001This is a quick mic check for our YouTube stream. Testing 1, two, 3. those back to order at 8:19 p.m. We've completed section D, public comment, we're moving on to section E, consent agenda. Is there a board member who wishes to pull the consent a consent agenda item for discussion? Hearing and seeing none, is there a motion to comprove approve the consent agenda as listed? >> Yes, as amended. I move to approve the consent agenda as a as amended. Uh the amendment was the was to move 071. Thank you. >> Correct. Thank you. Member Bellamy. Is there a second? Made by member Bellamy, seconded by member Wilson to approve the consent agenda as amended. Uh Miss Sullivan, can you call the uh I apologize. I think we can on vote online today. Miss Sullivan, can
002you please hold the vote? Members may proceed the votes >> to approve the consent agenda as amended. >> Uh point of information, what was the amendment to the consent agenda >> was to move uh ASD memorandum number 071 the act for to a future meeting. >> Um I know I'm late because I didn't get back in the room enough. I would like to pull 073 the personnel report for discussion. going to ask Miss Sullivan to avoid the vote. Um, we're going to remove the ASD memorandum number 073, the personnel report. And then members Bellamy and Wilson, do you object to moving the um motion to approve the consent agendas further amended? Perfect. Okay. So we have the motion to move and approve the consent agenda as amended made by member Bellamy, seconded by member Wilson.
003Seeing no other discussion, we will vote on this amended consent agenda. Did you get mine? Oops. I was just moving my mouse. I'm not sure where I vote it. Members may proceed to votes. I'm not having it appear, but that would be a yes vote. The amended consent agenda is adopted by a vote of 7 to zero. We'll move on to our action items. Our first action item is AS Memorandum number 075. Um, member Belman, do you have a motion? >> I do, Mr. Chair. I move to reallocate eight unallocated holdback positions to support eight academy coach positions beginning October 1st to directly support the school board's college career and life ready goal and priority action steps. There's a motion to approve ASD memorandum number 075. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Made by
004member Bellamy, seconded by member Hullman. Is there discussion? Member Bellamy. Member Les. >> Yeah, I had a simple procedural question. I know I asked a lot of questions last week. Um, and this is not an indication of a lack of value on any individual who might be attached to this uh memorandum. But what would happen if the board failed to pass this memo tonight? Sure. Through the president, member lessons, that's a great question. So, if the board chose not to approve this memo tonight, essentially that would uh mean that the budget transfer wouldn't take place. Um, the good news is that I I would have plenty of time to provide a new memorandum to the board. Um, and in fact, if the board did have issues with this budget transfer, I'd prefer the board vote
005down that memorandum because then I would have some time to make some administrative adjustments based off of the board feedback and I'd be able to bring that before the board um prior to the last meeting of December. So, we'd have time um and that would fund the the positions um at that future meeting with the adjustments that the board is requesting. >> Uh, thank you. Um, uh, Mr. Superintendent Dr. Bryant, um, I appreciate that response and I appreciate, um, I'll just in the interest interest of transparency, a solid conversation that I had with Dr. Bryant and President Jacobs um, yesterday. Uh, I'm aware that and appreciate that the administration revised its initial memo 075 to address some technical questions that I asked about at our last meeting. Um, and I wanted to share with the
006board that I spent uh a little bit of time over I don't know the last few days um reflecting on uh a comment that member Wilson made um after I raised a number of questions really speaking to the long-term value uh that our community has placed on on CTE in the Anchorage School District. And I really do love Board Docs because that allows me to do uh search metadata and pull up old documents prior to my time on the board and prior to my time in Anchorage. And that um impetus um let me understand at a more granular level how we got here. Um I didn't know there had been a bond around 2011 to improve CTE access um at schools across the district. That was enlightening. Um, I didn't know that from about 2012
007to 2017 there was a multi-year plan to improve um improve access in a more integrated way uh to CTE across the district. It was um interesting but also dismaying to come across a document and I'll I'll probably share with um Miss Sullivan um from the end of the 2013 2014 school year which uh showed that in that year we had more than 100 CTE FTE allocated across the school district. This year I think with grant support the number that comes to mind is about 55. That's an extraordinary indication of how prior boards and administrations have sought to align dwindling resources with core instructional needs. And I think it's a it is um it falls to the legislature to maintain educational act opportunities. Um, so anyways, I appreciate the comments that all board members make in
008meetings, but in particular, that one inspired me and nudged me to go a little back a bit back to the way back machine. Um, that said, I did uh spend time creating a substitute memo. I am not going to move it forward tonight, but in the spirit of the question that I I asked a few moments ago. Um, I stand by the objections that I uh that came to my mind as I reviewed the the pertinent fact the pertinent facts in in the memo that the administration prepared and as I reviewed um what I believe is the board's obligation to align resources with core instructional needs. And we are in uncharted territory. Never before, certainly while I've been on the board, others of you have been on the board much longer, um, has a grant
009been unfunded in the middle of a year and now we're being asked to to to backfill it to maintain our contractual obligations. Um, so when I think about what I understand about academy coaches, which is I'm sure more limited than their full scope of responsibilities, what I see is that there's a lot of effort being made in good faith to orient those actions towards improved relationships with the community. Um, and there's value to that, but at this time of acute staffing and financial shortfalls, um, I believe that we have an obligation to to really closely align available resources with classroom instruction. And that is the intent that was behind the intent of my substitute memo, which I'm not moving forward. uh and that would have allowed principles to have uh discretion in directing that available
010FTE towards the particular needs that might be at their individual schools. So, in the spirit of what Dr. Bryant shared. Um I am going to be voting no on this particular memo and um I encourage board members to to vote as you always do um in the way that suits suits your understanding of of your role and responsibility. But I will be in no vote on this particular memo in hopes that we can come back to the drawing board with um an effective, efficient, and aligned plan um in a timely manner. >> Thank you, member lessons. Member Higgins. Yeah, I I don't have a problem with it, but but I also want to make sure that the issues that are being raised or reviewed, I've heard from superintendent that he's comfortable that if we delay
011this, it's not going to adversely impact the implementation of it. So, when I've got a school board member wanting to do that review, I got a superintendent wanting to do it. I'll go ahead and support not move not approving it tonight so that we can have it come back in December and the superintendent can address whatever concerns are there. >> Go to member Belme. >> Uh thank you and thank you member lessons for your explanation. Um there's a lot in the substitute memo that I shared with you that that concerned me. Um because I think beyond all of that, we may not be able to afford these positions next year, but we have eight people who I don't want why would why would we have them wait when we know that we can accommodate them
