Juneau

Educator turnover rates in Alaska have increased overall, beyond levels preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data from the Institute of Social and Economic Research, or ISER. It comes as the state continues working on ways to improve teacher retention and recruitment in the state. 

Dayna DeFeo is the director of the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research, a clearinghouse for education-related work with ISER. She said at a State Board of Education Meeting on Wednesday that the teacher and principal turnover rate has generally risen beyond rates seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re seeing just a fairly steady, consistent upward trend,” she said. “We’re going to see this pattern no matter how we splice the data.”

In 2024, 17% of teachers and 27% of principals left their school districts. While turnover decreased during the pandemic, the new data marks an overall increase since 2013. The research builds on previous work from Regional Education Laboratory Northwest, which studied turnover rates in 2019 and 2021. While principal turnover is generally higher than teacher turnover, DeFeo said the trend depends on the type of community.

“When we start to dig into the data, they show that educator turnover is not a monolith,” she said. “It looks different. It looks different in different places, it looks different in different contexts. And as we develop policies and as we develop programs to interrupt these patterns, it’s kind of useful to look at the nuances of these data.”

For example, in 2024, principals left schools at a higher rate than teachers in communities outside of cities. But the opposite is true for urban schools, where about 30% of teachers left as opposed to 21% of principals.

According to a University of Alaska report to the state Legislature, teacher turnover rates statewide sat above the national average between 2012 and 2021. High turnover is associated with negative student outcomes.

The state has been working on improving teacher retention since at least 2020. That includes a teacher apprenticeship at the University of Alaska Anchorage and Fairbanks campuses. University of Alaska Southeast also expects to begin a principal training program next fall.

DeFeo said in an interview with KTOO on Thursday that her team plans on surveying teachers in February to see which factors play into their decisions to leave.

“What we can see pretty clearly is who stays and who goes. We can do that very accurately,” she said. “What we don’t know all the time is, why? Why they make those choices.”

ISER plans to publish a full report on turnover rates next spring.

A magnitude 7 earthquake shook Juneau and other towns in Alaska’s northern and central panhandle late Saturday morning.   

According to the Alaska Earthquake Center, the quake happened at 11:41 a.m. and was centered roughly 55 miles north of Yakutat, at a depth of about three miles. 

Residents from Juneau, Haines, Whitehorse and other Southeast Alaska towns reported houses shaking briefly. There were no immediate reports of any damage. The National Weather Service Juneau says there is no tsunami danger from the earthquake.

This is a developing story. Check back in for updates.

The state approved a contract on Monday agreeing to pay Juneau’s new hydroelectric utility $1.3 million to power the controversial Cascade Point Ferry Terminal — a project that has yet to be finalized.

That money will pay for a transformer and engineering for a submarine cable required to connect the Alaska Department of Transportation’s proposed ferry terminal to the Sweetheart Lake hydroelectric project that Juneau Hydropower plans to bring online in 2028. 

According to the contract, the state will pay Juneau Hydropower whether or not the ferry terminal project proceeds.

“If they live up to their part of the bargain, we would be responsible to pay for that,” said Christopher Goins, southcoast regional director at the department.

Goins said one major reason the state signed this contract now is because the cost would rise if the department decides to electrify later on, after Juneau Hydropower designs its system without this addition. 

Duff Mitchell, the managing director of Juneau Hydropower, said the other main reason is that the equipment takes a long time to get here. 

“We’re looking at between 52 weeks to over three years, depending on the manufacturer,” he said. 

Mitchell said the transformer wouldn’t be used for anything else if the ferry terminal project doesn’t get built. 

“If, in fact, it goes forward, then we would use it,” he said. “Otherwise, it will be sitting there waiting for the future.”

The department plans to break ground on the first phase of the ferry terminal project in the summer, which will establish an access road and staging area, but not the terminal itself. The state extended the public comment period on the proposed Cascade Point Ferry Terminal to Jan. 9. 

Correction: This story has been updated to clarify that the funds will pay for engineering of the submarine cable, not the cable itself.

The University of Alaska will host listening sessions in Juneau, Fairbanks and Anchorage next week as it ramps up its search for a new president. 

This comes after UA President Pat Pitney announced her retirement plans last month. The university contracted with WittKieffer, a global executive search firm, to help with the search. During the session, it hopes to get input on what the university community wants to see from the next president.

In Juneau, the firm will host sessions on Dec. 8. There will be four separate sessions, one each for University of Alaska Southeast faculty, staff, students and community members. 

All Juneau sessions will be in the Glacier View Room Egan Library Classroom Wing at the University of Alaska Southeast at the following times:

• UAS faculty — 9 to 9:50 a.m.
• UAS staff — 10 to 10:50 a.m.
• UAS students — 12 to 12:50 p.m.
• Juneau community — 6 to 7 p.m.

