001Good afternoon everyone. We'll call the 4pm ASD schoolboard work session to order. Today is Tuesday, June 3rd at 4:01 p.m. here in the boardroom. Present are members Bellamy, Hollerman, Jacobs, Lessons, Donley, and Higgins. And online is member Wilson. We have two items on our agenda today now that we've called ourselves to order and conducted the roll call. The first item for discussion is B1, recruitment and retention. Dr. Bryant, the floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. President. So, uh, this is actually a very exciting topic because, uh, through the board's leadership, we started the process of creating a recruitment and retention working group. So, this was our first year with this initiative, and it's one that I hope continues, um, for the coming years because our employees and union leaders and others had so much great
002feedback on ways that the district can take action to ensure that we don't lose more educators than we need to. We need every single educator who's willing to work for ASD in ASD. And I know this is just one step in the right direction, but I am very excited for the board to hear this initial year of conversation, how it's been going. Yeah. Thank you, Dr. Bryant. Um, like you, uh, we're pretty excited today to report out on the progress that we made in this conversation over the course of a year. Um, just to remind, uh, board members, um, this came about, we stood up this committee really at the direction of the board. Um there was a series of amendments that were added last spring to the AOA master master plan and one of
003them included the language that you'll see there in the first bullet. Um greater attention by the board towards educator recruitment retention efforts via formation of a multidisciplinary working group. I believe that amendment was offered by President Jacobs. Um once it was adopted, um he and I had a chance to converse over the summer just to make sure we kind of understood the full intent um of the amendment and and the will of the board. And um that set us up uh to launch the working group uh in later fall once we got the school year kind of up and started. Uh we we met um six times throughout the school year uh October through April. We had intended to do seven meetings but we unfortunately had a weather closure day in January but we still
004over the course of six meetings were able to cover a lot of good ground that we want to share with you today. Um just to talk a little bit about the composition of the group we had about 40 individuals who were involved. Uh we had 11 uh members of Aea including uh Corey um Aea president. Uh we had 10 members from APA including um their uh association president. We had 10 members of our exempt group, folks who work here um at the ed center. Um I including myself, we had four folks from the HR division and then um the rest were from Sven's side of the house uh in academic services and we had four folks from Totem and four from ACE including both of the presidents of those associations. Um the intent really was
005to try to have good representation from all the different groups that work in our schools on a daily basis. Um each month we met with the full group. Some of our discussions took place in the larger group format uh but a lot of them were in smaller groups to to make sure that folks felt comfortable sharing their individual perspectives. Sometimes we had them sit at tables in mixed groups so that they could hear uh from each other's experiences and sometimes we had them working in their individual bargaining units um to really kind of craft some of their priorities from that perspective. Um when we met for the first time in October, we solicited from the group uh an invite for anyone to join us and be part of our steering committee. You can see the
006six folks who uh raised their hand and said yes that they would like to be part of that. That was a group that met monthly between our sessions just to um review any uh information that was gathered at the previous session, kind of set the direction and agenda for the next meeting and um figure out kind of how to navigate this process throughout the year. So, we adopted a pretty uh simple format for our meetings. Um after we did, you know, basic introductions, working agreements at each of our meetings, we had an informational section. We wanted to make sure that the group was really grounded in good solid uh information about our organization. So we all were kind of working from the same starting place as we started discussing these topics. Um we had a
007few that we put up in the first couple of meetings but we also solicited ideas. We asked the group what do you want to know more about that might inform these conversations? Um we tried to not spend any more than about 15 minutes presenting information. That wasn't really the purpose of this group. the purpose was really to hear from them and their ideas. So the bulk of our time was spelled uh was spent in um discussion each meeting and then from those discussions we had a work product um that we'll share with you. So we'll highlight each of these three um areas as we kind of walk month through month uh through the format of those meetings and Sven's going to walk us through the the first couple of months we met. So in October
008we uh it was really our first meeting and we really trying to figure out how what where should we go and how should we um format these meetings and what kind of information are we going to need at the meetings and what kind of information do we want to come away from the meetings and so on on each of these uh different slides you'll see when you get into them um you feel free to go on to the slide decks because we included each of the slide decks from each of the months. Um so on the first month in October, the information sharing section kind of really focused on the recruitment and retention um statistics for of of our own school district. So HR came in and really go went through all of the different
