deserve strong STEM pathways, and because I believe deeply in their potential. But financial reality has reached a breaking point. Beyond teaching, I hold multiple advanced qualifications. One is a degree from the Culinary Institute of America, same as Anthony Bourdain, where an adjunct professor there earns around 90,000 a year. The cost of living is significantly lower than it is in Anchorage. That's not my only other path. I was a marketing director. I was a production manager. I owned and operated my own
103catering company. I have real world business experience with other professionals or sorry, and other professional options available to me. So yes, I could move tomorrow, teach a single subject or return to business and dramatically increase my income. As of now, I stay. I teach multiple programs. I build opportunities. I mentor. I invest my time and energy into the students who are worth it. And I carry the burden of extra hours without adequate compensation. Yet this year, despite doing more, more classes, more mentorship, more after school commitment, my paycheck has shrunk significantly due to increased healthcare costs. The modest budget I allowed myself for the most basic self-care. The things that keep me uh the things that keep me whole and show up healthy has vanished. I was barely making ends meet before. Now even the
104smallest cushion is gone. I believe in my students. I believe in the school. I believe in Alaska's potential. But belief alone cannot sustain us. Without change, I can no longer afford to stay. I am and we are worth more. >> Thank you for your testimony. Our next two speakers are well I understand Marvet Oetti is here. So Marvet if you could come forward and then Dr. Kim Yokum if you're with us please come forward. >> Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Good evening members of the board. My name is Marbetto Batty and I'm here because the small decisions being made right now are creating enormous ripples across our schools. It's the butterfly effect in real time and the consequences are already showing. When there is no contract, when negotiations stall,
105when teachers feel unsupported, more teachers leave, school lose stability, families lose confidence, communities lose schools. A contract isn't just about pay. It's about keeping the people who keep the system standing. And when teachers strike that, and yes, that's where this is headed. What will the district do? Do you truly believe retired teachers, brand new Alaska, brand new teachers to Alaska can replace the depth and training of veteran teachers? They can't. At the beginning of the school year, I took a nine-week long-term sub position in a first grade classroom. Yes, I wrote weekly lesson plans, graded papers, and put in long hours. But that was the bare minimum. Here was the real work. I differentiated instruction every day. I monitored reading and math progress. I completed behavior observations. I met IEP goals and attended IEP meetings.
106I filled out targeted intervention forms. I helped problem solve in collaborative meetings. I communicated with families daily and kept routine consistent. And I taught you and CKLA and I ready with fidelity. I was able to meet these demands because I carried over 15 years of experience in this district. Experience built alongside the very teachers who've been dismissed for far too long. Our students cannot meet goals with band-aids and exhausted educators. The district is hemorrhaging. Our teacher hearts are hemorrhaging. And a fair contract is the first step in stopping the bleeding. You can stabilize the district now or spend the next decade playing financial recovery. Thank you. >> Thank you for your testimony. Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Okay. Hello. My name is Dr. Kim and I'm proud parent of
107two amazing children Liam and Ellis attending Kushul. I also am a Rushul APC officer. I'm talking to you today to share my appreciation for you placing Rushul in ASD facility last year. I it created opportunities our ASD students have never had prior. I am further here to share my tremendous disappointment in the ASD school board not sticking to your promise of prioritizing our ASD school in finding a sustainable long-term facility. Our prioritize um you prioritized a long-term sustainable home for Inlet View Elementary building them a new building last year currently attended by 181 ASD students according to your website. You prioritized a long-term sustainable home for the Alaskan Native Charter School last year with currently 367 ASD students in attendance. We as well an ASD school and one of the highest performing schools in your
108district currently have 495 ASD students enrolled in our enrollment is predicted to increase to over 500 students by next year. That means at our current location we will need uh at least two reloads to create additional classroom space. Last spring, you stated on record to prioritize our school's facilities needs while placing us into a facility with many issues. The Abbott Loop facility community members um particularly voiced safety concerns due to long deferred maintenance issues. Not to mention the hovering end date in two years often mentioned and I think you recall um when occupancy of the facility is not permitted any longer. My third reason um I'm here today is to voice specific requests to you and make requests. I request that within the next two months the ASD schoolboard administration in collaboration with the APC
109and administrators take all necessary actions to ensure that Rico can continue to occupy the Ebloop facility for as long as needed. Further, I'm looking for your commitment to engage in conversations with us and take necessary actions to secure sustainable long-term facility for our ASD school. In your view, is there a path forward for a bond to address the building beyond what is required to address the fire marshals requirements to allow long-term usage of the blue facility, for example? How can Rico effectively advocate for this to get done? Thank you >> and thank you for your testimony. Our next two speakers are Corey Ace and Dedra Brown. >> Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Thank you, President Jacobs. schoolboard members. Anchorage certificated educators continue to show up, speak out, and share
110their experiences because they care deeply about the students and communities they serve. Their testimony reflects both their commitment to student learning and the urgent need for schoolboard action that supports those educators who make that learning possible. Their testimony captures student experiences throughout the district and it reflects real challenges and real solutions shared in good faith. Do you hear their voices? Do you honor their work? Please do a better job of partnering with your certificated educators to create the schools our students deserve. Only your actions will keep skilled, dedicated educators in Anchorage classrooms and our schools. December marks the fourth month in which certificated educators have been shortchanged on the health benefit subsidy that all other bargaining units receive. This o ongoing shortfall sends a troubling message about how educators are valued even as we continue
111to show up for students every single day. Your educators are facing real financial strain and this subsidy is already included in your 2526 budget. At the same time, this mis the misinformation posted on your website is inflaming tensions and angering the very people you depend on. Keep two key facts in mind. In 1995, AEA left the ASD health plan only after winning a multi-million dollar arbitration that proved ASD has not been dis or had been dishonest and was not sharing accurate information. 30 years later, ASD still seems to lack transparency about the actual cost of its self-insured plan. You continue to be dishonest. Your actions in the coming weeks, not your words on your website will determine whether Anchorage retains skilled, dedicated educators in its classroom. >> Thank you for your testimony. Welcome. You have
112two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. Hello, my name is Dedra Brown. I have a senior in the Anchorage School District who attends Stellar. I'm here to talk to you about um credit for graduation credit violations and why it's important. ASD policy requires English four credits for English, English one, English two, English three, and then two elective credits. They must align with ASD program of studies and Alaska ELA standards. What happened with my student is he's missing an entire year of English 3. ASD has substituted study study skills service with no English 3 content. This the course was not uh standards align and cannot fulfill English credit requirements. However, my student has the code 9920 for 3.5 credits for his high school graduation. ASD only allows a maximum of one credit. He's got three and
113a half under this code. This is study skills. This produces an inaccurate transcript and denies required instruction. It does not align with ASD graduation credit policy or deed a Alaska ELA standards. There is currently no appeal process for transcript errors, only grading errors. According to the B the board's uh own governance, they have a duty to set clear uh direction and the board has a has a duty to consider all information shared by the public when necessary and refer issues raised in public comment for administrative followup. I ask for an audit of English credit assignments districtwide and correct misassigned credits, including my students. establish formal transcription appeal process and reinforce adherence to Alaska de Alaska and beat standards. Thank you for your testimony. Our next two speakers are Katherine Cross and Lee Butterfield. >> Welcome.
114You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Thank you board for seeing me tonight. My name is Katie Cross. I'm a speech pathologist with the Anchorage School District. The ASD website states that health care costs are partially rising because AEA left the district plan healthcare plan and that teachers health insurance rose 15% this past year while ASD health insurance plan only raised 5%. This is incredibly misleading. The district failed to mention they are now paying an additional $267 per month per employee that was negotiated um that was not negotiated in their health care plan to cover the costs. They are taking money out of the general fund and are not reporting this openly. This is why it looks like you guys have only a 5% increase in costs. The district is diverting money
115that should be used to support teachers and classrooms to help pay for their health insurance premiums. In the early 2020s, the district transferred $11 million from the general fund to their medical fund. So, if the district moved $11 million several years ago to help cover their own health insurance cost, why are they now needing to use additional money in the general fund to pay for their health insurance? That's a good question I have for all of you. In the 1990s, AA won a multi-million dollar arbitration to manage teacher health insurance because ASD was not transparent with their healthcare plan. AA's current health insurance um for teachers started because of a lack of transparency from ASD. This current school year, premiums for teachers and administrators have increased. I am making less money this year than last.