012to get them through the year. What we do in the future with next year's budget is an entirely different thing. So, I I would hate to be one of these employees having to wait not knowing if I have a job next semester basically or not knowing what my job will entail. So, um I I I would hate to wait and I I I will be voting yes on to move it forward. >> Thank you, Member Bellamy. Dr. Bryant. >> Sure. And I think we're having a great dialogue. I just wanted to clarify that I I would prefer that the board either vote up or down the original memorandum as it was written. Um when I said that I'd prefer um the board vote down the memo, I meant in lie of a substitute memo. But
013um one of the reasons why I really appreciate member lessons perspective is that I think that we see a similar trend here. And really what this memorandum would allow is some continuity for academy coaches to continue the really valuable work that they've been doing for the remainder of the year despite the circumstance that they didn't ask for which was that their grant was defunded. Their roles are adding value but we also recognize that we have huge financial headwinds around the corner. So I know that member lessons had expressed a preference for beginning to transition those roles beginning the spring semester. really my role is to take um the next semester to really figure out our financial picture and potentially to partially redesign the program in time for the fall semester. So really, I think we're
014on the same page. We're just talking about different timelines, but I did want to clarify that I I do think that it would be prudent to give those employees the certainty that they would need to as as soon as the board is comfortable, which is why I've presented this memorandum tonight. >> Thank you, Dr. Bryant. Member Hullman. Um, well, I think first of all, we should point out they absolutely have jobs and they're going to be paid. There is uncertainty about what they'll be doing next semester regardless of what we do. Um, because the grant has been pulled and and the situation is in one. Um, I I was ready to support the S version that member Wessons drew up, but in a discussion with Dr. Bryant, I also uh have to acknowledge it really
015would be the board reaching in to try to put our hand on top of his hand on the steering wheel. And it really wouldn't be a proper role of the board to try to specify where those teachers should be or yeah where those teachers should be placed or what their duties should be in the coming year. And so I I was prepared to speak positively about the S version and vote against it. I think what we're actually saying is we would prefer to table this uh so that there is time for the administration to put together more of a plan about whatmies will look like going forward. Um I do support the idea that that where he can that some of those coaches may be back in the classroom. I would urge him to look
016at any other positions in this building or other administrative positions uh especially at elementary or at secondary to put back in classrooms due to the rather incredible numbers of students we're seeing in rooms all across the district. Uh I think what we're hearing from teachers is very sincere. They feel overworked. One of the ways they feel overworked and under supported is the case load that they're being given to manage. And to the degree that we can do something to alleviate it and I realize we we can't do much, but if we can do something, I I think it would show that we're looking in the right direction. We're trying to do the right thing in trying to put as many resources as we can into the front line, which would be the classrooms. I'm would
017move to table this motion until our second meeting in December. >> I second it. >> Motion to table made by member uh you wouldn't table you would postpone to a time certain of our second meeting in December. >> Okay. And that was made by Hollow and seconded by Higgins. I I I do. So again, um it is possible for us to delay this conversation until the second week in December because that would give the board enough time to vote whether or not that you approve of the budget transfer. However, I can't guarantee that themies will be completely redesigned by the end of December. And that's really because I'm leaning on the board members to provide me some direction as to what would even be allocated for themies. If there's a universe where there may be
018a zero dollar appropriation tomies for the FY27 budget, it wouldn't really be a good use of staff time to redesign for a vote in December. So, it's actually my preference that the board decide one way or another, do you approve the memorandum tonight? Yes or no? Um, and I hope that we can have that resolution tonight. Ideally, in favor of our employees who would like to know what their duties are for the spring semester and simultaneously in the spring semester, I'd like to lean on what the board's guidance is with the budget so that we can determine the path forward formies. I think that the entire community is very aware that our best case scenario would be for ASD to operate status quo. Nothing changes. That would be a miracle. It's highly unlikely and it's
019very likely that every single program will need to be redesigned, rethought or reimagined in some way, shape or form including. So really my request to the board is that if you feel it's appropriate to approve that budget transfer, I would recommend that you do that tonight because I'm not anticipating making a programmatic change tomies this semester because the board will not have approved a budget um prior to that time. >> Thank you, Dr. Bryant. Um, member Wilson, do you have discussion on the motion to postpone or on the underlying motion? >> I I have I'd like to speak regarding the underlying motion. >> Okay, we'll come back to you >> if I can do that. >> Sure. >> The Can I speak to the motion to post? >> We'll come back to that. Yeah. Your
020points. Yeah. Once we're dispatched with this amendment or the motion to postpone. Um, I'll speak to the motion to postpone. Um, what I what I think I'm hearing pretty clearly from Dr. Bryant is a desire to have a firm answer on his proposal for um the work duties of these particular employees for the spring semester. Um if he is asking for that clarity at this point, I'm fine having that conversation and then um making a decision either way. Uh and I'll speak to my stance on the underlying motion later, but I would prefer that we uh vote uh down the request to postpone this conversation and provide Dr. for Bryant the clarity he's seeking uh on the motion to postpone member Higgins or you speaking on the underlying motion. >> Yeah, with the additional information
021from the superintendent this is uh this budget change what we do next year everything's up in the air. Okay. I mean there was nothing that that whatever we do now is guaranteed that's going to be that way in the fall. It really doesn't. It's a very short-term decision in which we've already got things moving in that direction. So, it really it just allows it to continue out through this year, but beyond that, nothing's out there. Nothing's guaranteed because if we have a $75 million deficit, everything's on the table. Um, and so, um, I'm I'm not interested in disrupting the superintendent just trying to handle this for this year to to finish it out. Um, and so I'm going to for that reason only. I'm not I really want to hear the ideas and the recommendations,
