Juneau Schools

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More than 70 educators and community members packed into the Thunder Mountain Middle School library last week during the Juneau School District School Board meeting.

During public testimony, teachers voiced their frustrations about contract negotiations.

“We’re now on the precipice of a true disaster. Dozens of your most experienced educators are waiting to see if they should stay or not,” teacher Amy Lloyd said.

 Auke Bay Elementary teacher Kelley Harvey also spoke.

“It is not fair. It is not right, and you all have the power to solve this,” she said. “If you do not choose to respect your educators, this is what will happen.”

Harvey then stood up and began walking out of the library. A wave of more than 70 teachers silently followed in a mock walkout. 

The teachers’ most recent contract ended at the end of June, but teachers are still working under its terms. The union and the district started negotiations for a new contract in February. Both parties declared an impasse in July and entered mediation, a voluntary process where a neutral third party facilitates discussions between both parties.

The parties had three mediation sessions before the mediator, a federal employee, was furloughed. 

During the government shutdown, the district escalated the negotiation process and announced on its website earlier this month that it was initiating advisory arbitration with the union. During an advisory arbitration, a neutral third party evaluates both parties’ proposals and issues a recommendation on what to do. 

Harvey, who also co-chairs the union’s negotiation support team, said the union was “completely blindsided” by the district’s announcement and that arbitration had not been discussed with the union prior.

“We do not feel that we’re at arbitration. We were still working with our mediator. They were furloughed, so we were forced to kind of stop, but we’ve been working,” she said. “We have a proposal.”

Harvey said in her 27 years with the district, she’s never seen the district move forward with arbitration without discussing it with the union.

In response to the district’s unilateral announcement, the union sent a letter saying it had not yet reached the point of arbitration.

In contract negotiations, the main sticking points for the teachers include salaries, health insurance and preparation time for middle school teachers, Harvey said.

The union’s latest proposal, which is for two years, increases salaries by 8% for the first year and 9% for the second year. It also increases the district’s monthly contribution to health insurance premiums by $25 for the first year and by another $271 for the second year.

In contrast, the district’s 1-year offer increases salaries by 3% and only includes a $10 increase to insurance contributions each month. It also cuts down how much time middle school teachers have to prepare lessons by 200 minutes each week.

The union is insured through the Public Employee Health Trust, and Harvey said insurance premiums have increased a lot for teachers, with some on family plans paying $800 more each month compared to last school year.

“Nationally, right, health insurance has gone up exponentially over the years, and contributions just have not kept up with that,” she said.

The district has increased its monthly contribution toward health insurance by $85 since 2016.

Juneau School District Superintendent Frank Hauser said the union’s latest proposal would cost the district about $12 million over the next two years, rather than the $1.84 million for one year with its previous offer. He said the district felt it has reached the right time to move forward with arbitration.

“We have spent almost 100 hours negotiating, and the time has come to schedule an advisory arbitration as required by Alaska statute and we’re ready to move forward again,” he said.

Hauser said arbitration is not a negative step and can help each side articulate what their position is.

“When negotiations is difficult, and it always is when the resources are limited, it frequently takes some kind of external deadline or external accountability,” Hauser said. “Otherwise we’d be negotiating forever to no effect.”

The district and union aren’t required to take the arbitrator’s recommendation, and Harvey, with the union, said it could open the door for the union to strike if they still can’t settle on a contract.  But the union wants to avoid that “at all costs.”

The union and the district are scheduled to meet for another bargaining session Nov. 25.

The Juneau School District Board of Education voted to hold off on returning $1.05 million meant for child care to the city on Tuesday.

The money makes up about two-thirds of the funds left over after the district ended its afterschool and summer child care Relationships and Leadership Learning for Youth program, known as RALLY, last summer. 

Private child care provider Auke Lake Preschool now leases space at three elementary schools to provide care: Harborview Elementary School downtown, Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary School in the Mendenhall Valley and Auke Bay Elementary School.

Board Vice President Elizabeth Siddon said she wants to hold on to the funding in case the district needs to step in to provide afterschool child care again.

“I guess I’m waiting for a sort of an established track record with the Auke Lake Preschool in being successful in delivering good child care in case we have to step in and offer something to our students,” she said.

The board last month discussed ways to use the money for things like bussing students to the new RALLY program, but the district’s Chief Financial Officer Nicole Herbert clarified at Tuesday’s meeting that the bussing comes at no extra cost to the district.