116That is because ASD chose to not cover increases to health insurance for teachers but did choose to cover them it for themselves. It is very concerning that there is no transparency and that um the district with the district moving money around for themselves while misrepresenting the facts about the >> Thank you for your time >> and thank you for your testimony. Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. My name is Lee Butterfield and you've heard most of what we're I'm going to say right now, but I'm going to say it in a different way. In the story that everyone's been bringing up, it states, quote, "Back in 1996, Anchorage teachers made a significant decision to leave the ASD health plan to join the NEA Alaska Health Plan, which later became the Public
117Education Health Trust. I would offer to then add the following. This decision followed a rigorous arbitration process related to a grievance where ASD was found not only to be hiding information from its employees about medical costs and attempting to avoid responsibility through a shell game of technicality, but was forced to pay a multi-million dollar settlement to make up for breaking the contract in place at that time. Furthermore, when ASD writes, "Unfortunately, neither teachers union nor ASD can access detailed information from PHD," I would respectfully replace that sentence with the following. While ASD has repeatedly attempted to pry granular data that would be usable to identify members with expensive medical requirements and hypothetically utilize that information to then target said members for termination through various administrative processes. PHT has stood firm in not sharing any information
118that would break federal HIPPA regulations. There's a lot more, but that's not why I'm here to talk to you. I'm here to point out that this letter was put on a publicly funded website through a publicly funded server system and all of it has been paid for by taxpayer dollars. You approve those taxpayer dollars. Was this what you had in mind when you approved these budgets? Did you intend for your district administrative teams to publish a vastly skewed attack article on the largest bargaining group you rely on to complete the mission of this district? Did you intend to hand every English teacher the opportunity to teach students about media literacy and the misuse of public money to propagate misinformation through a mission of context? Did you intend for the local newspaper to take said story
119as reliable, official, and quotable material in which to again push a narrative that will be used to exacerbate an already tense negotiations process? You were in charge here. You ran to be here. You asked us to vote for you. Is this what you chose? >> Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Our next two speakers are Elaine Squire and Wendy Mo. Not seeing Elaine Squire or Wendy Mo. We'll go to Katie Harter and Imray Mini. Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> My name is Katie Harter and this is my 11th year in education. My first few years in education were in North Carolina, a state so hard up for teachers that I was the teacher of record, not sub, not student teacher, of a classroom before I had even graduated
120college. North Carolina's teacher attraction and retention is so poor that they have a program called lateral entry where people can, and I quote, earn while they learn and become teachers of a classroom while working on their formal teacher education. Sound familiar? When we moved to Anchorage 9 years ago, getting a job in ASD was near impossible. Open positions were few and far between. And when I did finally manage to get an interview, despite my resume and excellent letters of recommendation, I was beat out on more than one occasion by candidates who at the time had more years in education and higher degrees. Now, after being with the district for seven years, I am teaching 1.2 along with three others in my department alone because there were no qualified candidates to fill a position. Myself and
121my colleagues would rather take on an increased workload than see our students with rotating subs or in a class size that is incredibly large too large to manage. I love my school, my administration, my students, my colleagues, and especially my department. But I have taught for a state that has underpaid, underappreciated, and overworked its teachers before, and I refuse to do it again. It's becoming clear that regardless of the value and time teachers pour in, this district does not value them back. I am starting to look for backup plans in the lower 48 and I am willing to strike. >> Thank you for your testimony. >> I see I Manokei coming forward and after I speaker is William Baxter. Mr. Baxter, please come forward. Welcome Emry. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready.
122Uh my name is Emry Manokei. Uh I submitted a plan last month to the Anchorage School Board uh to use uh real-time scientific modeling to uh make reforms in the educational system that would increase educational efficiency and the overall quality of education. And um I plan to to follow up with a a motion and I would request that the school board put it to a vote uh in in the next month or so preferably. Um I would also like to point out that is my opinion that the government's structure which is controlling this uh school system which is not just the officials in this room but because it also extends to the state and federal governments is um in violation of the constitutional de declaration of rights of the state of Alaska. Article one, subsection
123one, inherent rights. Subsection two, source of government. Uh, subsection three, freedom of speech. Subsection six, oh, I'm sorry, freedom of speech, subsection five. Subsection six, assembly and petition. And um so I think this is something that should be um rectified and I would prefer it if that the school board would cooperate. Um you know perhaps uh one thing that could happen is the school part the school board partners with the state to scoo sue the federal government for additional funding or uh perhaps a class action suit against all three levels of government. Um but there's uh we can't really afford to not make reforms to the school district. Um if you look at the way all these other problems like crime and poverty are related to poor education and that's costing us dearly. >> Thank
124you for your testimony. Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. I I'm William Baxter and I I volunteer for FFA, Future Farmers Association. And uh the first time I went to the state convention, FFA convention, the first time I put stickers on my clothes and uh so it was kind of like uh they didn't know what to do with me, you know, it's kind of weird, you know, strange. They kind of was standoffish and everything. And this one little uh uh native girl who come up to me twice during that convention and she said, "I like I like your stickers." And then then she then the next convention she came back and I went to the next convention nicely. I was all stickered up and everything. They and the kids I learned
125that the kids called me Sticker Bill. The FFA kids like to call me Sticker Bill. And and so this native girl went home back to the banks or North Pole where she lived. And I get this call from the the uh the FFA uh uh visor and uh she said he said he wants me to come up there. Well, all the kids want to come up up to to this uh school called FV Cochran which is a charter school and they have a FFA program. you really want to study it. Uh what FA really can do and it starts school is FFA is FA Cochran in Fairbanks. And uh so so when I come walking into school and I come walking go drive up there and I walk into the school and and this uh
126native girl comes running up to me and gives me a big hug and uh and I found out what uh why he uh why uh Scott this guy uh invited me up there. Well, this the girl the her and the other girl uh other kids brought him to come up and uh and I was at the uh the farm uh farm uh uh convention uh this week this week and uh the FFA kids uh thank you for your testimony. Our last two testifiers, Senator Rianne Aster and Susan Bernard. >> Welcome, Ran. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. Hello, my name is Ran Aster. I believe a short-sighted series of decisions is being made on your watch, and I challenge you, the elected school board, to use the oversight and authority granted to
127you by the public to correct this course. In recent weeks, the district has published several notices regarding negotiations of the teacher contract. Two of these, in particular, while veiled asformational, are thinly disguised propaganda set up to influence readers against teachers. I refer specifically to posts from November 4th and 19th regarding teacher salary and healthcare. The average salary information in the first post shows a 30% increase since 2011. This number does not reflect negotiated pay scales. I assume it is taken as an average of actual pay, although the district doesn't specify their basis. When you can't retain entry-level educators and can't hire new ones, the workforce naturally skews to longer tenured employees, increasing the district-wide average beyond what any educator actually sees in their paycheck. Using this approach, the district implies there's only a 3% gap
128between current salaries and inflation, which is grossly misleading. Additionally, the inflation values used for the last 3 years do not actually match the cited index, and the district's method of calculating cumulative increases is also incorrect. Your handout has details and my corrections. My main takeaway is that inflation has actually been 40% in the time period referenced, not 33% as ASD posted. In that time, the teacher base salary has increased 27% or 13% behind inflation. The top salary in the schedule is 19% behind inflation. The district is pushing the narrative that public to the public that salaries are only 3% behind inflation when the reality is far from that. I get it. You don't want to look like the bad guy, so you cast on for a deflection and ended up here. But is it really
129in the best interests of the district to try to portray teachers as greedy and ill-informed and continue doubling down on that narrative? The more the district puts out pieces implying that teachers are already generously compensated, the more a reasonable member of the public would ask why the district then continues to ask for funding increases from the legislature. Show you value the people at the very heart of the education process. Use your resources to support your teachers. No. >> Thank you for your testimony. >> Welcome. You have two minutes. Please begin when you're ready. >> Good evening board. My name is Susan Bernard. I'm from uh Diamond High School. >> [clears throat] >> I'm just here to appeal to all of you as a human being. I think we all remember what it was like during
130CO and I'm hoping to get some eye contact out of a few of you here. I'm ju I'm just being honest like I I give eye contact to all my students every day. Had a kid today taking his ELA MAP test and started to break down during the test. I'm like, "What's wrong?" He's like, "My parents were both in the hospital last night." Okay. And you know what I said? Yeah. Don't worry about man. Do your best. gave the kids some food, asked him if they needed to take a break. That one-on-one care that I give my students is something I think you guys can relate to because you're all people, too. You all want to be treated like a human being during COVID. And when we saw what happened to the schools, we saw
131what happened to our communities when there wasn't the, you know, safety net of the schools helping people. We do a lot more than educate people. We really help human beings every single day. And it takes a toll on all of us. I can tell you honestly, I'm so exhausted. And I know I'm not the only one. And I know that this board has the power to actually make this happen, right? There's it's it's, you know, we tell kids all the time, know what your power is. Take it, you know, take it and and own it and, you know, do something with it. You guys actually have the power to make the contract work. I could see it if we were asking for something ridiculous, but I don't think we are. And I'm telling you right