022but I do understand the need to be able to just this is a relatively simple small amount and it won't make a difference next year because the budget everything's on the table. >> Okay. Is there any member who wishes to speak for or against the motion to postpone? The motion to postpone. Member Hollowman on the motion to postpone. >> Um, I I should have made more clear. We I feel like we absolutely have to pass this motion. Um we're contractually obligated to pay those people and and my real intent was just to get clarity on what they will be doing for the remainder of the year because the grant cancellation affects everything. Um, and to emphasize, I am truly hoping that we will put every available position uh that has a teaching certificate in a
023classroom if we can. Um, given that, I'm willing to withdraw the motion to postpone and vote in favor of the motion. Um, if I'm unable to do that at this point, then I I would urge people to vote down the motion to postpone and vote yes on the motion. Whichever way the chair wishes. >> Yep. It's as long as your second agrees, we can withdraw. Okay. U So, member Higgins and member Halman have withdrawn their motion to postpone. Okay. Now, on to the underlying motion to approve ASD memorandum number 75. member Wilson. >> I no there it's no surprise that I'm I'm a huge fan of of CTE and and the importance of it I think is incredible for for our kids, our community and our families. it like everyone else at this dis I'm
024I'm really sad to see the grant be defunded um because of the impact the positive impact that um additional CTE opportunities for our kids career technology education for our kids it it benefits them in so many ways. I mean we we look at graduation rates are are incredible for our students. We we look at the the programs that we do have in place for our students that either choose to go to college and are impacted by by the the opportunities they have to learn before they get there to determine if if that's even a path that they want because the deselection is just as important as the selection when when they're learning about careers. Um, and and I I do believe I've I've had the pleasure of working with um the the career academy coaches
025and it's it's just so incredibly important and I don't know all of their duties, but in my dealings with them, they've had the the opportunity to bring businesses into their schools and and right now we need those connections and understanding of our community organizations and our businesses to to understand the importance of what's going on in our schools and how incredible our students are, how incredible our teachers are. Um, and how important it is to make those connections for for the future economy of of our state and these opportunities for our students. I've I've had um conversations with parents who've learned about different career opportunities and maybe have chosen that for both their s you know themselves or or possibly another sibling an older sibling learning about a different career. So it's it's opportunities for
026not just our students but truly I believe for for our families as well um to learn about those careers and learn about the path to get to them. I I I hear so much about CTE being associated with students that are just going to go straight to work a after school and that's that's not the case. So many of our kids learn and go to college, learn and and go to apprenticeship. they learn and go to the different pathways, but if they don't know about those pathways and they're not exposed to it by family members or other community members or within school, then that limits their opportunities. Um, so I in a roundabout way, I I I guess I say that I absolutely support our CTE program. I absolutely support the work that our career
027academy coaches have been doing. Um, again, I I see the budget for next year and I know we have to revisit that here coming up soon and and make different plans for next year, but allow please allow them to continue what they're doing, making that positive impact, bringing the community and businesses into the schools because we we truly need them now more than ever. Uh, thank you, Member Wilson. I'll jump in the conversation of someone who hasn't spoken yet on the main motion. Um, I think I my comments largely align with member Wilson's. I hear Dr. Bryan indicating that his recommendation along with his administration is to not um shift the sand underneath [snorts] the initiative we have and focus we have on CTE um specifically regarding of Anchorage work uh in the middle of
028the year. I as someone who is responsible for holding the administration accountable for academic outcomes for um related to goals that our community established and asked us to um hold dear. Um, I tend to trust the superintendent's perspective to tell me what he needs to get the mission accomplished and I don't have the expertise um to guarantee that I know better than the recommendation. And so I'm not comfortable um doing anything but supporting it recognizing that this is the plan for the second half of this calendar or academic year and we're going to have to have a very different conversation about how we can continue to support a initiative that was um primarily grant funded and then had that rug pulled out from us years before we were expecting it uh to be a um
029potential challenge. So, I will support the memorandum and the administration's recommendation. Member lessons, >> I'll defer to member Donley. I've already spoken for the moment. >> Member Donley, your mic wasn't on. Please proceed. >> I just want to thank member Wilson for her remarks and I agree with those remarks. >> Thank you, member Donley. Member lessons. >> Um, thank you for all of the thoughtful feedback. Um there are a lot of wonderful things that academy coaches have definitely done. You know, the enthusiasm of our our community, they've tapped into that and harnessed that. Um but at the end of the day, I don't see um we talk about effect size or efficacy, right? I I don't see those efforts as as lovely as they are um improving or actually decreasing students rates of course failure.
030I don't see them um serving in the same way that a smaller class size would um allow uh a classroom teacher to provide more detailed feedback or provide credit recovery opportunities or provide highdose tutoring or any number of things that you know an educator could do in a school system. Um these are really talented educators. Dr. Bryant has said as much. Um, so again, I'm thinking about our policy asserting that the board's role is to align our resources with our board goals. If the board goal in this case, we're not talking about third grade reading. We're not talking about eighth grade math. talking about graduation rates. We need to align our available dollars, in this case it's just over a million dollars this year with the actions that are effective and touch points are lovely,
031but it's not the same as an effective intervention um to help a student pass algebra 1, which they need to graduate, or an econ class. Um, so we're we're in a a case where we have a breathtaking lack of resources and I'm trying to align what we do have, which is a million dollars really courtesy of the legislaturator's override. I mean, that we have funds available because of the override um to to the work, which is getting students across that graduation finish line. And when I looked at extent data, um, I didn't see that as wonderful as many of the efforts have been and are in in supporting the community relationships um, with the schools, um, I don't see those initiatives moving the graduation needle. And I'm I'm just trying to perhaps at this point
032buy more time for the superintendent um to create a new memo uh in in in quick fashion. Um December is right around the corner uh that could present something else, but I recognize that um the will of the board is the will of the board. So, thank you for um thank you for your time. >> Thank you, member lessons. Not seeing any other comments. Um, can we have a voice vote on ASD memorandum number 075? Again, the motion is to approve the memorandum as written. >> Student representative medicine. >> No. >> Member Bellamy. >> Member Higgins. >> Yes. >> Member Donley. >> Yes. >> Member Lessons. >> No. Member Wilson, >> yes. >> Member Hollowman, >> yes. >> President Jacobs, >> yes. >> AC memorandum number 075 is adopted by a vote of 6 to1.