Member Steve Whitney was the sole dissenting vote. He said he supports returning the money to the city to maintain a good relationship. 

“These are dedicated, restricted funds from the city for a service we’re not providing or can’t provide,” he said.

The school board voted 6-1 to table the decision indefinitely. That means the district keeps the funding in the budget for now, but can only use it for child care. Herbert said there is no timeline from the city to return the funds.

The Juneau School District Board of Education is considering giving $1.05 million dollars earmarked for child care back to the city at its regular meeting Tuesday.

The money was left over after the district ended its afterschool Relationships and Leadership Learning for Youth program, known as RALLY, last summer. 

Private child care provider Auke Lake Preschool is now running a new program called Auke Lake RALLY, but instead of operating at four neighborhood elementary schools like the district did last school year, it’s at three: Harborview Elementary School downtown, Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary School in the Mendenhall Valley and Auke Bay Elementary School. Sayéik: Gastineau Community School on Douglas Island used to have a program. 

The district is still paying to bus students from schools that don’t have the new RALLY program to schools that do. At the school board’s October meeting, members discussed the possibility of using some of the left over funds to pay for some bus transportation going to the new RALLY sites instead.

The district’s Chief Financial Officer Nicole Herbert said last month she could look into the feasibility of doing that. 

The school board will also decide on its six-year capital improvement plan at Tuesday’s meeting. The proposed plan outlines the deferred maintenance and capital projects the district is prioritizing and requesting funding for over the next six fiscal years. 

The board meets Tuesday at the Thunder Mountain Middle School library. The board will have a work session at 4:30 p.m. to discuss its new strategic plan draft before holding its regular meeting at 6 p.m.

Attendees can sign up to testify in person on a sheet provided by the district before the meeting begins, but anyone can provide public comment when prompted during the meeting.

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As the federal government shutdown stretches into its second month, federal workers remain furloughed. Now, SNAP benefits are also likely delayed for November. Two judges on Friday ordered the Trump administration to release emergency funds for SNAP, or food stamps, but it’s unclear if the money will come through.

Given that uncertainty, the Juneau School District is working to make sure students stay fed. Elizabeth Seitz is the district’s food service supervisor. She said the district is reaching out to families to apply for free and reduced-price school meals.

“We want to make sure that the Juneau School District students have nutritious and balanced meals so that they can focus and learn and thrive,” she said.

Qualifying students will be able to receive those benefits for the rest of the school year. Seitz says there are paper applications available at schools. Families can also apply online at School Café, which can be reached on the district’s website.

“Families who have never done an online application, they would just need their student’s ID number to establish an account to set that up,” Seitz said.

Seitz said her office can process applications as soon as they receive them, and qualifying students can receive the benefits as soon as the same day. SNAP recipients also automatically qualify for free and reduced lunch, which Seitz says they will continue to receive regardless of the federal delays to SNAP benefits. 

The district will continue to offer universal free breakfast to all students. The Juneau School Board Vice President Elizabeth Siddon brought up offering universal free lunch in November, but the school board tabled that action after the district estimated it would cost more than $200,000.

Individual schools are also stepping up to keep students fed.

On a Thursday evening, families and teachers at Juneau’s Tlingit Culture Language and Literacy program danced and sang to Goosú Wa.é as Naakil.aan Hans Chester, the school’s biliteracy specialist, called out different clan names. When families heard their father’s clan called out, they danced up to a blanket draped over a table and placed cash donations on it. 

Chester said a dance group from the Lukaax.ádi Clan used the song in the 1960s as a way to raise money.

“Goosú Wa.é is a Lukaax.ádi song,” he said. “It was brought down to the coast by a man named Aak’é Éesh. He was one of their ancestors, and he would go up into the Interior to trade, and one of the things that he would trade for are songs. And he brought a lot of different songs down to the coast.”

The event was meant to be a family night, but at the last minute, the teachers added a fundraiser to pay for snacks for all students during the school day. Chester said the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska typically pays for snacks.

But the money didn’t come through and the school started pulling funds from its activities budget to pay for snacks. Chester said he feels grateful to families for stepping up and making sure students are fed during the day.

“It’ll help alleviate some of the pressure we as staff feel, because it is just a basic need that we’re trying to meet,” he said. 

He said the school approaches life with humor and finds the opportunities to laugh even when things are challenging.