132now that we we care about your kids, our community, the world in which we live. We want to make it a better place. I think that's why you guys are on the school board. And that's why I'm hoping that you guys will hopefully hear what I'm saying and remember your power, which is that you can make this happen for all of us. Our contract negotiation could be over with really soon. Thank you. >> Thank you for your testimony. That completes our public testimony for this evening. We'll take a fiveminute recess and continue with our agenda. Thank you. needed public comment. Is there a board member uh who wishes to pull something from the consent agenda? I myself will be pulling ASD memorandum number 042, approval of roaming middle school 35% schematic design and supplemental education
133specifications which will become action item F1. Uh, with that said, is there any board member who wishes to discuss an a an additional consent agenda item? Hearing and seeing none, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended? >> Yes, Mr. Chair, I'd like to approve the uh consent agenda as amended. >> Second. >> U motion made to approve the consent agenda as amended made by member Bellamy, seconded by member Hollowman. Seeing no discussion on the consent agenda, could we have a voice vote, please, Miss? >> Student Representative Madison, >> yes. >> Member Donley, >> yes. >> Member Bellamy, >> yes. >> Member Wilson, >> yes. >> Member Hullman, >> yes. >> Member Higgins. >> Member Lessons? >> Yes. >> President Jacobs? >> Yes. Our consent agenda is adopted by a vote of
1347 to zero. We'll move on to non-action items. Uh sorry, we'll move on to action items. The first of which is ASD memorandum number 042 approval of ROIC middle school 35% schematic design and supplemental education specifications. Is there a motion to approve before we have a presentation from district administration? Sorry. I move to approve memorandum number 042 approval of Romic Middle School 35% schematic design and supplemental educational specifications. >> Second by member Belly, seconded by member Hullman. Um Dr. Bryant administration has a presentation. >> Yes. Uh thank you Mr. President. So this is a routine process when it comes to design and ED specification projects. So I'll hand it off to Tom Bennis and team who will brief the board on this project. >> Good evening. Uh I'm Tom Bennis. I'm the senior director for
135capital planning construction. And as per board policy 3311, uh whenever we have a major schematic design, we get to 35%, we want to share that with the board so we can get your direction and approval in moving forward with that design. So, um I'm going to hand it off to Larry Morris, my planning design supervisor, who will introduce the rest of the team. Hello, I'm Larry Morris, planning design supervisor. I'd like to have uh the people here go ahead and introduce themselves. >> I am Juki Johnson. I am the project manager for this project for capital planning and construction. >> Hi, I'm Jennifer Midtune with BDS Architects, uh associate principal there. I'm also a f a proud graduate of ASD. So, >> I'm Eric Spangler with BDS Architects. I'm the project manager leading the design
136team. U and you know, Tom. >> All right. Uh as you were told, this is the 35% submittal and per board policy, we ask you to approve the 35% design. the uh supplemental ed specs and then also included in your packet is [snorts] the condition assessment of the building as is. There's a lot to read there. Also in the back are some renderings of potential future of what roaming will look like. Um, couple of things. You've heard me here before. When we look at projects, we uh protect the people, protect the facility, enhance educational delivery, and look for uh operational cost savings. Couple of things I'd really like to hit on this one is EUI energy utilization intensity. This building has an EUI of approximately 120 and it's getting bigger as we go along which
137is uh translates to just aboutund $220,000 a year just for heat and electricity. It's twice as high as it's supposed to be. And we have told our consultants that we will cut that in half at least when this uh project is done. Also, part of the protecting of the structure on this is that we are going to get a new roof on it. It's approximately the size of two and a half elementary schools. So, it's going to take a while to get the uh roof completed, but at the same time with the new roof, new insulation, which again overall [sighs and gasps] with everything else, just operating costs in energy, we expect to save approximately 110 to 120,000 a year. So I would like to pass this off to our consultants BDS to go ahead
138and make a presentation. >> Yeah. I I wanted to and just just one fact that about the energy usage is um the building right now has about a inch and a half of bat insulation insulating it. Your house if it's older has three and a half inches of insulation. If it's newer has five and a half insulation. So, it's really under insulated just to to t to touch on that point. Um, but I was just going to talk a little bit I was just going to talk a little bit about how we got here to the 35%. Um, and a little bit about the process. There were public workshops with uh teachers, students, the community at large. Um, we met a couple times. Uh, we had the students do some designs. We uh we had
139a collaborative process there to do that. At the same time, we were interviewing all the staff, all the various departments and what their needs were. Um we heard we heard a lot of the same things about the the size of the building and things like that. But um so that was one way of collecting information and the other one was a practical one. It was a facility condition assessment. We analyzed all the mechanical systems, the plumbing, the boilers, the HVAC systems, the electrical systems, including fire alarms, safety. Um, the structural did their their tier one, tier two seismic analysis. Um, and then architecturally, we looked at finishes. We looked at the roof. The roof needs to be replaced. Um and um we did some hazmat uh and as any building before at this era has
140a lot of hazmat. So things things we expected um and as we collected all that information we came to a concept design. We got an estimate on the concept design and we didn't have enough in the budget to do the entire project. So we broke it down into phases and so what you're looking at is phase one and what we did was we prioritized what needed to happen and one was security. Right now it doesn't have a secure vestibial that's the standard for ASD schools. Um we know the roof is a major maintenance issue that will protect the structure. And uh the other one was structural upgrades to uh make sure that we uh address those. And um so as far as safety, like I said before, it doesn't have a a a secure vestibial.
141So we've designed a secure vestibial where you you know you're have to be buzzed in and go through the office and around. I'm sure as you've seen in other schools. Um we reorganized the administrative area. It needed had some inefficiencies. um and added some adjacencies to other staff. So parents were wandering through the school to go to different counselors down the hall and it was just they wanted them all in one place. Uh it seemed to make the whole situation more secure. the roof we've talked about. There's, if you've been there, in the science wing, which is actually a newer edition, uh, 96, um, they've got buckets in the classroom that, you know, they've got, uh, contraptions of, uh, I don't know how to describe it exactly, but they've got plastic that leads to buckets.
142[laughter] And then, uh, there's some kitchen modifications as well that are part of this. And um those are really the the phase one in a nutshell. Did Jennifer did I leave anything out or >> that uh that does encompass phase one um pretty well. Uh of course the the focus is on the security and the roof are our main purposes. Um, but in uh in that project, we're also having a chance to refresh uh certain parts of the exterior. That's the the renderings that you see in your package. So, we're taking this as an opportunity where, you know, we're taking care of some of your very serious major maintenance that needs to be um dealt with, but um we're also taking the opportunity to take care of the hazmat in your existing finishes and refresh
143uh parts of the school that we are touching within phase one. So, um students and staff will see um parts of their building refreshed and looking beautiful, sparkling new, um as well as being safer and um in in all sorts of ways. And in phase two that we hope to come around in, you know, a couple years, um they'll see even more parts of the school, get that same upgrade and facelift that will hopefully, you know, um meet their educational needs that they've established in this planning process, um and take Rome into the future. Um so hopefully we get to see that in a couple of years. And one of the things we were tasked with was was keeping within the same footprint. So there's no additional square footage. We're within the same footprint. I'm
144not adding, >> right? >> Oh, I unless you have some questions. Questions from the board member less. >> Right. Um I I have been a Romig parent, very familiar with the parking lot. Um, I didn't see the refurbished Trojan who is now fully dressed. [laughter] Um, that was a major accomplishment in recent years. So, I will leave it to the design team to figure out what to do with the now now dressed Trojan. Perhaps it's time for an update. But, it is a really cool student mural um that was created or recreated in in recent years. So, I just that is not the meat of my thoughts, but it's what first came to mind. It does look good. I agree. Um, so one of the I guess I have some um I don't know some
145questions which I did read the packet but it was pretty dense and it I read it you know a little while two weeks ago when it was a non- action item. >> Um one of the things that has struck me with um driving carpool of middle schoolers um is that the cafeteria acoustics have been reported to be very loud. Is that something that's, you know, from a day-to-day standpoint that actually really it shapes students experiences? Um because you get yelled at when it gets too loud and then you get in trouble when you get yelled at because it's too loud and there's sort of this escalation. Um or it can happen. Um is that a practical thing that is going to be addressed in this? >> It it is. Um the MPR, the lunchroom is
146part uh partially being addressed in um phase one where we are looking at how to use the space more efficiently to gain students more space um that they can use during that lunch period. Um and then in phase two we are looking at a total refresh of all their finishes where we can utilize um soundbat attenuation strategies and redo the ceiling and add a lot of um soft materials to help with the acoustics in there. We're also looking at um you know adding adding some finishes in this phase to help with that in the meantime as a temporary um as a temporary stop gap. But we believe that in phase two um we'll be able to address a lot of the problems they have. >> Yeah. And this came up a lot and we did
147actually observe the loud and it is loud. >> It's very [laughter] loud. >> It is very loud. So, we're definitely aware of that and um we'll fully get to it at phase two. The the problem is we're trying to keep these projects discreet so you don't, you know, build something that you'll have to tear down later, right? So, you just build it once. And so, we're keeping the projects discreet in limited areas. So, there's none of that where you build something and then, oh, wait, I forgot I need to do this and have to tear something out. So, >> um I wonder if are you able and we're at the 35% um moment. Can you articulate because we've got over a thou got,00 students and change there now um and families. Can you articulate over