033We'll move on to ASD memorandum number 073, the personnel report. Is there a motion to approve? I move to approve p uh personnel memorandum number what was it? >> 073 >> second. >> The recommendation is that the uh school board approve the attached personnel report was made by Bellamy. Second by Hollowman. Member Hullman. You pulled this from the consent agenda. Any questions? >> Yeah. Um, I've I've long perused the personnel report for a couple of decades now. Um, but I was caught on this one by five resignations in October and December uh, and from employees over a pretty broad range of experience with the district. And I I think this is really unusual. Um I in my experience any educ we do have educators that leave during the year occasionally but my recollection is it's
034more like one or two or three in a whole year. I can't recall ever seeing five in one month and I was just wondering if administration had exit interviews or has any um feeling about why why this happened why there were so many so close together. Um, other than that, of course, we just approved the report. So, you I'm not advocating we not pass it, but I did want to ask that question. >> Uh, through the president, Mr. Lang, do you have any insight on trends? Not to call it specific employees, obviously. >> Sure. To respond to member Hollowman. First, you got my attention. I haven't seen in my tenure anybody pull the personnel report, so I I was curious what your question was going to be, for sure. Um, you know, I can say
035each of those situations is a is a different story. Um, you know, sometimes we have folks who just need a partial service credit in order to meet the number of retirement years that they need and so sometimes they'll work just nine. In one case, this year it was nine days into the school year and then we allowed them to retire, but they needed those nine days. In other cases, we have people who sometimes relocate and just realize they made a decision that wasn't the right one for them. Um, I haven't seen any particular trend or pattern this year that feels different than the three years that I've been in this position. Typically, if somebody is going to leave mid year, it happens um kind of mid first semester. We tend to have fewer in second
036semester. Um, so it doesn't stand out as highly unusual to me, but it's a number that certainly I think we need to continue to watch and and ask questions around. >> Member Hullman. Any other questions? Seeing no other discussion, Miss Sullivan, the voice vote on approving ASD memorandum number 073. >> Student Representative Madison, >> yes. >> Member Lessons, >> yes. Member Wilson, >> yes. >> Member Higgins, >> yes. >> Member Hollow, >> yes. >> Member Donley, >> yes. >> Member Bellamy, >> yes. >> President Jacobs, >> yes. AC memorandum number 073 is approved by a vote of 7 to zero. We'll move on to section G, non-action items. There's a list on our agenda. Uh, does any board member wish to discuss non- action item before it's in front of us for action in two
037weeks? Hearing seeing none, we'll move on to the superintendent update. Dr. Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to take just a few minutes to update the community and the board on our students from Western Alaska. It's been a couple of weeks and receiving a lot of questions as to how the students are doing and what their future looks like. So, we're going to pull up a quick PowerPoint um just to discuss a little bit about what's transpired. So, we can go ahead and go to the second slide. So, just to recap the community, it really took a city-wide effort to support the hundreds of families that relocated from western Alaska to Anchorage due to the the typhoon Halong. Um, everyone from the American Red Cross to ASD to the state, um, the MUN. Um,
038we all worked in tandem to make sure that we welcomed these students with open arms. Um for ASD that meant that when these families arrived that we had buses waiting for families at Jbear to transport them from the plane that they got off of to the shelters that were hosting them. And then of course we were um in the picture when it came to providing them supplies and other resources to get them started in that initial crisis response. Next slide please. So, we then made that transition from being in their shelter to transitioning to schools. And I want the community to remember that it was just a few days after students had arrived to these shelters that they made the very brave and courageous transition from being in the shelter to attending school just a
039few days afterwards. And I'm just so proud of team ASD for doing whatever it takes to welcome these students and make them feel as normal as possible during a really difficult time for them. So in total ASD welcomed more than 150 students districtwide. Uh we were sure to provide students and families with resources at the shelters and in the schools. Um everything from uh UPIC and even Cupidic translation services um to again supplies outreach and just understanding what their needs are. And that also entailed some partnership with LKSD, which is where these students largely come from, um, to make sure that there's that seamless transition. So, they entered school a little bit over a week ago. And I actually want to talk a little bit about what's been going on. If we can go to
040the next slide. So, something that I did on Friday was I wanted to um spend some time at the schools that welcome um the majority of these students. So, I started off my Friday morning at Collegegate Elementary. Uh, this school, just so everyone realizes, took on 71 new students to their school, and they are participating in the school's EUPIC immersion program. And, you know, believe it or not, there are some differences between the EUPIC immersion programming that they had at their previous school and the the programming here. And we're so thankful for the LKSD leadership team. uh they were very um willing to provide resources in their curriculum to ASD. So we're actually able to provide two different types of UPIC curriculum to these students. Um one that's being you know uh operated as usual
041with ASD students and then we're also able to offer that continuity to the students that are visiting us or or with us um for the foreseeable future from Western Alaska. Um, and so again, a major thanks to the LKSD leadership team and to our Collegegate community. Um, walking into that uh that school myself on Friday, I I was just surrounded by so many colleagues that were rolling up their sleeves. I want to recognize our teachers, too. I know taking on these students super last minute um was was hectic. We had to, you know, move classrooms. We had to move furniture. We had to really brace ourselves for what these students were bringing to our classrooms. and it wasn't easy. Um, but from the principal to every educator that I met, um, I I'm just truly
042thankful for them, um, for making these students feel as welcome, um, as we possibly could during this difficult time. So, uh, that's Collegegate. The the next school that I visited was actually here are some photos actually from Collegegate. Um, just so you see, there's one uh, picture in the bottom left. So, that's a student. He came up to me right before this photo was taken. Um and he introduced himself to me with his name and he made sure that I knew that um he was from Kipnuk um one of the communities infect uh impacted by the typhoon. And then I had the opportunity to see these students in their classrooms you learning. Um this also happened to be Halloween as we all know. And uh many of these students were dressed in costumes just like
043their friends who were the their just normal ASD families. And again that speaks to the community that really came together. Many of these students just came with the clothes on their backs. Um, some were even visiting for the AFN conference and and didn't even get to go home. Um, but I was pleased to see these students had access to Halloween costumes and more importantly the winter gear and the boots that they may have not had with them. And I know that that's in uh in due part to our community. Next slide. Um, I then visited Wendler Middle School which is hosting 38 students from Western Alaska and I really applaud Principal Wilson. He wanted to make sure that um these students had that sense of community even though you know the Wendler Middle School is