009statistics that kind of our starting place of where we're uh where we're at and where we're going to be going from. Um and then in the discussion sections we we asked what are the biggest obstacles that you see um in recruiting school-based employees and then what are the biggest challenges to be able to retain our educators. Um um those two questions were the big part of that meeting and gathering those those pieces of information and then we asked what other kind of um information would you like to learn more about um to provide context for their our next sessions um in October. So the next slide here has kind of the overall obstacles, challenges and solutions. a whole list of them, a lot of different areas and we I ask you to go back and
010take a look at these, but everything from compet competitive wages, onboarding, uh, social security benefits, um, academic freedom, forward funding, high cost of living. It's just there's a lot of them that came out of our group. Um so then when we went into November, we took some of the information that the group wanted to hear more about particularly around social security um PTR shifts over time and uh the surgeon general's framework for workplace uh mental health and wellbeing. So we had presentations on all three of those. Uh uh Corey actually did the PTR shifts over time um because he's had that data and actually did that part for us as well. Um then we did put all of the things from October, all those all those items from October on little cards and we said
011okay we got into these groups mixed groups and we said let's put these cards into two piles. Ones that we have control over as a district and ones that we don't. So what things are do we have no control over and which things do we have control over? And then of the things that we have control over, we wanted them to prioritize those by importance. And um through that the top priorities that were we came from within district control number and some I can we could say some might not always be under our control also but this is what we came. competitive wages, social security, paid summer trainings, onboarding, child care, alternative certification, all the way down 4-day work weeks, even work remote work options on grading days. So came away with quite a few
012different um priorities from that November meeting. Then moving into December. So in December, in December for the information sharing section, we had just completed the EEO5 report um that we have to submit every other year to the federal government that really shares a lot of demographic information about our workforce. And there was some some fascinating stuff that um I thought would be good to share with the group. One uh showed a breakdown of our employees by generation. So, you know, how many baby boomers does the district have working for them still? How many Gen Xers? How many millennials? How many Gen Zers are starting to enter the workforce? We even have some traditionalists. That's the group that's uh older than the baby boomers. We have a couple of oxygenarians that still work for the district
013and provide great service for our kids. And so, we shared that. And then we also looked at um the Aea hires by year that are still working in our teaching ranks. So, if we go back, um, our oldest or our longest serving AEA member was hired in 1987. We have two folks who were hired in ' 87. We have, uh, none that were hired in 88, two more that were hired in '89 that are still working for us. And, it showed kind of a year-by-year breakdown. Um, one of the things that Cory and I have talked about over time is just the number of resignations we've seen in recent years. and he did some computation and said that we've turned over about half of our teacher workforce in the last five years. When you look
014at that graph, what's interesting is that's not entirely true. About twothirds of our teachers have been working for us for longer than five years. But in that 5-year group, we've seen some of those positions turn over multiple times. And so it's really clear that if we want to focus on retention, one of the groups that we really need to zero in on is that that group that's working their first five years at least with ASD, if not in the profession overall. Um we also shared with the group exit survey data that the district collects and that the association collects. Um, we do a voluntary exit survey when folks submit their notice of resignation from the district and the union has been collecting that information as well um, through a survey on their end. And so
015we presented both sets of data that's in the slide deck if you're interested in that information, but it was interesting to put them up side by side and see, you know, what similar and what variations there were depending on which group they were sharing with. And then as we got into the discussion section, um December was really about trying to narrow down the scope. How did we want to spend our spring meetings? What did we really want to focus on? What had the highest value? What was going to give us the biggest bang for our buck in terms of focus and attention uh for the spring semester? And so this was the meeting where um from the group we um we got a request to move out of the mix groups and into bargaining unit
016groups. they thought it would be a lot easier to sort of set um priority um from their unique perspectives. And so um we took the list that Sven shared um that we had curated from the November meeting and we asked them to really start to work to narrow that down to maybe the top three topics um from their perspective. And so when you break that out by bargaining unit, these are the top priorities that they identified. And you'll see across the four different groups, there were some similarities and some differences. And um there were two on the list um that showed up on all four uh workload initiatives and burnout as a retention issue and feeling respected and valued. And so when this steering committee was sifting through this information and trying to make meaning