148the next couple of years what navigating the construction experience is going to be like? some point. We talked about a large number of reoss. There are some reoss which have been added and that um where are you going to put them and what is that going to be like for students and staff during the construction process? >> You hit it up good. Uh it is over full with students. We have four reloads out there. Um, we will be looking at do we put in another couple of potential reos, although at the last board meeting you did put in some uh reboundering which could help alleviate by about 160 students. That'll help some. That gets us down to full instead of over full. So there will be quite a bit of how do we move students
149because you cannot do this project in just summers. You're going to have to take part of the school out of out of use for a part of the year and be able to do construction. And so what do you do with those students when you have a school that's at 100% capacity? So that's part of the planning and we'll work with uh the school administration as well as a lot of other things to come up with how that plan is going to work. >> Yeah. In phase one primarily the um administration is going to be affected for the security um admin area. So less less of an impact on classroom spaces and more front entry roof sort of general I don't know architecture. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions for
150the team? >> Member Donley. >> Thank you. Um, I guess it was significantly over 50 years ago when I went to roaming. I think it was only two years old then. It was pretty new school. But the biggest problem we had was it was crowded and getting going from one class that was on the ground floor to the upper floor and back and forth. It was crazy. I mean, it was the the stairways were so packed. Now, I've talked to people recently, although I haven't been there to experience it recently, that that this problem isn't as bad anymore, but did you guys take that into consideration for in the major remodel planning? >> Yeah, we're redoing some of the stairways to help make uh communication between first and second floor a lot easier. The other
151thing they have in there for ADA purposes is a very old elevator that is going to be semioved and updated. Although that doesn't help. That's for special communications 88 type things. Uh the rest of it, yeah, we are going to update some stairwells so that they uh are easier to manage and easier to go up and down. So, it's not as bad because probably when you were there, there were a lot more students per stairway than there is now. Some of the additions, they've had additional stairways put in. >> Thank you. Seeing no other questions for the team, we thank you for the presentation. Um, is there discussion for the from from the board before we conduct a voice vote? Um, member Bellamy, as the mover, can you please state the full language of the
152memo for >> Absolutely. The full language is to approve the 35% schematic design and supplemental educational specifications for Romik Middle School renewal project and authorize the superintendent to use them as a guide for future capital improvements affecting the school and its campus. Okay, >> that was made by member Nome, second by member Hullman. Seeing no discussion, Miss Sullivan, the voice vote, please. Student Representative Madison, >> yes. >> Member Bellamy, >> yes. >> Member Lessons, >> yes. >> Member Wilson, >> yes. >> Member Hollowman, >> yes. >> Member Higgins, >> yes. >> Member Donley, >> yes. >> President Jacobs, >> yes. >> ASD memorandum number 042 is adopted 7 to Z. That completes our action items for tonight. Next up, item G, non-action items. There are six items there. Does any board member wish to discuss
153an on action item tonight? >> Yes. >> Member Higgins. >> I'd like to pull item number one, uh, the ASD memorandum 59, sixyear capital improvement plan project tables. Okay. >> Is there an additional uh item a board member wishes to discuss this evening and non- action status? hearing and seeing none, we'll uh have a discussion about ASD memorandum number 059, our sixyear CIP. Member Higgins, the floor is yours. >> Okay. Thank you. Um this item was added for quite some time ago um about destruction and there was a lot of misinformation. I mean, one of the things I heard is that the admin municipality wanted the land wanted the place removed. The mayor's office has denied that. The municipal manager said they don't know where that came from. and individuals on assembly have said uh
154individuals that may be speaking were not speaking on behalf of the full assembly. So individuals may have expressed some opinion. So, the issue of moving that school aside at the request of the municipality of Anquish, I think is is incorrect. Uh, politely put, um, the issue right now in front of us is that we've had the issue here with the Alaskan Native Cultural Charter School up in the air for years, a couple years there, and they didn't know what was going to come out. We didn't do anything with it. we've kind of got things settled down, but now we've got Wila there and the likelihood that we're going to find a school that's big enough that's going to accommodate them to move um uh and that we're going to move it within the next two
155years. I think the appetite for trying to find schools and there's some understanding there's no easy schools or good good schools to select right now for for right sizing anyway. Plus, we want to use that for um child care issues, which by the way, the mayor's office would like to meet with the board about that because they're very big on this. So, we have a need there for the space that we have available and the municipality of Anquish has expressed an interest through me when we met with all the elected officials that they really would like to have a meeting on this because it's a high priority for them. So, we've got a lot of ash issues that a lot of issues out there right now. What we have is we have hundreds of students
156and parents and staff who are in limbo at Abbott Loop and they've got things they need to do. They've established they need to do some reloads. They need to do some other things, but you can't do that when you're there for a couple years and you don't have that stability and it's it's the stress and the issues and their ability to plan it just doesn't exist there. It's it's a nightmare. And so my concern is that we can provide some stability here by eliminating the um demolition of Abbott Loop Elementary and try to deal with the administration on some options we have of trying to address this issue as quickly as possible and provide some stability to that school. I think they deserve it. I think we've always owe it to the to the staff
157to not so much the staff but the kids number one and then the the staff as well and the parents to do some stability here. We can stabilize this if we want to but we have to end up working together on this. I guess to the administration the question is is there a way potentially I mean I know we have different bonds we have sometimes money there with that you can switch things if this is a high priority can we potentially address this issue in a short-term basis even if it's not a bond is there a way of doing this because the amount of money is not that great like it was at one time raise the roof you have to build a new school I agree we don't have to raise the roof roof,
158but I think the figure is more like $3 to $5 million in that range for all the issues of all, you know, the roof and the generator or whatever we need. Can the administration and I guess this would be something for Mr. Anderson and well through the superintendent of course, but is there a way for us to try to address this issue and and move this forward? I don't like holding these kids hostage with the parents and with the staff. the stress levels are high enough and we have the ability to do this. I don't think the appetite for closing another school right now is high and we only got a couple years to be able to do this and we putting them there's no other place for them to go that I don't believe
159that's in any place safe unless we close the school that we're going to have that facility where we're going to keep those kids safe in case something happens and I and I feel very confident that this is something they want something we can provide and we can show some leadership here try to help them. I really am really want to push that, but I guess I I'll throw it to the administration. What are the options here that can we look at some of the things and possibly come out with a plan to deal with that? Because if we can, then that should be a factor also in regards to this decision. We've got so many things we need to add to this capital plan. I mean, there was no limit to that, right? We got
160a billion half dollars deferred maintenance. Good gracious, you want anything you want, it can be on there no matter what you do. But why put this on there if there's another options or some other way to help them and to get this going quickly? Because right now they're talking about needing reloads. They're talking about the insecurity they have. The expectation that they were going to be giving priority, yes, but that's not at the expense of closing a school that we don't want a school otherwise. That's really what we've talked about and I think we lived it with that. But I think we have the ability here today to try to send a message and work with the administration and have them come back and tell us is there an option here? Is there a plan?
161Is there something we can do to get this moving forward? Because I like I said, I don't think the appetite's there for trying to close a lot of schools. We'll look at those issues. We know there's a need for child care. That's critical. the the MUN wants to work with us, the mayor's office, and we can go forward, but we can't just be in limbo out here for this school, hundreds of students, all those parents and staff to go through this to hold it back if we can come back and do something and get it done. So, I'll raise it to the superintendent, I guess. Mr. Anderson, I don't know if you want to. Is this something we can bring back in a couple of weeks, but is there an option out here? And I'm
162hoping the board will share their view on it. But do we want to to really help Wila and all those kids to go ahead and stabilize this and to move it forward and so it doesn't get hang hanging over our head. >> Thank you. Uh through the president, member Higgins, uh we're happy to provide some insight on that. Mr. Anderson, we have a few things that we need to provide the board a direction. Essentially, they need the order of operation. So, what I'm tracking is that currently there's board direction to demolish the building. We also have a CIP that would need to be modified. Mr. Higgins is asking about what are our funding options for the project. So, could you address this? >> Of course. Um, I think what the board actually approved was to
163declare it excess and then there were discussions about once we declared it excess um as as to who would pay to demo the building. Um that that was from March April 20 from that board memo that got approved. Um we know that it needs a fire suppression system before school year 2829 or we have to have a waiver the waiver extended beyond that time. Um we know there's there's multiple funding potentials for um some of these costs. It could be major maintenance grant money. It could be unspent uh prior year bond funds. Um but the very first step would be to uh for the board to decide that there was an intention to retain this building for beyond the 2728 school year. Um I think we can I mean we can certainly staff it in
164public tonight. we can have um I can come back with multiple different uh ways of looking at it for the next work session if we want to discuss it there um and get board comments. Um I think some of the board members probably haven't put as much thought into this as others. Um but of course any plan can be changed once the board makes a decision and gives us guidance. >> Member Les. Thank you. Um I want to begin I'll try to be brief. Um I want to begin by absolutely acknowledging that Roshul needs a sense of stability for the immediate and and medium-term futures. Um eventually a long-term future uh but I certainly think there's a need for stability u in in the short term. Speaking personally looking at year three of the CIP.