044such a bigger um bigger community than than these students are used to. It really was a culture shock but I was just so thankful that um that Mr. Wilson was able to provide the students with that shared space. Um, these students are even taking a shared advisory period where they're learning about all sorts of different things, but it's also helping them maintain that sense of community and just learning the ins and outs of what it takes to be successful at a place like Wendler. And, you know, I'm so thankful to the the staff that you can see in the photos here. Um, they were guiding the students through some pumpkin carving to really make them, you know, remember the Halloween spirit. Um, I had the opportunity to talk with the students in this room and,
045you know, they're just um they're just kids and they miss their PlayStation, they miss their home. Um, they miss, you know, all all the normal things um that that they had back home. And slowly but surely, we're starting to build that sense of connection for them here, I know that they'd much prefer to be in their villages, but until we're able to to reopen those villages stronger than ever, I'm so glad that they can have some support here in Anchorage while they are here. So, uh, just a major kudos to the entire Wendler staff again really making ASD proud and really making a positive difference in these students lives. Uh, next slide, please. And then I went off to Betty Davis Dancer High School, which is hosting 37 uh, high school students. And again, um,
046Betty Davis is a large high school. Um, one of the students told me that there's more students in the Betty Davis building than was in their entire village. So, you can imagine just how frightening that could be for these students. And Mr. Brown was the first to make sure that he had um some trustworthy senior students really be the guide for these students so they can navigate all the resources that are there for them. A very caring assistant principles, teachers, other staff. Um many people may not know this, but there's what we call the EWE program at Betty Davis. It's uh an indigenous education program and it really serves as a a a nice hub for these students during lunch. That's where they like to go. Um so, you know, about some of those 37
047students, they like clustering together. Um because I recognize that these students are going to be here um for a while. I was curious to know, you know, what's the integration looking like? What are what are they interested in? And I I was pleased to know that these students are ready to start participating in in activities, not just with their community, but they're ready to make some friends with other students, too. Um, so I met some girls that were interested in joining volleyball practice, and Mr. Brown is working really hard to make sure that they get the the basketball shoes that they would need for sports and all the equipment and tools they need to be successful in the various activities at Betty Davis and making sure they have access to the the resources. you know,
048a lot of people worried um will these students have access to the the free reduced price lunch if they are qualified the um various services and and we're connecting them with that and I I just really saw a lot of positive connections and partnership at Betty Davis and I'm just very thankful to that team as well. um older students bring different challenges than the younger peers but you know the common denominator is that these kids are yearning normaly and they're yearning welcoming caring adults and I think they were pleasantly surprised and I want to make sure that we follow through because again these kids are strong they were showing up to school just a few days after the storm but that doesn't mean that they don't feel fear and they don't um you know yearn
049things that they miss I mean they're they're navigating trauma alongside their families and that's not lost on me and it's not lost on the teams at the schools. Uh and then just a two more slides. You know, I did uh make my way to the Alaskan Native Cultural Charter School. This is a really um interesting example of just organic connections. Uh most families were um were clustered at the three schools that I just discussed. The Alaskan Native Cultural Charter School is a really nice hub for some of our Western Alaska families that had family members or friends that were already in ANCCS. So, it was really through the recommendation or referral of, you know, Anchoragebased families that they were welcomed into ANCCS. There's about 10 or so students there and they're fully integrated into the
050school. And the Alaskan Native Cultural Charter School really prides itself on fostering connections based on culture and tradition. and those students are in good hands at that school as well. Um they're a much smaller demographic. They're in a slightly different situation than many of the other students. Um but they're thriving too. And you know the last uh couple of slides I just wanted to emphasize just a couple of the points that I I started this presentation with. We're here in ASC to support these students for all their needs. Obviously we're a school system, so education is at the top of mind. I I trust that they're in great hands with our fantastic teachers that welcome them in. Um but again, these students are seeking meals. Um they're seeking services. Um so we're making sure that
051we provide the mental health and student supports and other stability that these students need to be successful. And I just want to thank our community too for the generosity. I know that so many of us are struggling in different ways. Um but a lot of us were able to find, you know, old winter gear or Halloween costumes or food culturally um you know, relevant food to them. um just to make sure that they feel as much at home as they possibly can in this situation. Uh so, you know, just thank you to the ASD community for standing with Western Alaska and we're here for you as we make that transition from the crisis response to the longer term situation that these families will find themselves in here in Anchorage um for several months if not
052the remainder of the year and longer. So, just to close, um, you know, I learned a lot just about the the strength of this community and the power of those connections. And while, you know, these students have a long path ahead, as well as their families, they're in good company. And I want to make sure that they're welcome here for as long as they want Anchorage to be their home. Uh, the closing photo is just an image of one of the talking circles. It's a a daily tradition at ANCCS. um if you're squeamish, don't look too hard, but there's actually um a deceased duck and that was part of the lesson. So, even though they were learning about, you know, duck hunting and you know that that traditional process, this teacher is brilliant. I mean,
053she should be leading TED talks and conferences like around the country because it was more than just about the tradition of preparing the the animal. It was really about, you know, resilience and patience and feeling a connection to self so that you can become better. She said it much more eloquently and beautifully, but the kids were just bought in for the entire class and that's brilliant and just thank you to every educator, parent, community member, principal, staff member that touched the lives of these students. It goes a long way, long road ahead. Um, but it's it's been um a couple of weeks where I I just feel a lot of pride in our community. So, just thank you to everyone who was involved and we still remain standing strong with our colleagues from Western Alaska.