017of it and set direction for our next meeting, we decided for the next meeting we'd really focus on that topic of workload initiatives and burnout because it was on all four lists. And for two of the four groups, it was their number one item. And so that really was um our focus then as we moved into what was supposed to be January, but because of an ice closure day ended up becoming our February meeting. So in February um we presented a little bit of information on the concept of stay surveys. So not something we're currently doing but that we aspire to at some point. We talked about how that might be different information that we could gather than what we get from the climate and connectedness survey or from exit surveys. It's more about more
018frequent um shorter surveys that allow you to kind of monitor trends over time. you often ask the same series of questions and then as you try different things you see if that's making an impact by re-evaluating every month or every quarter uh how people are feeling about their work environment. Um and then we got into the discussion section and again we focused on kind of that that topic that they had identified as one of the higher priority topics. And so as we thought about workload, a number of initiatives, the experience that some people have of of feeling burnt out, we wanted to start with some positive framing. And so the first question we really asked them to consider that uh afternoon was what factors in your workplace allow you to stay positive, engaged even when
019the work is challenging and stressful? Because no matter what, working in schools is hard work, right? Working with kids is challenging. it requires, you know, a lot of effort uh to do well. And so, what are those resiliency factors that allow people to keep showing up every day and investing in that work and feeling positive about the impact that they're having? And then on the other side, what are the stressors, pressures, and contributors that sometimes tip people in the other direction and cause them to feel burnt out and maybe consider leaving the profession? And then because it came up a lot um the concept of initiatives, you know, how do they specifically maybe contribute to to one or the other of these feelings. As I go to the next slide, I will share that this
020is probably my favorite um output from this whole process this year. So on the left, um the two columns you'll see are those resiliency factors that the groups identified, the things that help them stay buoyant even when the work is hard, even when it's difficult, even when it's challenging, even when it feels like a grind. And on the right you'll see those stressors and pressures that they identified that they feel really sometimes make it difficult to stay in that positive space. And so you know on the left you know one thing that really stands out to me or not surprising that's that's there is you know positive relationships with their colleagues or co-workers having a supportive principal feeling like they're part of a team really appreciating and feeling appreciated by their co-workers. them being able
021to see the impact they have on students and their community, a sense of agency, flexibility, autonomy to show up and professionally do their work. And then on the other side, you know, most of those things to me kind of fall into one of two categories. Too much of something or too little of something. You know, a lot of them talk about, you know, just having too much to do and feeling like there's an increasing workload. Um, not being able to maintain, you know, a good work life balance because of the work. um feeling a lack of support or a lack of job security or um a lack of communication from the district or or from leadership in their building. And so, you know, it's clear to me that when we ask people, you know, what
022is the story they tell about working at their school or working for the Anchorage School District, what we hope to hear is more stories that include the stuff on the left and fewer stories that include the things are identified on the right. And Sven and I have already started talking about how to put these lists in front of principles and start a dialogue, you know, this fall about how do we make sure that those narratives that people tell, the stories they tell about working in our schools really are centered on those those resiliency factors. How do we create that environment for our employees? So that's the story they want to tell. So um that is just a little bit of an indicator of where we hope to take some of this. But um I then
023moving to the March meeting, this really represented kind of a pivot in the conversation, right? So we'd spent a lot of time kind of raising the issues, prioritizing the issues, doing a deeper dive on at least one of the priority issues. In March, we really asked the groups to start thinking about what are some possible solutions. So rather than just admiring the the challenges and the problems that we face, what are some possible solutions that the group thought might be viable in terms of really increasing um the retention rates in our schools? And so one of the things we did in the information sharing section was just kind of seed their thinking a little bit. You know, start to to show them maybe some different forms that solutions might take. And so we talked about,
024you know, the possibility that they recommend, you know, a particular norm for our organization or a commitment that senior leadership or u the superintendent or the board might make uh a new practice that they thought might be helpful um in our schools. Um recognizing that some of these are conversations that require maybe a more intentional focus from a group of people and you know an ongoing sustained conversation over time. Maybe we needed a spin-off committee for certain topics. Um, if they want to take a more formal approach, they could do something like a resolution to the board. Um, they could there may be areas where we can't yet quantify a solution because we don't have the quantifiable data to really know how we're doing. And so maybe there's some areas where we just need to
025suggest improving our data collection so we know better how we're doing. Um, or if there are particular behaviors that we want more of, are there targeted ways that we can incentivize those behaviors? And so this wasn't in any way meant to be an exhaustive list. It was just uh getting there them thinking in the direction of possible solutions to some of the the challenges that we had identified. So then we actually took those lists that we had generated in February and we asked each of the bargaining groups to pick one issue which was very difficult for some of the groups um uh to actually come down to one issue that they wanted to um to they wanted to work on but we asked them to come down to one and then start brainstorming solutions for