165So it's year three 2028. Item six is currently listing demolition Abbott Loop Elementary School at $2.5 million for the bond amount half of that with the bond debt reimbursement. I and and currently if you take that away I I think that there's headroom in that um I think there's space in that overall potential year package to add a fire suppression system and perhaps a secure vest vestibule and if we did it if we put that on the CIP it strikes me that um that might and we can talk I like the idea about talking about it at a a next the next work session um but I would be supportive of of a substitute memo perhaps or an amendment um making conforming language, you know, conforming changes for for language and cost. Um I think
166that that could provide a viable path forward and this is really building on the the end of our finance committee conversation uh from a week ago. Um and President Jacobs had some some clear thoughts, but this might be um it's a possibility um that strikes me as reasonable and timesensitive um for real to have a sense that it could be a path for for receiving a waiver from the fire marshall and getting the building partially up to snuff for what it needs. I'm aware that it needs other things as well, but those are perhaps the most emergent among the most emergent needs. >> Thank you, member lessons. Member Hollow. >> Um, yes. Dropping back to when the decision was made at that time, the goal was to reduce our footprint, save money by abandoning a
167building that needed substantial repairs. And there was no discussion about the need for a use for it. Uh except that as it became vacant, uh Alaska cultural charter had a crying need and then Roshua had a great need and we've also discussed several other programs in the district that have a great need. And so at the moment, abandoning a building that is potentially usable doesn't seem to make the same sense it did three or four years ago. Um I I would like I I think it would be wise to pull it from the CIP and because right now the board has expressed its desire to have it demolished. um we could step back from that but look at all the programs that we hope to house and and I have been with the district long
168enough to remember a time when the the attitude was charters need to go find their own place to live. They take care of that. Uh the district was growing. There wasn't any extra space anyway. We weren't going to bond to build a school for a charter. Uh but we have kind of without even thinking about it I think reversed course on that and a number of us feel like it would be an improvement if as many charters as wish could be housed in uh ASD buildings that are built to the standard for fire safety, for seismic safety, uh for evacuation safety that that we build into our schools, which is part of why they are so expensive. So, I I would go on record as one more board member that would support taking it off
169of the uh reversing our intent for it to be demolished while we look at all the needs. Uh and certainly real would be at the top of that um to decide what we're going to do going forward. There's obviously strong push from people outside the district for us to close buildings, but I also think we we need to look at our buildings in terms not just of square footage per student, but if we could get class sizes to where we wished or move in that direction. I'm I'm still unclear how many spare classrooms we would have. Square footage doesn't matter so much. I mean, it's it's a number and it's a guideline, but the reality is as you have individual classes, you need a classroom for each one. We tried the open architecture and found
170out that yeah, that doesn't work. So, um, if we were able to get secondary classes down into the 30s and elementary classes into the low 20s and kindergarten classes into the teens, which I think is not even idealistic, but just reasonable, would we have any classrooms left over? And I don't know. That's something administration would have to work on. I don't think this is an answer they can come up with in a week or two. They're pretty busy and it's a there's a lot of buildings out there, but I would support stepping back from tearing it down while we figure out exactly what we do need in the future. Um, as well as looking at what we might have to do to Abbott Loop to make it viable for a number of years, um, as
171long as Real might need it and whatever else might follow if we do come up with a more suitable location for them. Member Don. >> Thank you. Just to explain where we're at here. We're on non-action items and item number 59 is a memorandum to adopt a new six-year capital improvement plan. That's state law requires us to update our six-year plan every year. And within the proposal that's in memorandum 059 is a proposal to demolish Abbott Loop. Um, as member lessons pointed out, it's in the year, the third year of the six-year plan. It's 2028. There's $2.5 million there for demolition, which is kind of ironic because the voters, the only time the voters have spoken on this issue, they actually approved about five years ago, I think that same amount of money, 2.5 million
172to meet the fire code requirements for Abbott Loop. Um, it went out to bid. the bids came there was not a successful bidding process then the money just went into kind of limbo there so there is 2.5 million I believe still available from that bond that was approved by the voters to do upgrades to Abbott loop to address the fire code situation I would anticipate we've heard I've heard various numbers of how much more it might be estimated to cost now but I also would support uh deleting the demolition um uh of of Abbott Loop that's in the proposal that's in the current version of 059 and then we need to address the exact issue that we're all discussing about Rookula. They need a home. Um they seem to really be very appreciative of Abbott
173Loop. It's it's a great location. It has a great uh it's a great asset to the neighborhood with a wonderful uh recreational area. It's big enough. There's gardens, room for gardens and and and a ball field and um playground equipment. It's really an asset to the neighborhood. Um I would much prefer that it remain there for the advantage of the neighborhood rather than just be torn down, especially when we have such a a a growing school as Wokushula that's housed in there now that needs to be able to have a home. So if we could have the information available to us before the next meeting of how much would be needed to bring it up to code, I think that'd really be helpful and then we could consider it um what what way to go
174forward at the next meeting. >> Going to jump in the queue for conversation. Um, I think a couple things were said that need to be corrected. I I don't think we've had folks speaking on behalf of the board regarding our will to address right sizing and reducing our footprints. None of us can do that. Um, we've had discussion about addressing right sizing and speaking for a future board. That's prognosticating. Um, next May, two of our members will no longer be here. it will be a different board for the first time in a few years. Um, and I have no idea what these two board members will be interested in. In addition, I'm looking at a letter from the chair of the Rul APC who clearly indicates that they are asking for the board to work
175through a process for RIA to remain at Abbott Loop while we identify a sustainable long-term facility. That is a clear ask. And so um articulating that it's their desire to remain at Abbott Loop permanently is not aligning with their own words. And I think it's important to say on record and um for board members who need to go take a look at the letter was received Tuesday 122. Um please read it. I I think there is a path forward to removing uh the demolition cost from the bond. For my purpose, I think the municipality should pay for the demolition and I've maintained steadfast in that fact that if we need to demo a building as a city, the MUN should take care of those costs as it'll be their property afterward. Um, and so I
176I tend to agree actually um with the concept of removing those costs so we can bond for projects uh to repair a school instead of tear it down. Um but the stakeholders that are involved in this process and prior board guidance has been that we should move away from utilizing this property and specifically for the purposes of ROK identify another facility as our right sizing conversation evolves that might be a better fit. Um that's my preference and I think that's backed by what we've heard from the community and our prior decisions. Member Higgins, [snorts] >> I think a few things. I think I appreciate the questions raised by uh member Hollowman in regards to the amount of classrooms we have available. We've been communicating out there things like Lake Otis is 48% full when we
177know there's only two classrooms open. We've got so many classrooms with special ed. We've got other programs out there. To assume that it's more than 50% closed is is just it's out there. But we did have a number about how much capacity we would have. It was a few years ago uh if we had met Poke Pike's ODM studies. The class sizes were adjusted and we didn't have much capacity. So um that that number was given to us. I could go back and find it, but there was something out there with it. I think simply postponing this is not going to accomplish what we need to do unless we're committed to actually cutting a school next year. And I don't think that the interest is there. I think we need to give the administration some
178flexibility to look at the options here to be able to address this issue, come back, give us a proposal, and then we can go forward with it. Not just that we're delaying and kicking the can down the road. We're always going to have new board members, but until we have new board members, this board is responsible for making board decisions. So, I don't think we make a decision saying because there's going to be changes in the future, we don't make decisions today. I I don't I find that um uh difficult to to accept. I think uh we have the timing is critical. If we're going to get this done in time, I would like to see and I think I've heard four board members anyway express an interest in helping Wilsha. And I think that
179um if we looked at right sizing, are we going to select a school out there large enough for Wilsha with the intent that we're going to move out the neighborhood kids in order to make room for Wilsha because that school's big enough? I don't think we want to send that out to the community, but if that's what we're sending out, then let's be clear about it. I don't think that's right. Um I think it would be very inappropriate uh to do so. So I I I have met with the head of the APC. They were supportive of of addressing this. I have heard from staff um at the at the top in the issues and we've seen documents and testimony today. they'd be supportive of providing stability to them and they talked about need for
180additional um uh portables to be able to pull this off but that investment is going to be delayed or not acted on because we don't make a decision today. I just want the board to ask the administration at this point. Give us the options in a couple of weeks on what you can do, how it could be done um financially, what we could get done, how long it would take so that we can provide that stability. Then the board gets to make that decision. I'm going to propose a motion when it comes forward as an action item. I just simply would like the board to be supportive of at least getting that information from the chief operating officer next board meeting. Member Bellamy. >> Thank you. I you know we're here because of us. We
181didn't close schools. We asked for a plan. We re reigged on the plan. So here we are again forecasting what it is we're going to do and not going to do. So it's we we are all looking for a path forward for Rickula. So there are no heroes here tonight. We are all looking for a path forward. But let's be honest, we are here because we have failed them twice. Not once, twice. And it's because of this board that made decisions the way we made them. I'm part of the board. So if the request is beyond the pontification, if the request is to and I think I heard the superintendent say they could bring back more information for the board to consider. I think that's where we need to start because all of this is
