Juneau Schools

Early morning child care at five Juneau elementary schools is being eliminated.

The school district’s RALLY program is losing money and will make several changes in January.

RALLY – which stands for Recreation, Arts, Learning and Leadership for Youth – is for kindergarten through fifth graders. The district plans to cut the 7 to 8 a.m. program at all elementary schools except Harborview, downtown.

District spokeswoman Kristin Bartlett says only 22 students are enrolled in the early morning program at Gastineau, Glacier Valley, Mendenhall River, Riverbend, and Auke Bay elementaries, while Harborview has 16.

She says RALLY is supposed to cover its costs, but the district lost $150,000 last year despite a 10 percent increasee in student fees. She says the Harborview RALLY session is paying for itself.

“It’s a combination of increase in operating cost and a change in demand for child care,” Bartlett says. “Not necessarily in the number of students enrolled, but in the times that are needed.”

RALLY has four programs – Before School, After-Kindergarten, After School and Drop-In. According to Bartlett, a total of 392 students are enrolled this year in all the sessions.

Mendenhall River Community School now has a full-day kindergarten, eliminating the need for an After-Kindergarten RALLY program at the school. She says the After-School RALLY at MRCS also will be cut, and students in that program will be taken by bus to the Glacier Valley RALLY program.

RALLY is state-licensed and fills a critical need in the capital city, which has few child care programs.

Bartlett says RALLY school-site managers are working with the families and staff to help them find other options for morning daycare.

The Juneau School District has racked up more than 2-million dollars in energy savings since implementing a conservation program in 2007.

Energy Education Specialist Adrianne Schwartz tracks energy consumption for the district, and works with staff to reduce costs by following energy efficiency guidelines.

“And how I do that is I send out information letting everybody know what those guidelines are, and then I check buildings on a regular basis to make sure that those guidelines are being followed,” says Schwartz. “And the maintenance department actually plays a huge role in the program, because they’re dealing with all of our ventilation systems and heating equipment and all of those kinds of things behind the scenes.”

The guidelines were written with the help of Energy Education – a company that helps school districts, college campuses, and other institutions implement conservation measures.

In the four years since the district implemented them, Schwartz says Juneau schools have saved more than $2,063,000. That’s great news to school board President Sally Saddler.

“As you know we’ve been cutting our budget. We ended up cutting $4-million from our operating budget last year and we’re mostly likely looking at cuts again this year,” says Saddler. “So, you hear people say so often it’s time to work smarter, and I think this is a great example of the people in the school district who are working smarter.”

Schwartz, who took over the Energy Education Specialist job from Joyce Kitka this summer, says her goal for the future is to do more outreach to students.

“I started sending out a monthly newsletter, and I am including links to energy conservation curriculum. And I’ve had a few teachers ask me for information about that. I also had a high school group ask if I could come meet with them. So, I’m hoping that more and more of it gets into the classroom,” Schwartz says.

Energy Education, the company that helped implement the conservation plan, is no longer on contract. But it continues to offer free support to the district.

It’s Red Ribbon Week in the Juneau School District, and students are marking the occasion by pledging to live drug-free lives. At a Floyd Dryden Middle School assembly yesterday (Wednesday), Juneau Police officers talked to students about how Red Ribbon Week began, and reminded them to say no to drugs. Casey Kelly has more.

Links:
Red Ribbon Week
Juneau Police D.A.R.E. program

Video:

Newly-elected school board members Sally Saddler and Sean O’Brien were sworn in at their meeting Tuesday night. School District spokeswoman Kristin Bartlett says the board re-elected Saddler as President, Andi Story as Vice President, and Kim Poole was elected Clerk of the Board.

Budget Committee members for the next budget cycle for fiscal year 2013 were also approved. New members are Brian Holst and Bill Martin. They join continuing members Rebecca Braun, Laurie Berg, Laird Jones, Richard Monkman and Mark Smith.

A popular Juneau-Douglas High School teacher passed away unexpectedly over the weekend.

Forty-two year-old Alison McKenna was found dead in her home Saturday morning.

Juneau police responded to call from a family member at 10:43 a.m. Police say her death is NOT considered suspicious. The body has been sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Anchorage for an autopsy.

McKenna leaves behind two young children, a son, age 11 and a 9-year-old daughter.

She also touched the lives of hundreds of students over the years. McKenna taught World Literature and Creative Writing at JDHS as well as Writing for Publication. She was advisor to the student publication, The Ego.

In 2006, McKenna helped KTOO launch the high school broadcast journalism program, giving her students the opportunity to report stories for KTOO’s Morning Edition.

McKenna knew the importance of teaching students how to conduct interviews, work with adults, reach out to the community and meet deadlines. She said she wanted her students to be taken seriously and the program inspired them to do quality work.

As a long time educator, friend, teacher and colleague, her loss will be particularly hard on staff and students at both JDHS and Thunder Mountain High School. School district spokeswoman Kristin Bartlett says support is available for students and families at the high schools. While there is no school for students today and tomorrow (Monday and Tuesday), the high schools are open and counselors will be available to help students during this difficult time.

A Lemon Creek-area house designed and built by Juneau-Douglas High School students is ready for a family.

An open house was held Friday to show off the 1,000 square foot, two-story, energy efficient home. It was also a thank you to the partners and local businesses that supported the project. Juneau Housing Trust reimburses the school district for its costs.

JDHS students have built about 12 affordable homes since 1973.

Now all this two-bedroom, two-bath house needs is the personal touch, according to Juneau School District Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich.

“I love the design of the house. I think it is a remarkably straight-forward design that is right to be personalized by the people who live here,” Glebrich said during the open house.

The house project is a partnership between the Juneau School District, and Southeast Alaska Guidance Association (SAGA), Juneau Housing Trust, University of Alaska Southeast, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 262, Southeast Alaska Building Industry Association, and the Juneau Construction Academy.

JDHS teacher Craig Mapes teaches the course, with worksite management and construction assistance by SAGA Construction Manager Justin Fantasia and Americorp’s Jared Wharton.