“The strength that we have, that we’re taught and that we foster, I think, really shines in times like this,” he said.

TCLL isn’t the only school stepping up to support students. Deborah Cordero is the community schools coordinator for Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen Elementary. She says the school receives a grant that allows them to provide more resources to families, like getting students clothes or connecting them to food pantries. 

“When that comes, like, I’m able to help transport people or take them to food banks and things like that. So as the need arises, we do have some things in place that we can do for families.”

David Villarreal is a counselor at Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen. He says the school is one of several in the district that receive weekend food bags from Gastineau Human Services. Students who are signed up can get bags of food they can eat through the weekend. Families can sign up on the school’s website.

As a counselor, Villarreal said he’s being proactive in reaching out to make sure families are getting the resources they need. But he says it’s not just about making sure children’s physical needs are met.

“I’m kind of, like, expecting, you know, just more emotional strain from students in the coming weeks as this sort of plays out, because we don’t know what’s going to really happen,” he said.

He said he’s keeping his classroom open for students to come in and process their emotions as needed.

Both Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen and Thunder Mountain Middle School are holding food drives beginning on Nov. 3, and counselors at the schools are ready to help students who need it.

Families in need of assistance with free and reduced lunch applications can contact the Food Services office by calling 907-7969-5812 or emailing food.services@juneauschools.org.

The Juneau school board swore in three members and honored two outgoing members at a meeting Tuesday. 

In this fall’s municipal election, Steve Whitney was reelected to the board after being appointed to fill a seat vacated earlier this year. Jenny Thomas and Melissa Cullum were elected to the board for the first time.

The board honored outgoing members Emil Mackey and Deedie Sorensen. Mackey initially joined the board in 2015. In his outgoing remarks, he said he hopes to see an end to what he called an “attack on our public servants” nationwide. 

Sorensen worked as a teacher for the district for more than 35 years and was elected to the board in 2019. She ran unsuccessfully as a write-in candidate this fall.

Both Sorensen and Mackey survived a failed recall effort last year following the district’s school consolidation last year. Mackey commended Sorensen for attending meetings while undergoing cancer treatment during that time.

“She could have died during that process, and she did not miss a single meeting,” he said. “She would have chemo in the morning, and she would be on the Zoom call later that night.”

Sorensen thanked the public and her colleagues before leaving and said she plans to enjoy some time off.

“I got my all clear from my oncologist last week, and so, you know, so for the knowable future, things are looking really good,” she said.

Once the new members were sworn, the board immediately got to work on district business, including formally accepting Superintendent Frank Hauser’s resignation and listening to more than an hour of public comment about union contracts.

The Juneau school board will have two new board members and one returning member following the release of final election results Tuesday.

Steve Whitney and Melissa Cullum won three-year terms, and Jenny Thomas will serve a two-year term on the board.

The board appointed Whitney to fill a seat after Will Muldoon resigned earlier this year. He previously served on the board from 2016 to 2019. Whitney did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Cullum is a homeschool parent and a former teacher. She said she’s looking forward to working with other board members.

“We’re in a good spot of transition, and I’m really kind of excited about moving us towards a more positive feeling or climate in our district,” she said.

Jenny Thomas will serve the remaining two years of Muldoon’s term. She said she’s excited to bring community engagement and new ideas to the board.

“Hoping to make the meetings a little less bureaucratic where it’s just reading reports and getting a little bit more into the like, the meat and potatoes of actually what’s going on,” she said.

Thomas was one of the leaders of an unsuccessful recall campaign against board members Emil Mackey and Deedie Sorenson after the school board closed and consolidated schools last year to fill a $9.7 million deficit. 

Sorenson filed to run as a write-in candidate two weeks before Election Day. The retired educator and current school board president said she’ll find other things to keep herself busy after she steps down.

“I’ve always been, you know, an advocate for public education. So, I mean, I don’t think that I’m going to take that hat off,” she said.

Jeremy “JJJ” Johnson also was not elected. He said in a text message that he’s proud to have received close to 20% of the vote, but he’s disappointed by the results of the ballot propositions and now plans to support his wife’s desire to leave Juneau.

“I can’t justify keeping her and the children here in a community that is steering towards some of the most challenging experiences a school system can face, just because I’m committed to the people I worked with, went to school with, and enjoyed casual time with,” he wrote.

Board members will be sworn in at the next school board meeting on Tuesday.