182not helpful. It's not helpful for me. Thank you. Okay. Member Wilson. >> So, as I've always understood it, the CIP is not set in stone. >> Absolutely. So to make a decision for without having any of the information on hand to see how much it would co actually cost to bring Abbott Loop up to snuff is is not a decision I'm willing to even weigh in on. Um but it is a little frustrating that there's this much conversation about a decision, one particular decision to to bring that school um above there. There's lots of schools needing lots of repairs. And that's what I need to know is and and we have schools desperately in need of repairs. If if I'm going to put one school in front of the other at this point when we
183have so many schools in such desperation of need of repairs, I want to know what's going to happen to one of these other schools that that are listed on the CIP uh above Abbott Loop. I I need to know how our kids are going to be affected. How if there's if there's another school that we're going to make not safe in this process, that's that's not acceptable to me. And I I need that information. And I I feel like we're having a lot of discussion about a school that that at this point we can say, "Sure, we're going to do the repairs. No, we're not going to demolish it." No, I I just I don't have enough information to do that. And I don't know how our other schools are going to be affected in
184this process. So, I I understand that that that there are members advocating for one school over the other. I get that. I get the need for so many of our kids to to need that safe place, but without the information as to how what another school on the CIP that that is listed above Abbott Loop or any other school on the CIP is going to get bumped down because we only we only have so much money and it's not ever enough. I need to know how these other schools are going to be affected because I'm not going to choose to put our kids in an unsafe in one unsafe school to make room for for another school. I I just it's a kind of an impossible decision and to make that tonight is is not
185acceptable to me. >> Uh member Higgins. >> Yeah, I'll address a couple things. One is I don't think we reneged on anything. Um the board makes the decision, the the administration makes a recommendation and we are not compelled if we fail because we don't do what the administration tells us to. They have recommended. Uh we represent the the the public, we represent kids, we represent the the the staff. Um and so somewhere on this line that if we don't do whatever the administration recommends, we have failed is something I strongly disagree with. And I think it is contrary to what a board member should be about. We are representing the voters and we do not fail because we decide not to follow directions from the superintendent. I don't think that's an appropriate way of putting
186it. I understand where um member Wilson is coming from. I appreciate that a great deal. As a matter of fact, in this particular case, the school will not remain open if we do not address the code issue. I'm not trying to go beyond that. no decorations, no anything else, but we have to do that. So the priorities have always been what do we have to do to keep the school functioning and so that puts us at a high level because the school won't be able to function. There is no alternatives at this point in time where those those students can go. Um and that puts it in um um a priority kind of situation and they're all our kids whether they're charter school or whe I guess I'll keep it going. Um whether it's a
187charter school or whether it's a neighborhood school or an optional program, they're all ASD kids and we don't have an alternative right now for Wilka Schuler at all. And finding it in this n in this community is not going to happen. I'm confident unless we close the school and that's unpredictable. I'm not a big fan of kicking out neighborhood schools to create this opening. But we have the ability to do something now that really is going to benefit hundreds of students, hunt the parents and the staff, reduce things and take this off the plate. We focus too much on right sizing and not enough on just running the school district otherwise. I know this has worn the administration down to like mad as well. They can clear the plate at this point in time if
188we do this. But I do appreciate the not the priorities saying one school are prioritized of the other, but a charter school or regular school or any other school, they're all ASD kids. And right now we have hundreds of kids that are are at risk of not having a school in a couple of years when it when it runs out. And all we need to do is rather than spend two and a half million to remove it, we probably spend another million and we have the school fixed to be able to continue. It's not a big expense. Okay, I'm going to wrap up discussion tonight just by saying that um I'm I'm confident that there is a path forward and I want to avoid alarmist language by saying a school can't continue to operate. Um
189I think we can have conversations about that and no one can know for certain tonight. Um what path forward best allows Abbot Loop to remain a facility that serves Ril? um to quote the letter from the chair of the APC um until we secure another sustainable long-term facility. Um I think it was good discussion and I think we can have additional discussion um at our next meeting and obviously members are encouraged to draft amendments ahead of time and bring those forward. Member Lessons, do you have any quick comments to close things out? >> I wanted to pivot to another item on the CIP. So if that's appropriate, >> absolutely, please do. >> Okay. Um, there's really no good way to bring this up, but I'm just going to do it. So, I'm looking at year
190four, uh, which is 2029, and item six is Chooak High School master plan and conceptual design to develop plans for a future renovation. One of the things that we heard here tonight was that ROM's energy footprint is expensive at, I don't know, a quarter million dollars. Costs over a million dollars to heat and light Chukiak High School. it takes one out of every $18 in the district for uh under two% of our student body is really expensive. So, um energy upgrades are are needed and relevant and important. However, I think the elephant in the room is that our broader secondary footprint um doesn't feel sustainable to me at this point in time as we stare down an 80 point almost $3 million deficit uh for next year. And I realize that I'm looking at year
1914 2029. Um, Eagle River High School, uh, currently has 721 students. Last I checked, um, Chooiak High School has about 821 students. As of a few days ago, it's about at 50% capacity. Um, it is incredibly expensive to heat. Um, it also, and this is more of an FTE conversation, this year when I tallied up the additional FTE needed to staff, principles, counselors, librarians, library assistants, nurses, office admin, BO, security, and the academy coaches, which we are paying for. Um, between Eagle River and Chugak High School, um, there are 12.38 FTE required. um more than Betty Davis at East High School and there are similar student populations. There's about 1531 at Betty Davis East and 1582 at if you lump together Chooak and Eagle River. Um so we're we're spending a lot of money right
192now to operate our two smallest comprehensive high schools. And so I am not offering any solutions or language, but serving it up to this board and perhaps the administration to begin a conversation and and maybe it's via the year 4 2029 CIP, you know, is a master plan for Chooiak High School the right thing for the school district or does a master plan for um an expansion of Eagle River High School, which is a much lower energy um um imprint. Uh I think it's in the realm of $400 and something thousand dollars to heat and light that building. Um I think we need to be strategic about the CIP. I realize it's a living document and this is the administration has proposed Chukiak High School work for good reason. Um but I think that we
193really need to think about the role of our what what is what is our secondary footprint? What should it be? Yes, the area is growing. Um, it certainly serves a lot of military families. Um, there's a lot of capacity in the area and I just wanted to say something at this point in time. Um, it is not an action item, but perhaps we can engage with it more deeply um, in two weeks. >> See no other comments on this non- action item. That completes our non-action item agenda for this evening. We have no additional uh public comment. Our next item is I one superintendent update. Dr. Brian Floors. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I just I know we've had a long night tonight. I just wanted to recap some of the information that was shared
194earlier today in the work session. Um this is mostly to the general public but earlier today we shared the proforma which is essentially our financial forecast for the district for the next fiscal year and we project that our structural deficit will be close to $80 million and our fund balance will also be much more limited than it's ever been in the past. So, what that means for the community is that over the next few months, we'll be gathering community input and we'll also be preparing a final recommendation for the board to consider um by early February in anticipation for a vote from the school board um by the end of February. Um, but I also want to make sure that the public understands that this has been a very dynamic year because it was at
195around this time last year by our last budget adoption, we had to make a very difficult decision to spend down nearly all of our fund balance to the bare statutory minimum so that we could protect as many of our classroom offerings and programs as possible because at that point in time back in February of last year, we had no idea um whether or not there would be any additional funding. And it really wasn't until just a couple of weeks before the beginning of this school year that we that we understood that we'd have a $700 permanent BSA increase, which was a historic and very positive moment. But the punchline is that our operating budget right now is being balanced by a $700 permanent BSA increase and a one-time $700 equivalent, which came from our fund
196balance. That second $700 will not be available to us. So one of the findings that we shared during the proforma presentation is that there is essentially no fund balance that we can allocate meaningfully towards this deficit. And additionally we did share some of the realities of the facts that our budget is primarily comprised of people. And in addition to that u many of these people lead incredible programs and instruction for our kids. So our northstar will be to try to protect our progress when it comes to our board goals as much as we can. But you can't shield our classrooms and our core programs from what is essentially a $700 per student cut. So in other words, there is no path forward without immense sacrifice, tough trade-offs, and reductions across the board because the magnitude
197of that type of deficit is simply too great. And I want to make sure that the public understands that again this time last year, we had to make that decision to spend down the fund balance just to preserve what we had at the time. And now the time has come to make some difficult decisions. I know that's heavy information to take in, but there are some next steps here. So, as a district, we want to be as proactive as possible, which is why we put a hiring freeze in place, and we'll be preparing that formal budget recommendation to the board. But I want to make sure tonight that I remind the public that this Saturday we will be having a budget workshop at Bartlett High School at 11:00 a.m. And this is a followup to
198information we shared with the public a few weeks ago where we're inviting everybody um to complete an ASD budget simulation exercise. It's not easy because it essentially is inviting you to do the work of a schoolboard member and a superintendent looking at all the ways the district spends its money and to figure out a path to a balanced budget which we have to do by law by March. Um, and I know that can be very overwhelming to do at home. And if you'd like to be in the presence of ASD experts, myself and others, we invite you to come to Bartlett High School on Saturday so that we can answer questions because again, there's no path forward without tough tradeoffs. This is not a status quo situation. Um, there will be no status quo unless