026those for that one particular issue and we shared out in a larger group then and I have Uh so the preliminary solutions by bargaining because this is just March we still had another month but under totem and ACE uh some solutions were converting part-time positions to benefited full-time positions to reduce vacancies allow some flexible scheduling build some planning time in for Perez bring back in-person training onboarding for hourly positions we'll talk about that in a little bit more and encourage school board to accept admin's recommendation that that was toally minace APA acknowledge initiative fatigue, reduce number of initiatives happening concurrently and properly resource implementations. Um then moving on to Aea, they had compensate for non-instructional duties, establish a cut off date in the spring for decisions impacting the next school year, provide fall full curriculum
027prior to the summer for anything new compensation for time to lesson plan with new courses or curriculum. Trust the professionalism of teachers, reduce compliance accountability checks, prioritize smaller class sizes, hire more interventionists, and promote illiteracy at all levels. In the exempt group, they reduce the number of concurrent initiatives were their biggest one. Amplify the why behind initiatives through targeted branding campaigns and put that out front. Improve communication between departments. Create annual EDC center leadership poster. Include that. so everybody knows who each other are include ed center staff and SECS and adopt decision- making matrix and some of those each of those will kind of t talk about a little bit more as we the kind of the main one that they wanted to work on. So, as we moved into April and what we thought
028might likely be our last meeting of the year, the information section really was similar to what we did here. And that was just to kind of take the group back through the process that we had started in October and um again put give them the bulk of the time in um in those discussion groups to continue to narrow the focus. And we asked them if possible to really uh select their single highest priority solution for their group recognizing that a lot of the other priorities that they said are important priorities too. But if they really had to kind of arm wrestle it out and figure out what was the single highest priority or um solution, you know, which one would that be? And then we asked them to articulate that in a particular format, right?
029So what was the problem? What was the solution they were proposing? And what was the rationale? We provided them a template just so they didn't have to spend a lot of their time figuring out how to format that, but could spend the the really the the bulk of their conversation time narrating that part. And our template was literally what does a schoolboard memo look like? So include a recommendation and pertinent facts. Um we won't read all of these in their entirety. Um totem really focused on onboarding as their single highest priority. They felt like we have moved away in recent years from um sort of in-person onboarding experience and training for our paraprofessionals and clericals before they report to the building. And part of the stories that they shared were folks who often show up.
030They, you know, maybe on a chaotic day, right after the first day, they're saying, "This is too much. I can't do this." And they quit. And so they felt like it would be helpful if we had, you know, more opportunity for them to get some tools, to get some expectations of what they were going to experience when they get to a school and that that might help them weather that sort of onboarding phase and when they're learning the ropes. our APA group um really talked a lot about the impact as building leaders when they're having to juggle multiple district-wide initiatives and you know there was really an intention on their part to want to be able to lead well and they felt like their attention was sometimes fragmented when they were asked to to carry
031a lot of different district initiatives concurrently. Our AA group um focused on PLC's and um requesting more member direction of those conversations. I think this flows from um some of the things they identified as resiliency factors around you know having some flexibility and some autonomy. Um this is one of the topics that we have spent a considerable amount of time talking about in negotiations and um so one will continue to to try to find that balance between that loose tight coupling to make sure there are clear expectations for that time but that there is also professional space for folks to um to have some flexibility for the exempt group which is pretty much the people that work in this building and in a number of the different departments. um pretty much a asking to be
032a part of the conversation. Really getting to be a part of the solutions for initiatives. Um have have some say in um what's going on and then actually work together and kind of get down take down some of the silos to be able to work with each other and and have an idea of what who's doing what in each of these initiatives and the work that's going on even if they aren't considered initiatives. One of the things that uh we've we've been actually focusing on during our summer work here as we moving into the summer is really breaking down as many of those silos in that exempt group and really trying to look at how do we put forth a little more dedicated work around getting these people working together. Um and and then also
