Casey Kelly

The Juneau School District Budget Committee Tuesday night presented its final recommendations to the Board of Education on how to deal with a potential shortfall of more than $4 million next school year.

The school board now has until the end of the month to finalize the spending plan and submit it to the Juneau Assembly.

Highlights of the 17-member budget committee’s recommendations include:

• Lower student-teacher ratios across grade levels than those in the budget submitted by Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich.
• Adding 10 school nurse positions and eliminating health aides. The administration’s budget calls for five nurses and five health aides, the same as this year.
• Delaying new language arts and math courses, which the administration wants to implement next year.

“In the recommended additions, there were 11 that had strong support by the budget committee, and seven of those were directly related to teachers, more teachers in the classroom,” said budget committee co-chair Brian Holst.

Several school board members said teaching positions should be the first budget addition if state funding for education increases this year. Superintendent Gelbrich said he would recommend adding high school teachers, because next year is the first year students in the district will need to meet new, tougher graduation requirements.

“I think that’s the most urgent need in terms of timing that has real impact for kids right away,” Gelbrich said.

The school board will introduce its version of the budget next Tuesday. It’s expected to come up for a final vote on March 25th. Public comment will be taken at both meetings. The public can also comment via email at budgetinput@juneauschools.org.

School board adopts resolution supporting per student increase in state funding

The Board of Education adopted a resolution Tuesday supporting an increase in the Base Student Allocation. That’s the amount of money districts receive from the state for each enrolled student. It’s currently $5,680 and has not increased since 2011. School officials across Alaska blame flat funding for district budget woes.

School board member Lisa Worl was one of several Juneau residents who testified Tuesday on the state operating budget before the House Finance Committee.

“Due to flat funding in our operating budget, the Juneau School District has cut 10 percent of our budget in the past four years,” Worl said.

Without an increase in funding, she said, Juneau will face even more cuts.

“In this next school year we are looking to cut another $4.7 million or 7 percent. Together this represents 17 percent total cuts to our operating budget in five years’ time,” Worl said.

The Legislature is considering proposals to increase the Base Student Allocation. But the operating budget won’t be approved until April and districts need to wrap up their budgets this month. The school board’s resolution also calls for lawmakers to adopt a multi-year funding plan.

Juneau School District Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich could know by the end of the week if he’ll be moving to Idaho.

Gelbrich is one of two finalists for superintendent of the Nampa School District, located about 20 miles southwest of Boise. He interviewed with the Nampa Board of Trustees on Monday. The board is scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss the candidates, according to the Idaho Press-Tribune. A decision could come as soon as Thursday and at the latest by the end of the month.

Gelbrich was back in Juneau Tuesday night for a special meeting of the Board of Education. While the Press-Tribune raised questions about his frequent travel to Oregon from Juneau, Gelbrich says that was not a concern of Nampa school officials.

“There were no questions on the part of the board in terms of commitment or any of that,” Gelbrich said. “But someone from here [Juneau] called someone from there [Nampa] and shared erroneously that I fly out of here every weekend and that I’m not here, which is not true. It’s been a persistent rumor and I’m not sure why.”

Gelbrich said he felt good about the interview, but said the Nampa board has a tough choice to make.

In January he was passed up for the superintendent’s job in Kalispell, Montana. He says the reason for his job search is a desire to live closer to family. His wife Ruth continues to live in Oregon.

“I’ve looked at a couple of different communities down there that, like Juneau, have great livability, great support for kids, and Nampa is one of those places,” he said.

Gelbrich has been Juneau superintendent since 2009. He is in the midst of a three-year contract that expires in June 2016. The Juneau school board Tuesday night went into executive session to discuss Gelbrich’s annual evaluation.

He currently makes $155,000 a year. The previous superintendent in Nampa made $140,000 a year, according to the Press-Tribune. The new superintendent’s salary will depend on experience.

Did you know the Alaska Fisheries Science Center is not based in Alaska?

In fact, most of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers who support Alaska fisheries are based in Seattle.

The Juneau Assembly wants to change that. Mayor Merrill Sanford this week created a task force to look at bringing more federal marine science jobs to Alaska. While the task force will study the issue from a Juneau perspective, Sanford said other communities could benefit as well.

“There’s other places within Southeast where some of these jobs could go,” Sanford said at Monday’s assembly meeting. “Kodiak has a big fishing industry where some of these jobs might possibly go, and we want to look at all of that.”

Attracting more federal jobs to Juneau is an assembly priority. In addition to laboratory scientists, Sanford said the assembly also wants research vessels based in the state.

“If we could even move a few or some to our own research centers and our own fisheries areas, I think that would be a big advantage to us,” Sanford said.

NOAA Fisheries has about 180 full time employees throughout Alaska, most of them in Juneau. By comparison, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle has about 250 full time employees.

Historic factors led the fisheries science center to be based in Seattle.

“That’s where the geographical distribution of the labor force developed around the time of statehood, and it’s mostly just been maintained there,” said NOAA Fisheries spokeswoman Julie Speegle.

She said the agency is spread out for a number of other reasons, including the availability of facilities and housing, and the willingness of some employees to live in Alaska. That’s not to mention the cost of relocating employees during a time of federal budget cuts, Speegle said.