199there's some uh some miraculous change in our revenue outlook and I will certainly be fighting for that as much as I can, as much as I always have. Um, but I do want to be realistic knowing that our state is also having its own issues developing a fiscal plan and protecting our purchasing power as a school system across the state, not just for ASD. So, while there's not a whole lot that we can do in this moment right now today, what we can do is continue to engage the public because again, we can't protect everything, but we can use your voices to help us figure out what tradeoffs that we are going to approve with the reality that we'll be weathering a $700 per student cut. There's simply not enough outside of the classroom to
200shield every single classroom. we will be impacted as a system and we need your input to make sure that we're as informed as possible. So, we're going to have to go through this together and I couldn't be uh joined by as many incredible community members and schoolboard members and others as I am. We will get through this, but again, there is no painless path forward without immense sacrifice and trade-offs. So, we're going to try to do what's right by by our kids, but that's the reality and that's how we got here and it's my responsibility to keep it real to you. So, with that said, I'll I'll end my comments there. >> Member Donley. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, there was two things brought up in public testimony tonight. I'm I'm curious to get
201more information from the administration on. One was the enhanced uh GPA issue uh for the the students that are currently in the uh civil leadership program and the other was um an ability to uh appeal a um an asserted transcript error and I was just wondering if somebody could give us some more additional information about that. >> Uh thank you member Donley. A great question. Uh for both of those issues, it was the first time that I had heard them. So I'd like to do my own factf finding. But what I can tell you is that I believe it was two years ago, the district adjusted its weighted GPA policy so that dual credit could be weighted in addition to AP and IB. But we heard overwhelmingly from the the community and also as personally
202as somebody who was a college counselor for years after that and have been in that space for a while, it's important that when you make a change like that that it impacts students before they start high school. You don't want to make changes that could potentially jeopardize students who already have a high school transcript. So the reason why one class was chosen over another was not a matter of favoritism. It was to ensure that when those students, the class of 2028, became freshmen that they were starting with the clean slate. It certainly wouldn't be tenable, appropriate, or fair to change the way that GPA is calculated midstream after a student is in high school. But with that said, there may be information that I don't have that I'd like to get from those students and
203we will do that. But I wouldn't have an answer for the school board today. But just know we want to make sure that we're working with these students, hearing their concerns. As someone who used to be a college counselor, I have a lot of thoughts as to how we can work through this without changing our AR or board policies, but I need to have that conversation with the students and for the individual student situations. I I would have to get a lot more information from that parent. But I appreciate the question and as appropriate, I'm happy to update the board on the resolution to these. >> Thank you, member Donley. That completes the superintendent update. We'll go to school board administration closing comments. We'll start to my left. Member Higgins. >> Thank you. I u
204I really appreciate the testimony tonight from the kids blew me away a little bit. The the GPA issue was so well presented by those students. I can see them as future leaders in this country. They're just really out there. The one issue I've always had with the GPA issue where you get over 4% is when you go to graduation ceremonies and you talk to valatory and you're hearing from them they didn't take certain classes because they couldn't get more than a 40 in that class. We we're putting the grade above the education at some point here. And I don't know how to address that issue where you got students not taking classes they want to take. They can learn. They think they're a benefit because of the GPA issue game and trying to be at
205the top. Um I just think it's an issue that's always been out there to me. I think they did a great job explaining the the problem. I leave it to the administration to assess it. they will evaluate it and come back with any recommendations that may be appropriate. But I really did appreciate the way that they presented it and the data and and the manner in which they presented so professional. I really appreciate that. Um, of course I love the glitter uh that with the Girl Scouts as well. That was so well done and um uh really very appreciative of that. Got challenged, do you visit Rico? The answer is yes, I do. Um so that's um something definitely we have done. Um obviously listening to the representatives with employees and the issues is frustrating
206and it's depressing that we're going through. I think the superintendent made thing about it being tough. That's a gross understatement at this point in time. This is unbelievably miserable that we do not have the resources and we are dealing with such difficult issues uh dealing with staff and and benefits to kids uh simply because we've it's been year after year from the state but we're dependent upon it. Um got hit up with the question I want to get in dialogue and we're not doing that. They give me the three-minute rule. That's the way it reminded me not to spend too much time. Um, but we are limited with the National Labor Relations Act. We can't say get involved and undermine the collective bargaining process. We are so this is so frustrating that we don't have
207the kind of support that we need for for and that teachers think it's anything other than uh that we're not supportive of what they're doing. it it you're doing such a tremendous job. You have two larger classrooms. You don't have the resources. Compan benefits are important and and all I can say is I you're you're being heard. I just don't you know it's a it's a difficult challenge and I can't give much more than that. So I really appreciate that. And I um um as I go back to the Wila issue, every kid in in Anchorage school district is an ASD child. Whether it's a charter school or whether it's homeschool or whether it's anything else, if they're associated with ASD, they're ours and we're responsible for them and I hope that we just do
208the best we can u under very difficult circumstances. But I really appreciate the feedback, the number of emails, the contacts. I know I've contacted people when they sent emails with phone numbers and I call them, but I really do appreciate um people engaging in this process and um um I just hope for the best. Thank you. >> Thank you, member lessons. Um, I was uh be brief, but there was a student who spoke this evening and uh she was wearing an All-State music sweatshirt and that reminded me that I had the pleasure of attending the All State Music Festival which was held at West um a week ago or so. It was about three and a half hours of extraordinary um just extraordinary music put on by orchestra band and two different choir groups. Uh
209and these are students from around the state who had been engaged in a crash course uh sort of all day Thursday uh I think Thursday much of Friday um a lot of Saturday as well. Um, and one of the things that really struck me was actually one of the instructors who was an ASD graduate and had been uh, an ASD football coach and also was there uh, working mostly with I don't know 80 or 90 young women with the treble choir. And while he he was he came back home to Alaska, I forget his name, but he spoke with us. Um, Mr. Gustoson knows exactly who I'm talking about. And it struck me what a wonderful um he spoke so eloquently about the mentorship he received as a teacher in ASD from other uh educators,
210how happy he was to be home and working with Alaska students. And um it just tickled me that you could have a football coach choir um instructor uh pursuing his higher uh education. Um I think he's in Michigan uh working on a doctorate. Um so anyways, we're we're graduating good people and our students are doing amazing things and working beautifully with students across the state. >> Thank you. Member Donley. Well, the second annual Kimchi day at at Wendler Middle School was absolutely wonderful. It was uh a lot of people attended a year ago with the first um one and this is the second annual Kimchi Day and there were literally hundreds and hundreds of people there. So, it's quite an amazing event. I'm sure they'll be doing it again next year. I really recommend it
211to everybody if you have the chance to drop by and participate in that. Um um the text that was read from the letter from the Rico leadership um does not seem inconsistent to me at all with funding the repairs needed to comply with the code to keep the building open um and to provide a home for now for for um the school. Um I don't know of any other school building um that's currently facing a such an immediate code compliance um issue. So as far as priority um it sure seems to have a very objective from an objective standard should rise on the list. Um, additionally, um, it is the only building I think one of the it's been voted on. The voters actually approved part at least partial uh of the funds needed to
212do the upgrade and it's so it's been voted by the people and approved that. Um, at the time it was that was the estimate that we were given for what it would take to bring it up to code and um, the fact that it was uh, the estimate was low um, um, shouldn't be held against it getting done. Um, so anyhow, those are my comments tonight. >> Thank you, Member Wilson. I I just wanted to share that uh we have some meetings our committee meetings uh are on December 18th. So we'll have our governance finance and communications meeting on those days. >> Thank you member Holland. >> Thank you. Um yeah, I too really every time we have student testimony, it really is impressive and uh appreciate the students coming out and taking time. I
213really appreciate the students that are working on the microplastics project because it's not simply to change things in ASD. They're that's just one of the things that they are looking at doing. um their their goals are higher and I think the opportunity to participate with that uh is a real plus for us and certainly admire what they're doing on it. Um a couple other things that not necessarily about tonight's meeting, but I'll admit to gradually becoming more and more depressed about the outlook for everything that's going on. On one hand, more recently, a lot of people do seem to feel like the BSA increase solved a lot of problems, and it certainly was a step forward in that if it had not happened, the budget outlook would be much more bleak. Um, it it did
214increase what we can expect uh at least until we see the governor's budget in a few weeks. But when all the dust settled out of it, we really have about flat funding from last year. The BSA funding was increased, but the out of the BSA funding went away to where we we had about the same um until some of the federal grant funding went away at the end. And then we we came in a little bit under uh what we had to work with last year. And I think this year there's hope that maybe we could get a cost of living adjustment out of the legislature and probably not much else. They've got their own budget issues. Rilki would like to see certainty about where they're going to be. Um and certainly AA members would
215like certainty about their contract and about an expectation of just being able to pace inflation and the cost of living. Um, there's really no certainty to be had. I'm not sure we're going to be able to effectively run the district. When we had the initial proposal from the governor a year ago, it amounted to a 20% cut over the prior year, which was substantial, and we eventually passed a budget that reflected that. The feeling I got from talking to people in schools that were trying to put together schedules was that it was just starting to break. And and I've been paying attention to this for about 30 years. And most years it's been flat or there have been little decreases. There have been a few years where it went up. Those were great years, but