033looking at what are the next steps moving into next school year and what do we have on our dockets? And I every time that somebody brings up something I ask is now is this an initiative because we need to really start thinking about what are initiatives and what aren't because what we thinking of initiatives we're thinking like big things like me I'm thinking start time sixth grade and middle school PLC's you know those types of things whereas principles and other people might be thinking about Alice as an initiative and the new Alice and the new and those types of things. that we got to really be thinking about what we're giving to of our people at an any specific time and that's going to take just a collaborative effort on that exempt list of people
034exempt groups of people. Mr. Chair, uh member Bellamy, I know you have a question. I've been trying to see if we could hold questions until the end just because we've got two agenda items and a a packed slate today. So, um folks, please continue and board members will have time for questions at the end. So, we have two more slides before we talk about next steps. We just wanted to spend kind of a moment reflecting um from our perspective as the facilitators what we felt um went well and what some of the challenges were. Um what worked. It was really nice to have a dedicated time and space uh for this topic. Um it was really uh helpful to hear from different school-based perspectives and there was a high level of engagement from everyone who's
035involved. I ran into a lot of folks who were part of the committee uh between our meetings and it was really fun to hear them say, "Man, those things those meetings really get me thinking. I I walk out of there and I'm just like spinning with all these ideas that I hadn't considered." And so every month we had really good attendance. We had a lot of folks um you know show up and participate, lend their unique perspective and voice and and that really added value. um the combination of information sharing and discussion. We got really good feedback on that format. Um there was a lot of interest in continuing the discussion next year when we surveyed folks about whether or not they would want to continue if the working group um continued next fall. And
036then having um schoolboard representation and the superintendent present at the meetings also um got called out as something that was really positive. I know uh member Hollowman was there for the first three meetings. Member Jacobs uh was there for the last meeting. member lessons. I think you stopped in for a bit. Dr. Bryant was there. People really appreciated um the fact that you were in the room, that you were listening, that you were sitting and participating in those conversations. They felt really valued just by having you present for those. Um some of the challenges, you know, we kind you probably picked up as we've been walking through things. It was difficult to to narrow the focus to specific priority topics, right? All of these are important topics. And so that was probably the most difficult
037task that we gave folks is is narrowing it down to the highest priorities. Uh finding common ground with different perspectives, you know, um at one point we shifted to bargaining unit groups, but even within those table groups, um you had folks who had different job responsibilities, who worked in different buildings and they didn't always have a shared perspective. And so it was good to see them kind of wrestle through these topics and um have to listen to each other and figure out where that common ground was. Sometimes there was just too much time between meetings. Um we couldn't ask for more folks time than to meet monthly. Um but sometimes it felt like we were having to sort of remind folks where we left off the conversation to pick it up the thread the next
038month. And then you know it's just challenging to find practical lowcost solutions. I think the the group is very interested in the possibility of something like adding social security benefits for tier three employees on the certificated side. But, you know, the cost modeling that um Andy has done, you know, puts that at like a $16 million potential cost item in a in a time when we're we're facing year-over-year structural deficits. And so, you know, some things we just recognize might be great ideas, but we're were difficult um to to recommend now. Um and we need more early career voices. Again, we only had one or two folks who were in their first five years with the district and we recognized uh pretty quickly that it was critical to get more of their voices in the
039room um as we as we move forward. And then, you know, just the recognition that recruitment and retention are two different topics and that as we move forward, one thing we may think about thoughtfully doing is splitting those two um groups and and and focusing them on their each in their individual areas. And then in terms of next steps, um we are very interested in continuing this conversation into next year. We think this this conversation this year was very fruitful and there's still a lot of ground that we didn't have time to cover. Um we need more time to to refine those bargaining unit recommendations. We got a good initial draft on some of those, but they need some word smithing. They need some, you know, some just some more time to kind of work
040those and make sure they're representative of their larger groups. Um we want to um this summer find some ways to share output with principles and um cabinet. We started that process yesterday um and develop action plans to address some of the recommendations that came forward from this group. And then you know our hope also is to report our ongoing progress uh to the schoolboard as we continue that conversation next year. So that's really what Sven and I had to to share out from the group and on behalf of the steering committee. And so if there are questions, we're we're happy to answer those. Thank you for the presentation. We'll go to Member Bellamy first. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is great. I'm I'm glad to see um I'm I'm just glad to see this. I
