Juneau Schools

The Juneau Assembly voted Monday to give the school district $2.3 million to address deficits ahead of next school year.

Most of it will go toward a growing transportation funding deficit caused by declining enrollment and flat funding from the state. It also includes $60,000 for new wrestling mats. The rest of the money will resolve deficits from community classes and RALLY, the district’s after-school program.

The Assembly approved the funding in a 6 to 3 vote, but not without pushback from some members.

Mayor Beth Weldon suggested the Assembly cut the amount of money down to $1.9 million. She said some of the responsibility for paying back the money should fall on the district.

“You knew you were running yourself into the red, and I think you guys need to take some responsibility for that,” she said.

Assembly member Greg Smith asked Superintendent Bridget Weiss how the district would pay off the deficits if they didn’t receive the $2.3 million from the Assembly. She said the district would have to dip into its savings.

“We really don’t have resources,” Weiss said. “It would come out of fund balance.”

Assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs said she understood where Weldon was coming from. But without adequate state funding, she said, the school district needs help.

“I think we’re financially in a position to do that,” Hughes-Skandijs said.

Assembly member Wade Bryson said although it’s possible now, it might not be in future years. He voted in favor of Weldon’s lower amount.

“There’s not enough money to do everything that everybody wants to do. We know that,” Bryson said. “If we continue to behave as if there’s an unlimited amount of funds, eventually we are going to run into the end of the cliff.”

Assembly member ‘Wáahlaal Gíidaak said the Assembly and school board members have discussed ways they could save money in the future. Those include outsourcing RALLY and having the city’s Parks and Recreation Department take over community classes.

“When we stress the school system out additionally, it just trickles down into our kids,” she said. “I think we have some really good, solid ideas for ways we can move forward with cost savings, and I’d like to see those come to fruition. But I think underfunding right now is not the solution.” 

Weldon maintained her objection to the $2.3 million request. Ultimately, it passed, with Weldon, Bryson and Maria Gladziszewski voting against it.

Separately, the school district has requested the maximum amount of city funding allowed by the state for next year, along with $2.5 million beyond that cap for next year.

The Juneau School District and its teachers union reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement Friday night.

“It’s been a big relief for both sides,” said Juneau Education Association President Chris Heidemann.

The teachers’ previous contract expired in June 2022, and the union declared an impasse with the district in January. One major concern for the union was the district’s proposed cuts to monthly contributions to health premiums.

Heidemann said the details of the tentative agreement will be made public once it’s sent to union members later this week. Then, members will vote on whether to ratify it.

“We feel like there are enough wins in this contract that members should get a chance to voice their opinions on it,” Heidemann said.

Last week, the Juneau Education Association directed teachers to work only during paid hours and not take on any extra duties before and after school.

“I’m pretty convinced that that pressure was part of the reason why we were able to move to a tentative settlement so quickly,” Heidemann said.

Superintendent Bridget Weiss said she hopes this helps teachers enter the summer with a sense of closure and higher morale.

“We were highly motivated, like the union was, to get this to this point,” Weiss said. “We really value the work that teachers have done, in particular over the last few years.”

Once union members ratify the contract, a school board vote will follow.

The Juneau teachers’ union has directed its members to work to contract. That means they’ll work only as much as their contract requires — not before and after school or during lunch breaks.

The move comes a day before the union and school district are set to resume negotiating a new contract.

“It’s one of the few things we can do to shine a spotlight on exactly what the school district is getting from us on a daily basis, and what it looks like when we start to pull back,” said Juneau Education Association president Chris Heidemann.

Heidemann said he thinks almost all of the union’s more than 300 members are participating.

“We wanted to put a little bit of extra pressure on the district to settle a fair contract, and it seemed like it was the right time to move forward with some action,” he said.

The teachers’ previous contract expired in June 2022. Heidemann said the union is asking members to work this way for the rest of the school year or until they reach a tentative agreement with the district.

For students, the decision means they won’t have access to teachers for extra help outside regular class time. Heidemann said teachers have also given up their planning periods to work in other classrooms amid a shortage of substitutes. The union is asking teachers to stop doing that, too.

Heidemann said parents should know their kids are “still getting excellent instruction” — just not the additional support teachers usually provide for free.

“The reason we do this is to highlight the amount of free labor that the system is kind of built upon,” Heidemann said. “Most teachers arrive on a normal day well before their contract starts, they often work through their lunch or work with students during their lunch, and they often stay well beyond their contract time at the end of the day, working with students who need extra help.”

School board president Deedie Sorensen said she understands how much work that is.

“I’m a retired school teacher, so I have a very robust idea of how much school teachers do outside of their school day,” she said. 

Sorensen said she hopes the union and district will reach an agreement with the help of a mediator.

“During the course of the school day, my expectation — and I’m sure everybody’s expectation — is that teachers will be doing their jobs,” she said. “Because working to rule doesn’t say you don’t do your work.”

Superintendent Bridget Weiss was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.

The Juneau School District and its teachers union hope to agree on a new contract this week. If they don’t, negotiations could be headed to arbitration.

Juneau Education Association President Chris Heidemann said meetings with a federal mediator scheduled for Thursday and Friday are “critical.” If they can’t reach an agreement, they’ll go to arbitration, meaning a third party would hear both sides and come up with a solution.

“It’s certainly on the horizon,” Heidemann said.