216there weren't very many of them. But you just sort of have the feeling that okay, you don't have quite as much to work with last year or maybe you have the same amount but inflation has come in and so it's going to be a little worse. But last year when I looked at what people in schools were saying it didn't seem like it was going to be a little worse. They really couldn't figure out how to put something together that would work. And fortunately, the legislature made a strong statement that let us revise our expectations and then that got vetoed, but that got overridden. Um, in the meantime, we did dedicate fund balance, which I think is something that a lot of people in the public misunderstand what fund balance is, but it's something we
217don't normally spend on anything unless we have a fire or an earthquake or some sort of disaster. And so running without it is a little bit like letting the insurance on your car lapse and hoping you don't get pulled over. We don't have much. And we It's the thing that keeps paychecks from bouncing. It's the thing that lets them pay bills in between the intervals when we do get revenue from the state or from the city. It doesn't all come at once to be spent down. Um, we're continuing to run with less than we need and we don't have the option of bringing that in again to sustain flat funding, which we did last year. Um, we don't know what the governor is going to propose. I don't think anyone's expecting him to be generous
218with education. Really don't know what he's going to do, but it could be worse than we expect. And when I talk to friends that are teaching secondary with over 40 students, I talk to elementary teachers that have over 30 students, kindergarten teachers that have 20 high 20s in their classroom. These are terrible situations and historically they occasionally happened in the ASD, but they were anomalies. They don't feel like anomalies. They feel like the more common thing right now. and side by side and completely unrelated, there is no one standing in line to take these jobs if people leave. That's something I'm not sure we've totally adjusted to yet. Um, it was interesting to hear one person testify about coming out of North Carolina, which is where I grew up, and I never would have considered
219a career in education in North Carolina. It just it wouldn't have been fair to my family. it wouldn't have been fair to me. Um, that's sad. Um, and we're not in that state, fortunately, but we are in a situation where we may not be able to convince people to staff the positions we fund. And how does that work, especially when we're already staffing at an extreme extremely thin layer? So I I would encourage the administration to think about trying to turn their attention to supporting teachers and having them feel supported. Not by coming up with plans, but by just looking to the basics of what they need in their classrooms and whether or not what we're doing supports that or complicates it. because I think a number of the initiatives that tend to come out
220of this building complicate it and when there is funding and there is support and they're good ideas and are well executed, it's great for everybody. I don't I don't mean to make it sound like it's always a bad thing, but as one board member put it quite some time ago when we were talking about a big project, it's aspirational and I don't think we can afford to be aspirational. I don't think we can afford to be aspirational right now. I really do think we have to look at maintaining the bare bones and helping teachers do what they do in the classroom and not much else. Um, until we actually get funding at a level to where we have low30s in secondary and low 20s in elementary and teens in kindergarten. Those are reasonable numbers. They're
221not they're not lavish numbers. They're just reasonable numbers to expect people to come in and be successful at what they're doing. And my my feeling always is that teaching's hard and if you're not being successful at it, it's miserable. But if you are being successful, there's there's quite a bit of fulfillment and joy in it. And teachers will endure a lot to experience that. But when they're not being successful, it it's just a miserable job and it doesn't pay well. Doesn't pay enough no matter what it is. I I do think the narrative that was put on the website skipped over some important stuff that should have been mentioned. It wasn't that teachers just suddenly decided they wanted a different health plan. They accused the district of of uh misleading the public of misleading them
222in bargaining. It went to arbitration and they won that. And one of the things that I discovered as a president was a deep attachment that teachers have for their health trust because the health trust actually acts as an advocate for their members in a lot of health care situations. And I'll say if you've only ever had other insurance, you can't really imagine what that's like to actually call the people that are covering you and have them work for you and make things work right. Not just cave in because you presented a good argument, but actually advocate for you. And to any degree that we attack that, um, I think we're doing ourselves harm. And we we need to stop. We need to support what we can support. We need to focus on supporting the classroom
223much more than we have been. Um, and then trying to make the other stuff work. Um, I applaud member lessons for bringing up the issue about Chooi Act. That's a really tough thing politically. A lot of the public will be really upset when they hear about it if word leaks out about what you said tonight. But it mathematically it makes an awful lot of sense. And the other thing that I hope the public would understand is that we're sitting I I don't think any of us think Anchorage is just going to continue to shrink and go away. I think it'll bottom out at some point and turn around and grow again. And we may need all these buildings. We may need all these classrooms or or have to build new ones again. Um but it's
224completely unclear when that will happen or how soon it will happen. And so it's just part of the difficulty in trying to make the right decisions about what to do in the short term because we are working with a very constrained budget that inflation has eaten into for decades that that some people have very successfully kept a lid on the amount. Um, I can understand the frustration teachers have feeling that the board could do something to solve this. Sitting here, I don't see where the resources are to come close, sadly, um, because we have to have a balanced budget and the money is designated. I'm sure we can find some money to redirect, but not in the quantity that we'd have to have. Um but but we'll keep looking at that, trying to work on
225that one, as as we work through our budget, and two, as we find out what the legislature may try to do in the upcoming session or what the governor may try to do in the upcoming session. It really is a complex and painful situation for everybody involved. Um, and I I don't say that to ask for sympathy from anybody, but just that it's it's a lot of it's coming from the same source, which is not enough funding, and it's affecting all these things. It's affecting what we can do for our charters. is affecting what we can do for our staff and it's affecting and I and I think more than anything else it affects our ability to actually think up new ideas and projects and go forward with them that would help everybody in the
226city but the resources just aren't there to do it. We're looking at a significant increase in PTR in order to balance a budget. And the thing I realized at some point is if you have a reasonably funded system and you increase the PTR by one, people feel some pain, but you make those adjustments, you go on. The following year, if you increase PTR by one again, it's worse because you're you're dissolving larger classes and putting those students into fewer classes than you had before. In the following year, if you increase it by another one, that's worse than the second year. It's not just the same. It doesn't get worse by the same amount each year. It gets worse by more each year, even though the number is the same. But we're talking about a PTR
227increase of maybe three or four, which is hideous. It It won't be three or four students more in a class. It'll be 10 or 12. and and that's just that's just untenable. People will go other places. They will find other places where they can teach and be successful because other places are funding at a higher level. So, I really do think the hill in front of us is huge. Um I don't think it's the fault of anybody in this room. Um I think we're all victims of it in certain ways, but some of us are are victims in much more dramatic ways. I just get mildly depressed, but it doesn't affect my budget. Um, I'm not sure where we're going to wind up at. And that is my inspirational quote for the night. >> Thank
228you, Member Hollowman. We'll go to Member Belly. >> Uh, thank you. Um, just a couple of highlights. Uh, I I do look forward to learning more about the civics's leadership program um, and how that's going to be resolved. I don't know if I know the superintendent had not needs to do some more research on that, but that seems like a very fixable uh thing to me. Uh I appreciate the performer presentation today. Um I mean, yeah, I appreciate it. I don't know what we're how to how I know I won't sleep tonight, but maybe tomorrow night I can get some sleep. The oceans academy application um and discussion today was um was a little enlightening for me, more enlightening. I I mean I could they answered every single question. Um and I think I got
229I have a good sense of um what they want to, you know, of what the program is, what they want to do. And I do think it will be great for kids. Um, we're just in a climate where it's kind of like I mean we got we're gonna rob Peter to pay Paul no matter what we do and I don't know how we're going to get around having anything new and innovative but I believe in miracles at the same time. our dear friend and which this board knows Janet Hayes retired. Um and while the weather did not cooperate with her uh celebration um I do send her uh a warm and wonderful expectation for uh her retirement. We worked together for years. She served this board uh through the superintendent's office for years. So I
230want to say uh happy retirement to her. I look forward to the joint meeting with the assembly on Friday. Um, and I think I I I think they should do the balancing act. Maybe that's all our meeting needs to be is for them to do the balancing act. Maybe we do the balancing act together. But I I will be there Saturday. Hopefully, we'll all be there Saturday to uh as well for the balancing act at Bartlett. And with that, I yield to the president. >> Thank you, Representative Madison. Any closing comments? >> Um, I do just want to put it out there. I know we had a lot of discussion um about civics being engaged in our testimony today. Um, so I'd like to provide an opportunity if anyone in this room knows any high
231schoolers that would be interested or are one theirelves. If you are very interested in civics like I am, um, I did this fellowship. It's virtual. I did it in the fall and applications are opening right now. Um, they are open until January 31st for the Civics Unplugged um, fellowship. you basically do um eight weeks of lessons every week where you get to learn how to use education, AI, um how to solve climate, energy issues, and whatnot. It's a very prestigious opportunity and I really encourage to apply. >> Thank you. I'll just close with a very brief comment that um I I tend to agree with member Hullman that that funding is the root of a a number of the challenges facing this district. And going further up, um, root cause analysis, it it really does
232stem from a lack of a a sustainable long-term fiscal plan from the state. Um, our state government, our state leaders need to do the same thing they needed to do 10 years ago, which is to um diversify revenue and ensure that our state operations avoid the volatility of oil prices and allow us to invest in core government services that citizens depend on. Um, and I'm glad it's part of our legislative advocacy this year. With that said, is there a motion to adjurnn? >> I move to ajourn.