041mean, we don't we sometimes forget what we what we ask people to do. And I mean, anyway, I'm just reflecting on that. But I guess one question and then you already started answering it. How did the various group define initiative is they're not talking about our board goals or are they talking about our board goals? It's pretty much all of the different things that have come up over it's not board goals. No, that's different. Initiatives are the things goals are were were pretty much apparently didn't come up because I don't see them in here anymore. So the initiatives would be the things that we put in place to try to improve student outcomes. The initiatives might be right sizing uh change of changing start times moving the sixth graders to middle school implementing PBIS putting
042in PLC models. I we've done a lot of change in the last few years and and it has been but was there any discussion as to why the changes occurred the outcome? I mean I mean because it wasn't a random they weren't random uh changes. The changes occurred for a reason and I I think that we were just looking we they were just bringing up we we weren't like selling them on things, right? We were just wanting to hear what their take was because they heard all the stuff. I mean we try we we try to put forth the positive spin on everything that we're bringing forward. It's just when it's the same people, the principles, the the you know, the last of the directors, assistant directors that we have here, it's all in the
043same people. So that's why they're feeling that burnout and stuff that it's there is a a common thread about the why. And so maybe perhaps we can do a better job of uh relaying the why the and that's what we're working on as far as the exempt people for sure because that that came up with our exempt staff which are the ones that are putting it down into the you know working with the schools also. So we have to do a better job and that's what we're we're focusing on this summer. And and I'll just add briefly to that, member Bellamy, that in the APA um recommendation, they did list out an example of what they considered initiatives. And that's one of the thing if we were to, you know, work with them to further
044refine that, we might want to come up with a common definition for what we mean when we say initiatives. Are all of those things initiatives? Are some of them just responsibilities? You know, that there there's definitely some we just didn't have time maybe to get to that level of refinement yet, which is why everything says draft on it at this point. Okay. Thank you. I'm gonna jump in really quick with a followup, then we'll go to member lessons and member Hollowman. Um I well I said it in the last session of the the working group and I picked up on an interest in um there being either a limitation to the number of new initiatives or ensuring that they were um new initiatives were being adhered to and followed through in a meaningful way um
045I think was some of the concern that I heard. I guess my question is that listening to that conversation made me think wouldn't it be nice in theory if the board committed to at the start of next school year saying nothing new this year. Um but I don't know that that's possible. Um as a matter of fact I think I'm hearing far too many chuckles from different corners of the dis but in theory the board could vote for it. Um is that feasible? I mean, looking at what we have coming ahead in the next year, could the board vote to say we're going to take a breath for a year and implement what we have and not do anything new? So, Mr. President, if I could chime in first and then I'll let the team
046um chime in as well. Um, in my opinion, I think this speaks to the the fact that we really need to iron out what does it mean by new initiative because I do think that a resolution is within the realm of possibility. However, in my conversations with some members of the committee, I think there's differing understandings of what a new initiative is. And let me give you a concrete example. Number one, um some had mentioned that um Raptor is a new initiative. And for me, I'm a little concerned about that because I do um as superintendent and as a board, we do retain the right to put things that ensure consistency across all campuses, especially as it relates to the safety of our students. So, as long as there's a common understanding as to what
047is considered an initiative versus what is not, I'd be happy to have that conversation ongoing. I also just to add into what Dr. Brian said there's sometimes when we just have to do new things like when we had like the Department of Justice, the DOJ settlement that we had to add in different things and and then sometimes we have to change because a company buys another company and they get rid of a thing that we're doing like Alice or they jack up the prices on us and it becomes cost ineffect. I mean there's certain times that we have to do some things. So I wouldn't want to kind of limit us in that. I I yeah, I'm tracking that some things um we couldn't delay. I'm just wondering if there's a if there's a middle
048ground there to say any optional, non-legally required, not related to student safety. Um and and really it's more direction from the board and the board committing to that, not giving um the administration extra things to implement. Um if it's board driven, I think that maybe there's a lane there, but I'll chew on that over the summer. Um we'll go to member lessons to member Holland. Thanks. Not really sure what I can add to this particular conversation. I just wanted to flag that um you know in addition to the corporate changes we have to respond to or realities um and federal uh regulations um you know the Alaska Reads Act that is a legislativedriven change and if there are curricular changes that are mandated by the legislature. So there are um we are public schools. We
049are very much a product of local, state, federal, corporate, you know, uh like the nesting Russian dolls, if you will. Um and so yeah, as the, you know, the APA, as our as our school representatives, they are going to be at the forefront of translating each and every one of those initiatives, mandates, todos, uh to their staff. And that's a heavy lift. Um I think though it would be very hard to commit to not implementing new initiatives uh especially when we understand our um you know broader fiscal realities and and student needs. Right. Thank you. Member lessons will go to member Hollerman. I was going to say first I I really do think you should make the committee a standing committee. Uh, and part of the reasoning for that, the school I was at had