The teachers’ previous contract expired in June 2022, and the union declared an impasse with the district in January. One major concern for the union has been the district’s proposed cuts to monthly contributions to health premiums. 

Heidemann said teachers are feeling “demoralized.”

“They don’t feel valued, and they’re just tired,” he said. “And that’s starting to show up in our resignations. We already have over 35 people that have officially put in their paperwork to leave the district at the end of the year.”

Cassee Olin, the district’s director of administrative services, said reaching an agreement by the end of the school year would be ideal. She said that, along with more certainty around state funding, would let the district revise its budget before the start of the fiscal year.

“Which helps us have an idea if we are in the need to get more teachers or if there are other cuts we have to do before the school year begins,” she said.

The school district built next year’s budget around a $400 increase in per-student state funding. 

“What they have to do now is they have to appropriate their funds in such a way that they can make a financial offer to JEA that is a respectful financial package,” Heidemann said.

Olin said she’s optimistic that the district and union will reach an agreement before moving to arbitration.

“We’ve made a lot of steps and progress in the last six days that we’ve done mediation, so there’s hope that we can get this through and come to an agreement and a contract before this year’s out,” Olin said. “I think we all have hope that we can get there.”

The Juneau School Board has selected Frank Hauser as superintendent of the Juneau School District.

“The experience that Frank Hauser brings in schools in Alaska was really valuable and really important to me,” school board member Brian Holst said in an interview Friday. 

Hauser has been superintendent of the Sitka School District since 2019. He was a finalist for superintendent positions in Anchorage last year and Fairbanks earlier this year. 

Hauser was previously a music teacher and principal in Anchorage, where he was named Alaska’s 2019 Principal of the Year. 

“It’s important to us and to our community that our diversity be embraced, and we reminded ourselves that the Anchorage School District is one of the most diverse in the nation,” Holst said. “Having experience in that district, I thought, was very valuable.”

At a public forum on Monday, Hauser highlighted his familiarity with the state’s education system.

“I’ve been coming to Juneau for almost 10 years now to speak to legislators on both sides of the aisle about Alaska schools and support for Alaska students and our educators,” he said. “These are the relationships I already have in place, and I think those are some of the supports and skills I would bring into the Juneau School District.”

Another skill he’ll bring to Juneau, he said, is budgeting. He said transparency was important to him during last year’s budget process in Sitka.

“There were no questions about where the money was, where it was going, how we’re using the funds to support our students and to make sure the staff have the resources they need,” he said. “It comes down to integrity and making sure the community, the assembly, knows that we’re being good stewards of those resources.”

Hauser was the only finalist based in Alaska. The other finalists for the job were Carlee Simon, who was superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools in Florida for two years, and Thom Peck, who has been superintendent of Lewistown Public Schools in Montana for six years.

Holst said Hauser’s three-year contract will begin July 1.Hauser replaces Bridget Weiss, who announced her resignation in October after five years on the job.

School board members are set to choose the new Juneau School District superintendent on Wednesday.

On Monday night, the three finalists for the position answered questions from the school board and the public. 

Board President Deedie Sorensen moderated the forum, which was held at the Thunder Mountain High School library. Candidates were interviewed individually, and audience members submitted written questions.

Frank Hauser, who has been the superintendent of the Sitka School District since 2021, highlighted his familiarity with Alaska’s school funding system. He said he’s felt the effects of flat-funding from the state as an administrator in Anchorage and now as a superintendent in Sitka.

“Just last week, I sat on the phone for five hours waiting to testify in support of HB 65 – an increase to the base student allocation – because I understand how important increased funding is for the districts,” he said. “I understand because I’ve been living it.”

When asked about a time he faced opposition for a decision, Hauser spoke about bringing Sitka students back to full-time, in-person learning in the fall of 2021. He said he had to balance safety concerns with the risk of further learning loss.

“It was definitely a challenge, and I did take some heat for that decision,” he said.

Carlee Simon was the second candidate interviewed. She used her introduction to talk about her time as superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools, where she defied Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on school mask mandates.

“I lost that position because the governor removed one of our board members, put in an appointee, and 14 months after my position started, I was removed,” she said. 

When asked about supporting vulnerable students, Simon discussed working with organizations like Equality Florida to create a support guide for LGBTQ+ students. Florida’s Department of Education told the Alachua County district to remove the guide after the state passed its Parental Rights in Education Act, often called the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

She also spoke about her experience studying school finance.

“I’m very comfortable talking about budgets, I’m very comfortable talking about financial needs, and I’m very comfortable advocating,” she said.

The third candidate, Thom Peck, is superintendent of Lewistown Public Schools in Montana. He said Lewistown’s distance from bigger cities and its tight-knit community make it similar to Juneau.

“A superintendent needs to be visible,” he said. “Every school event, every spelling bee, every music concert, every activity, I’m there.”

When asked about how he would handle district finances, Peck said that his “first budget concern” was the fact that the City and Borough of Juneau owns district buildings.  

“That is weird to me,” he said. “I’m not used to that at all. I think where I would start is actually forming a really strong partnership with the city.”

The city has sent the maximum allowable amount of local funding to the school district each year for more than a decade. City leaders are considering contributing an additional $2.5 million this year.

The school board is interviewing the three candidates at the library on Tuesday. The board plans to make a decision on Wednesday and will announce its selection at noon on Friday.

This story has been updated to include the board’s announcement date.