054That concludes my report. >> Thank you, Dr. Bryant. Other questions for the superintendent? >> Dave, member Donley. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Dr. Bryant, the district currently has administrative guidelines which have been not have never been voted on by the school board that allow biological boys to compete in girls sports. These guidelines are completely under your discretion as superintendent and they do appear now to be in conflict with both federal and state guidelines. And I'm concerned that it only takes one boy competing in girls sports to potentially physically endanger female athletes, arm girls potential scholarship opportunities, and deny girls proper recognition of their athletic achievements. And my question continues to be, do you have any plan to revise these guidelines? >> Thank you, member Donley. My answer remains the same that I'm not tracking any
055inconsistencies between practices in the Anchorage School District and federal and state law. Um, if I'm mistaken or if the board would like to take on additional urgency, I urge you to use your governance processes to make the changes that you see fit. I'd like to remain committed to focusing on improving math, reading, and college career life readiness. Thank you for the great question. >> Thank you, Dr. Brian, seeing no other questions for the superintendent, we're moving on to schoolboard administration comments. I understand that there's no comments from administration tonight, so we'll go to board comments. We'll start with my left, member Higgins. >> Thank you. Um, first I want to express my appreciation to all the individuals that came out tonight to testify um uh on behalf of their schools, of course, also for the
056for the teachers union contract. Uh that's an important issue, but I'm focusing right now on the schools. Uh we had a tremendous turnout from parents love when when students testify. It's always kind of cool. Um uh within that I tell you where I'm coming from. I have visited both those schools three times in the last month. Okay. uh and I have looked at the issues that I think are important in regards to those schools listening and and exploring it. And when we started talking about closing schools, it first started a little bit like the politics of it. That didn't register real good. Then we had the presentation saying, "Look, we can save money if we close these schools." Uh and everybody would agree with that if they if they understood the money. I didn't buy
057that either. Uh then it became ease of administration. I remember that uh being quoted uh correctly out there. Uh then it became you know the complexities of having too many classrooms but an understanding small class small cl those classrooms can be successful and the schools smaller can be but it's a resource issue because we're losing teachers the training the skills and and all of those never focus and said the first thing I want to hear is student uh this is for the benefit of the student this is but I didn't hear that I heard a lot of the the politics the money all the other issues And I like this starting off this time because it started focusing on right sizing as opposed to downsizing. And we had a presentation where we needed 8,000 slots
058for preschool early um uh child care uh and that we have to space within the school. Well, these two plans don't even address those issues. Okay, that I don't see that at all being in the plan. It's downsizing again. Okay. So, I went to Lake Otis and I remember, you know, having the discussion that the the capacity of the school with the state there just, you know, it's it's there this it's not rhyme or reason. There's a lot of problems with it. First thing I notice is five classrooms dedicated to 32 students, highintensity super special ed kids. Five classrooms. Take that out of the formula and see how full it is. You've got you do have an art class. You've got the wind program. You got the elelll. It's a uh school that u uh
059just you know you you all these things should be evaluated before you simply use a number and say 48% or 52% or anything else that needs to be assessed. It reminds me of last year where we looked at Bear Valley and they said, "Oh, it's low capacity." You had a hundred people on the waiting list. All the class was being used within the community within that and they didn't have any staff to be able to do it but it wasn't because the school wasn't didn't the demand wasn't there in the use and so they pulled back. These things need to be looked at carefully in regards to selecting these and I don't see that happening and that's more than frustrating at this particular point in time. Lake Otis is a title one school. you look
060at it and I will through there and there's a couple of classrooms clearly you can do and I see where you could do four but we need that capacity and we talked about right sizing with the preschool and the early in early education I went to thread it's a group that did the presentation last week with about 200 uh education uh business uh individuals all there they had people coming in from uh lower 48 tremendous presentation ational on child care issues in this country and how devastating it is and and I enjoyed that. By the way, I paid for that myself, just to let you know. No, no, no ASD money. Uh but I went to that and and what you're hearing is how critical it is um from staffing. We we need 25% of
061that to go to, you know, for ASD so that we can do that. I'm talking to professionals telling me it took them a year to get somebody, but we need that for that. We need it for the emergency response. We need it for the general public. We need it for in for our economy because we got so many people not able to work because of lack of child care. It's a critical issue and putting it within the school talking to the the the professionals in the lower 48. They gave a strong assessment of the benefits and how it can play out. But I don't see that being rolled out here. But what I do see is a school that would be very disruptive to a title one school. And when I look at the capacity,
062I question how come they say it's as low as it is. Five classrooms for 32 kids. Take out that percentage and then start rem doing it. Every school is different and their numbers are going up right now uh for different reasons and they got a lot of construction going on and and other things going on. But it's so dis I don't see the benefit for the students. I don't see it that way and and I don't see where we are not we're not right sizing. We're not providing that support for the community. So it doesn't make sense. I go to Fire Lake got the same issues uh out there um with the SLC program with other things going on. both the schools I can see where you could you can consolidate few classrooms because they're