The firm will then hold sessions at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. A community session will be held on Dec. 9 for the public. Faculty, students and staff will meet for sessions the following day.

• Fairbanks community — Dec. 9, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Schaible Auditorium
• UAF faculty — Dec. 10, 9 to 9:50 a.m. at Schaible Auditorium
• UAF students — Dec. 10, 10 to 10:50 a.m. at Schaible Auditorium
• UAF and UA System Office staff — 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. in Room 106 at the Butrovich Building

Anchorage listening sessions will happen on Dec. 11 for students, faculty, staff and community members in the University of Alaska Anchorage Engineering and Industry Building Solarium at the following times:

• UAA staff — 9 to 9:50 a.m.
• UAA students — 10 to 10:50 a.m.
• UAA faculty — 11 to 11:50 p.m.
• Anchorage community — 6 to 7 p.m.

University students, faculty and staff will also be able to attend sessions over Zoom. Community members will only have an in-person option. Anyone unable to attend the meeting can also fill out an anonymous survey until Dec. 15 at 2 p.m.

According to a university press release, recruitment is expected to open in early January, with a president hired between April and May.

A 13-member search committee will review and interview candidates. Members of the community include university regents, governance representatives, as well as Alaska city and corporation leaders.

Downtown Juneau’s annual Gallery Walk is Friday evening.

More than 50 businesses and organizations will feature art exhibits, activities, live performances and holiday cheer.

One of those organizations is local conservation nonprofit Southeast Alaska Land Trust, also called SEALT. This gallery walk will be the second year of their “Conservation Art Show” featuring local Juneau artists Teri Gardner Robus, Patrick Ripp and others sharing work that was created on conserved lands in Southeast Alaska. 

Bailey Williams is the outreach and development specialist at SEALT. She spoke about the upcoming event and the meaning behind it during KTOO’s Juneau Afternoon on Tuesday. 

“This project came about kind of very organically, because there are so many amazing artists in this town, it was probably inevitable that our paths would cross with some of them,” she said. “We had this idea of local talent going out onto our conserved sites and painting what they saw.”

Other artists will be featured at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum, like Bo Anderson and Kathleen Harper. Their joint show, “Art Scraps”, opens this Friday with a reception at 4:30 p.m. It features art created using a variety of upcycled, recycled and reused materials. 

The couple also spoke about their upcoming show during Juneau Afternoon on Tuesday. Harper said she’s always had a knack for making art out of odd objects and is excited to showcase it during the exhibition. 

“I’ve always been very drawn to mixed media since forever,” she said. “Even in college, I was always like, ‘I’m going to take all of these weird screws that I found in a scrap heap and turn them into a cathedral by gluing them together.’”

This Gallery Walk will also represent the last for some businesses, including Cordova’s, Sketch Studio and Ben Franklin. Front Street will become pedestrian-only starting at 3 p.m. and a Gallery Walk shuttle will run from 4 to 8 p.m. 

Parking during the busy downtown event is available at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center, the Driftwood Lodge lot and the Juneau District Heating lot. 

The city says it will not be enforcing paid parking downtown after 3 p.m. on Friday. Free parking will be offered at city-owned parking garages and lots, which are the Shopper’s Lot, the North Franklin Lot, the Downtown Transportation Center Garage, the Marine Parking Garage, the Whittier Lot and the South Franklin Docks & Harbors lots.

More information about the events and artists is available on the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council website.

Correction: The photo caption has been updated to reflect that Gallery Walk is a collaborative effort between the  Juneau Arts & Humanities Council and Downtown Business Association.

Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area will not open to skiers this weekend after all.

Craig Cimmons, the ski area’s general manager, said Thursday that the recent rain washed away the snow that had accumulated on the mountain. That means the opening date will be pushed back at least a week. 

“We always put the first Saturday as the potential opening day, knowing that it’s hit or miss with the climate we have,” he said. “It’s not abnormal and it’s not a disappointment.”

Opening dates in recent years have been pushed back multiple times due to a lack of snow. The ski area does have high-efficiency snowmaking machines, which can supplement low snow. But Cimmons said there’s just not enough natural snow right now to go with it. 

“We couldn’t push out the snow we made in a way that we would feel we’re delivering a product that we’re really proud of, that’s safe and enjoyable, and an experience we want to offer,” he said. 

The National Weather Service in Juneau forecasts that snow is likely this weekend through Tuesday night, with low temperatures around 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cimmons said Eaglecrest will provide an update during the middle of next week about the status of the opening date for its 50th season as a ski area.