Assemblyman Randy Wanamaker and fisheries consultant Greg Fisk will co-chair the city’s task force. The panel also includes Assemblywoman Kate Troll and Jim Becker, chair of the CBJ Fisheries Development Committee. The group hopes to add a retired NOAA employee.

The task force has six months to complete a report for the assembly.

The Juneau Assembly last night adopted a moratorium on new cell phone towers and accepted a pair of highly charged appeals.

The moratorium blocks permitting of new wireless communications towers until May 19. Between now and then the assembly hopes to adopt a master plan regulating where and how cell towers are built.

Two people testified in favor of the measure, while nobody spoke against it.

“The view shed is threatened for many of the people in town,” said Fritz Cove resident Jon Lyman, who lives near a tower on Spuhn Island with a constantly flashing air traffic warning light on top of it.

Lyman urged the assembly to get as much public input as possible on the cell tower master plan.

“What we should have is an opportunity, real opportunities, for the public to participate both in the structuring of the final ordinance, and during the siting of different towers,” he said.

North Douglas resident SueAnn Randall lives across the cove from Lyman, where her house also faces Spuhn Island. She urged the assembly to watch three videos she posted to YouTube of the tower’s flashing strobe light.

“Just so you can see what it’s like every second of the day,” Randall said.

(One of three YouTube videos of the Spuhn Island cell phone tower posted by SueAnn Randall)

The assembly voted 5-3 to adopt the moratorium. Assemblymen Jerry Nankervis and Randy Wanamaker, as well as Mayor Merrill Sanford, voted against it.

Nankervis said people want better cell phone service, and with that comes cell towers.

“These aren’t put in arbitrarily,” Nankervis said. “They’re market-driven, they’re studied where they’re going to go in. There’s a limited amount of space where they can go in, and it’s unfortunate that we see them. And you do see them around the rest of the country, and they have cell phone coverage that works everywhere.”

The moratorium only applies to new cell phone towers. It does not apply to towers needed for public health or safety.

Dangerous dog, “field of fireweed” appeals accepted

The assembly on Monday accepted two emotional appeals:

• Jody and Joyce Vick are fighting a dangerous animal designation for their pit bull-mastiff mix, Sushi. Juneau Animal Control deemed the dog dangerous after he fatally attacked another dog last Thanksgiving. The Vicks claim the label will force them to put Sushi down. Animal Control says they could save Sushi with a homeowner’s liability insurance policy. The assembly voted to hear the Vicks’ appeal itself. Assemblyman Jesse Kiehl will serve as presiding officer.
• The assembly also voted to accept an appeal from Juneau home builder Bicknell Inc. The company wants to overturn a planning commission decision denying a rezone request for its 82-acre property near the airport. Bicknell wants to use the property for industrial and commercial purposes, but current zoning limits development. Wildlife enthusiasts, who want the property to stay the way it is, have taken to calling it the “field of fireweed.” The assembly voted to have a hearing officer decide the case.

The ongoing dispute between the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial and the City and Borough of Juneau continued in court on Monday.

Juneau Superior Court Judge Louis Menendez heard arguments over whether to block the city from moving forward with a massive cruise ship dock project in front of the memorial.

Bruce Weyhrauch, an attorney and president of the Fishermen’s Memorial board of directors, argued the city should be barred from hiring a contractor or paying money for the two floating berths until the State of Alaska completes the transfer of submerged tidelands to the municipality. The Juneau Assembly last month approved a nearly $54 million contract award to Seattle-based Manson Construction.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources in January approved the land transfer, but the Fishermen’s Memorial appealed. The decision was automatically put on hold pending a ruling from DNR Commissioner Joe Balash.

Weyhrauch said a massive dock in front of the memorial would permanently and negatively alter the annual Blessing of the Fleet.

Assistant City Attorney Christopher Orman argued the memorial does not have standing to try to block the project. Orman said the city does not believe the docks will cause irreparable harm to the memorial.

Menendez said he would issue a decision soon. The judge previously denied a motion from the Fishermen’s Memorial to immediately stop work on the project.

Curious about building homes and land use issues in Juneau?

The city is holding a housing forum today for developers, contractors, homeowners and real estate agents. It’s part of the local government’s efforts to address a housing shortage in Juneau.

Lands and Resources Manager Greg Chaney says topics will include construction trends, the permitting process, and the city’s plans to sell some of its land holdings.

“Including our proposal to offer a couple of Lena (Point) lots for sale again, as we have done in the past, through a sealed bid process,” Chaney said last week on “A Juneau Afternoon.”

“But also some other bigger things that are coming down the pike,” he said.

The city sold 32 residential lots in the Lena Point area in 2007. It tried to sell 11 more in 2010, but only unloaded two. The Juneau Assembly tonight will be asked to approve a plan to sell 12 other Lena Point lots, starting with two along Ocean View Drive.

The city also owns several acres in the Pederson Hill area between Auke Lake and the Mendenhall Valley, which the Assembly has expressed interest in opening up for residential development.

Chaney says licensed contractors who attend the forum can get five continuing education credits toward their residential contractor endorsement.

“If you’re a contractor you have to keep your license current, and we’re offering this for free,” he said. “Normally people have to fly to Anchorage or Seattle to get these classes, and they’re not real pertinent to Juneau. All of our information is going to be Juneau specific.”

The housing forum will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Vocational Training & Resource Center on Hospital Drive.

This is the second year the city has hosted the event.