063more generous and they could put them together but understand you got you know a K1 combination with 27 kids so it's not like it's you know a few kids in any classroom but you could take four classrooms and provide that at both schools for the ideal right sizing if we're going to make a difference they don't have it out there in in in Eagle River like they need it they have I'm talking to people in the school, they don't have it uh the staff. So, you have problems. But we we can rightsize without downsizing. And these are I I only say this focus is downsized. I want to encourage every school board member. If you want to consider closing a school, at least do them the favor of going and visit that school before you
064make that decision to see for yourself how it's being utilized. see what you're going to do if you downsize it and you disrupt it because it's going to make a difference and we owe it to the kids to know what we're doing. I'm the I've said it before and I'll say it again. NSBA, Nashville School Board Association, my job, I'm the voice of the public. That includes students, it includes parents, it includes staff and general public. We provide direction to the administration. We hold them accountable. That's responsibility of every school board member in the country with them and I agree with that. In this particular case, I am listening to a lot of bosses uh tell me what they want but I'm not but my focus is still going to be not on that. It's
065going to be focused on the kids. That's my primary and at this particular point in time I don't see well this is benefiting the kids. And I look at that for the title one. I look at the connection when you got parents involved in the schools and you see the impact it has on academics. The studies are big out there and and as I said before smaller schools can do great results but it's difficult. I know that part of this we're doing this is a is a challenge right now. We don't have the funding. We got all the deficits and we're doing that but I don't want to do long-term damage to our school system. It's big to the to those in to those communities. This is a big deal. This is really big and
066disruptive. I am not going to support these school closures, but and I understand there are always pros and cons to everything, but I would urge anyone who's thinking that this is a good idea to at least do the do the give them the honor of going out there and visit. They do a great job. They'll show you the school, but in this particular case, the the how short these schools are, how much they they're under is misleading. Everything has mitigating circumstances. And in this particular case, like I said, five classrooms with 32 kids. Take that out of the equation. Look at the ELELLL classroom. Look at the win program. Look at the other special ed programs. You have an art classroom, too. But you could take four classrooms and fire league put it by the
067by the brush thing and you could put that with the child care crew. Then you're doing right sizing. We is a public facility. We need to support the community. But we've got to put kids first and I don't see this as being beneficial. So I'm just begging school board members if you feel like closing these schools, taking it away from very heavy title one school and and the numbers are high at Fire Lake as well and you feel like that's an advantage and you're going to distance parents and you're going to do things you're going to be disruptive at least do them and go visit with those schools and to see how they're being utilized because I'm very concerned that this is not um doing in the best public interest. I like the right sizing.
068This is downsizing and I am not going to support that. Thank you. >> Member Higgins, member lessons. >> Um thank you to everyone who attended this evening. I'm looking at an empty room. Um I know it was many many more times uh it was full many times over and overflowing. Um, I also really appreciate the opportunities I had last week and this weekend to uh listen to community members um share their thoughts, their feedback, their concerns about the right sizing proposal as has been proposed. I am thinking deeply about it. Um, I'll be asking the administration probably for for a conversation here pretty soon to to share some some thoughts before going more public with them. But, um, really appreciate the the feedback that we've received and um, value the time that people have put
069into um, bringing to the board's attention. So, uh, I'll leave it there. Thank you. >> Thank you, member lessons. Member Donley. >> Thank you. After tonight's public testimony, I'm convinced that Lake Otis is the wrong school to be closing at this time. Um, in addition to the impacts on the students at Lake Otis, I'm also concerned about the planned impacts on students at Cassum. Um, as to Fire Lake, I would welcome more information about the change from last year, the data that we had last year in the timing of the planned large housing developments happening close to Fire Lake Elementary. Um there was some um testimony or advice from staff um at the beginning of this process that those housing developments had been uh run into difficulty and were not proceeding as rapidly as had
070been projected when we dealt with the issue last year. And I'd really appreciate any additional information about that to fully understand what the timing of those those those housing developments are because they're huge frankly and they're in a close proximity to Fire Lake schools. So that's a very legitimate uh data point that I think we need to consider accurately. >> Thank you. Member Donley, member Wilson. I I also want to share some appreciation for the um folks that came to testify this evening and spent their their time and are still spending their time here this evening. Um also wanted to share some appreciation for the um all of the community members that participated in the various community conversations. um as well as the in appreciation for all of the staff that participated in in those
071conversations were available for um our community members with their their knowledge and their expertise. So, thank you for that. That was um a lot of evening time for uh our staff members as well. And um I I appreciate Dr. Bryant sharing about the students from Western Alaska. Um, I've I've had the opportunity to talk to staff that are working with these students as well. Um and the actually I called each of the principles at each of the schools um trying to help find some donations based on on their the students needs and um got to hear some wonderful feedback about the students um the uh the principles and the the staff I spoke to um talk about how how nice and polite they are and um how although they're just starting to process what happened.