050a safety committee that met every month and of course it was easier and that we just had to walk to the conference room and sit down and and there were a lot of months where there really wasn't anything to discuss. We might chat for 15 or 20 minutes and leave. But if you had a concern, you knew there was a time not too far away where it was going to be appropriate to bring up an issue and talk about it with people that had some leverage and colleagues so that you could find out is this just something I'm thinking or is this something other people are thinking? um and the principal was there so you knew that it was heard and it wasn't a matter of having to choose to stand up and make an
051issue by going into the office and saying I think this is something we need to worry about. So, I I think as long as people will come, just having it be a regular thing with some rotation of people in and out is a a long-term positive. And uh yeah, I felt like the discussion was pretty open and and people are being candid and it um it felt like a reasonable thing for people to to bring up concerns that they probably would never talk about otherwise. And that's that's the goal. Um the other thing that I think would make a huge difference is an understanding by people in the buildings that everybody in this building and and in the organization is working to support them and that is not a feeling you have everywhere in this
052district. And I think historically um you it used to be very difficult to get a job in the district and what and so you got in somewhere anywhere and then you looked for where you really wanted to be because transferring was easier than getting a new position. Um but there was never a feeling that the administration was looking at building principles and asking are are you making this a good place for people to be successful in their careers? That the principles sort of had other duties and responsibilities and no one really understood what those were. But that if if you felt like you weren't being supported, you really didn't know if that mattered to anybody here. and and that would take assertion by the superintendent. It would take I think an an assertion of culture
053that that really matters. That's one of the things you're looking at principles at. I know historically HR has done studies of uh migration of employees in the district as far as who what buildings they move towards and what buildings they move away from. Um whether or not that actually impacted anybody, we never knew, but everybody kind of knew. There were there were buildings people tried to flee from and there were other buildings that once people got there, they hardly ever they never left to go to another building in the district. They stayed there until they retired. And and that's kind of a goal. Um, I I will say back in I think like 2013 or 14, I I asked that hire dates be put on the personnel report and I think it was the only
054thing Todd Hess ever did for me for free. Um, and I've been looking at it ever since. So, I noticed like on this one, I think there are 32 certificated uh departures and about 20 or maybe 17 of them are people that have been hired since 2020. And so, there is that tremendous churn of people and to some degree I think it's going to happen because people do get into this job and just go this is more than I ever meant to get involved in that. There's always going to be some of that, but the volume it used to be that I don't think as many people gave these jobs up once they got them. Um, but there there are a lot of other options and and it is stressful. Um, that that the administration
055really works to help people succeed on an individual basis. Uh there was a time when every employee could pick what courses they wanted to take for advancement on the salary scale. Um and now it's it's got to be approved and doesn't always get approved. Um and I I don't think that was necessarily a good system. I know some absolute abuses of that, but that people feel like their personal goals are really met. And again, I think that has to come from the very top down through everybody at building administration. Um, and it has to be known. That's a that's a organizational endeavor. Um, but if you're not feeling successful, teaching really sucks. I mean, it's just long hard days that are miserable. U, but if you're successful, it's long hard days that really leave you
056with a lot of fulfillment. Um, and I I think we've done some things with curriculum a few years back that hurt that. Um, there's always going to be a level of impersonality in an organization that's as big as this is. It is a big organization. So there there are difficulties to overcome. Um, and I I just remember back to a time when there were people standing in line to teach in the entry school district. There there aren't anymore. And I I think we have really have to look at what it means to recruit and retain it. It's not just have to really work at it now in a in a way that I don't think very many people in Anchorage in general and ASD in particular have totally adjusted to. But but I do think
057if we help people feel personally successful and that that's what the administration's focused on uh which would mean fewer district-wide mandates and more more local building autonomy. um more of the administration selling an initiative building by building, which clearly they don't really have to do, but but if they did, it would it would make a big difference, I think. Um are are key ways, but I I would urge you to keep the committee going indefinitely. Um and and they'll come up with the right ideas, I think, to help help things last long. I I do think that unfortunately we're we're looking at a national situation that's driving people out of the profession. And I I think that'll make it really difficult and time consuming for this district to create an atmosphere where people go, "Oh
