A grassroots organization known as “Occupy Juneau” has been holding protests at Marine Park every Saturday for the past month; tomorrow will be the fifth gathering. The organization is a local movement in support of the national “Occupy Wall Street” protests that have been going on across the country since September. As Danny Peterson reports, the activism has also moved to the UAS campus.
Breakfast programs at four Juneau elementary schools will help fill the void left by the upcoming closure of early morning child care programs.
The school district’s RALLY director is working with the parents of 22 youngsters enrolled in the 7 to 8 a.m. sessions at five schools.
Wayne Hixson says it will be hard to replace RALLY for the first half hour, but breakfast programs begin at Mendenhall River, Glacier Valley, Riverbend and Gastineau at 7:30 a.m. School starts at 8 o’clock.
Hixson says there’s been a steady decline in students enrolled in the program since 2003, with a big drop off when Juneau grade schools switched from a
9 a.m. start time to 8 a.m.
“We used to have elementary school starting at 9 a.m. and during that time we had about 160 some kids in the morning program across the district. Then with moving it up to 8 o’clock we see what the fallout is where we 20-some kids in service,” Hixson says.
As previously reported, the RALLY program is designed to pay for itself. But early morning enrollment at each of five schools ranges from two to six kids. Hixson says it takes 12 students for a RALLY session to be cost-effective. Only the downtown Harborview RALLY — which has 16 students — will be saved, because it breaks even.
He says eliminating the first hour at the other schools will help stem the loss.
“Right now we’re hjoping to get to a break-even status. Currently we’re losing about $11,000 a month,” Hixson says.
Hickson says it costs one-point-two million to one-point-three-million dollars a year to operate all the RALLY programs in the district, including summer sessions.
RALLY stands for Recreation, Arts, Learning and Leadership for Youth. It has before and after-school sessions for kindergarten through fifth graders.
No changes will be made in the program until January.
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.
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.