072They they share a little bit um in regards to, you know, if they were in the house and the house was actually moving. Um so they they have a lot to process and in the same token they're they're so excited that they get fresh fruit um here at our school. So there's um I also got to hear about the the therapy dogs that are uh being taken around to each of the schools as well as as the students being able to see. Um there was one principal who was taking his dog to uh the shelters every night. so his students could could spend some time with with his dog as well. So, um some great stories and and lots of community members um providing donations and and really showing up. So, Anchorage um has has
073shown its best self to to our students and our families of of Western Alaska. So, um great appreciation for that. Thank you, >> Member Wilson. Member Hullman. >> Well, thank you. Um, I will say with a background as a classroom educator, we always look at administration a little bit skeptically. Sorry about that. But a lot of being in the classroom creates a sense of urgency because the students are right in front of you. Things have to be handled right then. Issues come up. But I will say that that over the past four or five months, I I think we've had a lot of urgent situations for administrators that I'm sure have really taxed their uh depth. Uh I don't think we have as large an administration as we used to. And when things come up,
074uh, and I look at it like the budget situation this summer, uh, it used to be if we didn't know the budget in June, that was considered kind of stunning. Um, and we didn't know the budget in June. Um, we didn't know what would happen with the veto. We had federal funds that looked like they were going away and came back. And now you've got federal funds that are going away and you're pretty sure they won't come back. So just the budget situation has been kind of consuming. I do want to say that the typhoon response uh made me very proud to be part of ASD and certainly its individuals putting in time but also you could recognize that there was a lot of coordination behind it and I I have some friends particularly in
075Rotary that have really given up a lot of time to try to work directly with individuals but also recognize that that ASD has school buses that aren't in use 24 hours a day. We have nurses. We We have things that large numbers of people in dire circumstances that we can do really meaningful things for them. And I saw that happen. I have no idea how much time everyone down the line here had to spend to help make that happen as smoothly as it happened, but I'm sure it was quite a bit. and and I do hope people recognize that the whole right sizing effort um right wrong or otherwise it's been consumptive and when we've had the community conversations we've had a lot of staff on hand so that people could talk to someone um
076and you I think every part of ASD was represented there because people from the community come up with their own unique concerns and questions and and we saw a lot of interaction that's been consuming. I hope that we've still got the budget to go and that's going to be a lot of work. But as we finish up the fall, it's kind of hard to believe we're just three months into this, but as we turn towards November, December and the beginning of the semester in January, then we can kind of put that same intensity into trying to think of creative ways to support our classroom teachers because we've got a contract negotiation that has drug on. We we know that we've got real limits on the resources in terms of what we can put into it
077as money. Um I think we have to look at other ways to try to take the load off or show support. Um I'm the most critical thing I think in trying to retain the people we've got is taking steps that help them be successful. Um, I I think most teachers have had days where they're not successful in the classroom and for lack of a better term, those days really suck when when things aren't going well. It's just not a fun job at all. It's incredibly draining. When it does go well, it it's marvelous. Um, but it takes a lot of things happening and of course a lot comes together every day that I think people look past. The buses run, food gets served. Uh, kids get hurt and they get taken care of and kids
078get engaged in sports, they get engaged in electives and different things that draw them into our schools, make them want to be there. Uh, in relation to right sizing, I did go to Fire Lake. I did go to Lake Otis. And that's what I saw was was intense effort focused on kids to help them have a good day, to help them not melt down, to help them get their own emotions under control or and and and sometimes like really focus on a lesson and learn words and learn math. Um, but I really think that that we've hit this point. We I think we saw it in the spring when we thought we were looking at a 20% cut from the governor's budget. When the administration tried to put together schedules, it just began to break.
079And my understanding at at secondary level when they were trying to put together academy schedules, things began to break. They could not come up with a working schedule for what they were being asked to do with the personnel they have. And so in some ways we've backed off of that, but in in other ways all those kids are still there. They all need teachers. Um and and I have to admit I I don't have a good solution myself, but I am hoping that administrators in this building can really put their minds to focusing on how we can support our frontline effort um for the remainder of the year. I it's no substitute for reasonable pay and reasonable benefits. Um but it's an essential element and until we can change things in the legislature, I I
080don't know what else we can do because we really do have limited resources on it. But I I do want to say what's happened so far I think shows a lot of good faith. Um, I think we're trying to talk to the public and we are listening to the public. I do think the typhoon represented a a shining moment for Anchorage, the larger Anchorage and the Anchorage School District in particular. I really appreciate everything that everybody did to help make that happen. Um, and that's really all I have for tonight, but hopefully the the weather won't be severe. there won't be any major disruptions and we can really focus on our schools which means focusing on our kids. Thank you. >> Thank you, Member Hullman. Member Bellamy. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, next time,
081can I go first? >> Anyway, I do want to thank everyone um who took part in the community conversations. As difficult as they were, people were sincere. Um, I mean, we heard from kids, we heard from staff members, we heard from nannas and papas and people who taught 20 years ago in that neighborhood. Um, and and it it it it was heartfelt. Uh, but we still have a decision to make. Uh, I and I don't know. I mean, we the administration did exactly what we asked them to do, and we're already forecasting that that plan does not work. That's fine, but we've got to figure out how to get from here to 20 years from now. It's not just about now. This is not a competition among schools as to who gets closed and who
082does not. So, we've got to figure it out. I don't have the answer. Um, but I do know that we cannot continue to do things the way that we have done them. Not now and not in the future. And I think we do ourselves. Our kids, especially our kids, we do them a disservice when we have them expect more that we know we cannot do. So I don't I don't have the answer. But if we are not just don't tell the ask the administration to bring forth another right sizing plan if we are not going to be able to get through it that's a lot of time and energy that's being wasted and I just think to put the community through this over and over again to have staff working on a plan over and
083over again and we can't even get to the night to vote without forecasting and and to me that's divisive although you have the freedom we all have the freedom them to speak. Anyway, I do thank um I do thank those families. I think um the the schools that are the two schools, they are amazing. They've always been amazing. This does not change that, but it is different. And PE and I don't know how to how to how to get to where we need to get to. But I do know that it's not just about the day. It's not about the year. It's about years from now and we've got to project somehow be able to project that. Finally, I just want to remind board members that we do have a conference coming up and if
084you have not um if you are intending it is at the Denina this year for the schoolboard association. Uh I'd like to see uh see uh uh members there and if you can uh provide some time for the resolutions committee on Thursday that would be equally awesome. I have invited Madison to come and help me do a welcome to Anchorage uh at that event and a land acknowledgement. So come and support her if you don't support me. Thank you. >> Thank you member Bellamy. I will just very quickly um express appreciation for those who continue to make time to testify on the significant number of issues this board is juggling. Um continually grateful for students remaining engaged uh our parents choosing to make their voices heard regarding uh the important issues we're discussing and then
085our educators always for holding the front line for us. um the number of times I've connected with an educator recently who have who have said they both um are desperate to have the contract issue resolved as well as they understand the complex nature of how wages are negotiated um through an intermediary despite funding coming from other entities um is both appreciated and remarkable. With that said, uh thank you to administration for continuing to support families in western Alaska and grateful for all school staff for doing the same. Those are my comments for tonight and that wraps up our member comments section. I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Move to adjourn. >> Second made by Bellamy, seconded by Hollowman. Seeing no opposition, we are returned at 9:33.