058yeah, that's that's where I'd like to teach. That's where I'd like to be." Um it's going to be a long hard slog to do that because of what's happening all across the country. But yeah, I think the committee was an excellent idea and was run well. Um I yeah, after Christmas break, it was very hard to get back over there. So anyway, thank you. Thank you, Member Holland. Uh we'll go to member Higgins next. Mine's just real short. Um I know I've seen some things in the past. New Jersey was one that really had put an emphasis on getting the community engaged more recruitment, retention, other activities. And I've seen things like this. I didn't see that really listed anywhere in here that popped out real strong to me. But I just I throw that
059out there because it really had a pretty positive impact with feeling it in a difficult time. It's somehow being that kind of supportive for teachers kind of thing within the community recognizing and appreciating what they're doing and other ways that they did it. So I just hope that that at least take a look at what options are there that may have been tried other places and some of them have had some pretty good success as I understand. Yeah, just to quickly respond to that, one of the um things that happened sort of over the course of this is retention really took over kind of front and center, which is why one of the next steps or the kind of takeaways that we learned is we probably need to divide this into two separate conversations. What
060are the things we really need to intentionally focus on from a recruitment standpoint and then what are the efforts we need to do to to retain the educators that we have? Thank you, Member Higgins. Um a question on the the slide deck. I think it was um one of the points they noted that they desire to see encouragement from the board to adopt the recommendations. Did I understand that right? And is there something coming from this process that we will vote to approve or did I misunderstand? I think that that was a different idea that they were having. Um it was right around the right sizing times and the repurposing times and they were coming up with um okay other things. Well it and if that if it was regarding right sizing that's one of
061the reasons why I asked that that's good to know that there are staff who would encourage the board to seriously consider because we did also adopt a a directive to administration to consider the right sizing conversation. So if staff are in favor of that that also I think is good to know. I think it's an it was an overall just when administration brings stuff to the board to really look at what the administration is bringing because a lot of the those people that are in the district are actually providing information to the administration and they just want to make sure you're focusing and listening to whatever administration's bringing. That's what I got out of that from them. Okay. That was only from totem and ACE. Really helpful. Yeah, we perform our own self-evaluation, but it
062it certainly isn't 360 in nature. So, it was I thought that was insightful because it's one of the few pieces of anonymous feedback that I see about us in particular. And so, I'm really grateful for that. Um I don't see any other mics raised and so I'll just I'll close by saying that you know when I drafted the language and consulted I believe member lessons and I collaborated on the underlying memorandum with the um language involved um that directed administration to begin the process. Um I couldn't have imagined the success um that administration and our um dedicated staff would help facilitate. And so this is truly is awesome. Um, and so I'm grateful, extremely grateful to uh Mr. Lang for beginning the process and then everyone who was involved and Dr. Bryant for uh demonstrating
063the leadership and allowing this process to take place. Um, frankly, I think we're a leader in this space right now in terms of looking inward and not just asking the legislature to do what they can to um address the the shortcomings that we know will help retain educators. specifically the um funding issue which we we've all discussed at Nauseium but also the um meaningful retirement reform that we need but we're also demonstrating leadership by looking inward too and so there there can't be any credible claim from Juno that we aren't working to the extent that we can uh to make things better where um without their action or leadership. Um with that said I'll echo the request that this process continue. If you would like board direction to encourage that, um, please feel free to
064ask, but I I don't think you'll find any or have heard any, um, dissent to that. Um, and I'm looking forward to, uh, being involved in the the next iteration of the committee um, as uh, it is constructed. Um, I think that's it. And so with that said, we had one other item for um, a work session before I um, thank our folks here. Um, I just want to ask one last time if there's any questions. I don't see member Wilson's hand up, so I'll say that there's no questions here. So, thank you, Mr. Lang, Mr. Gustinus, and Dr. Bryant team. We are at 4:50. We have one other agenda item, but we do actually have an executive session um topic. And so my um ask from the board is to consider deferring the second
065agenda item, which is stop at data. Um we have an open space due to delay cancellation on our next board retreat. And so is there any objection for us moving that timing uh for stop at data to our retreat instead? Great. Okay. I want to make sure we give it um the appropriate amount of time and attention it deserves. And so we'll u move that second agenda item to our next retreat. And uh that will then conclude our business for today. We'll um I'll ask for a motion to adjurnn to executive session for the purpose of legal updates, negotiations, and contracts beginning at 5:00 pm. Mr. Chair, I move to uh move into executive session for the purposes of discussing what you just said. Second. Okay. Well, a motion made by member Bellamy and seconded
066by member Hollowman to adjourn to executive session for the purpose of legal updates, negotiations, and contracts. Yes. Um, is there any opposition to that motion? We'll begin executive session at 5:00 p.m. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Recording stopped.