2022-10 School District, Federal & State News
Alaska School District News
Anchorage – Anchorage School District to hold community town halls at schools recommended for closure – Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage – Anchorage School District administrators recommend closing 6 elementary schools – Katie Anastas, Alaska Public Media
Anchorage – Shock and heartbreak for parents and teachers as Anchorage begins to process school closure recommendations – Morgan Krakow, Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage – Anchorage parents, students ask school board to keep funding for language immersion programs – Katie Anastas, Alaska Public Media
Anchorage – Anchorage families reshuffle schedules and lose sleep as school bus driver shortage drags on – Morgan Krakow, Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage – Anchorage School District adopts software allowing for anonymous reports of bullying – Morgan Krakow, Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage – Great Alaska Shakeout: students drop, cover and hold for earthquake safety – Georgina Fernandez, Alaska’s News Source
Bristol Bay – Bristol Bay Borough’s Bill Hill graduated from the school in 1987. Now he’s Alaska’s superintendent of the year – Isabelle Ross, KDLG
Fairbanks – School district receives $1 million grant to boost math gaps – Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Fairbanks – School board approves first steps in North Star program expansion – Jack Barnwell, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Fairbanks – School board selects Iowa-based firm to help with superintendent search – Jack Barnwell, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Juneau- Weiss departing as Juneau School District superintendent – Clarise Larson & Mark Sabbatini, Juneau Empire
Juneau – Quakers formally apologize to Alaska Native communities for residential schools – KINY, Juneau
Juneau – His grandmother was forbidden to speak Lingít in school. Now, school is helping him reclaim it. – Lisa Phu, Alaska Beacon
Kenai – New school board member brings educational expertise to district – Ashlyn O’Hara, Homer News
Kenai – Former borough employee charged with illicit photography at school pools – Ashlyn O’Hara, Peninsula Clarion
Kenai – Homer teen accused of TikTok threats that prompted Kenai Peninsula school lockdowns – Anchorage Daily News
Kenai – ‘Critical needs’: Aging school on the brink – Ashlyn O’Hara, Peninsula Clarion
Kenai – Kenai Peninsula students raise salmon in the classroom, from egg to fry – Hope McKenney, KBBI, Homer
Kenai – With a facade that resembles salmon skin, the Kenaitze Indian Tribe welcomes a new education center in Alaska – Chris Walton, The Architect’s Newspaper
Kodiak – Goals set at school board retreat – Steve Williams, Kodiak Daily Mirror
Kodiak – A new generation of Alutiiq speakers fight language loss in Kodiak – Claire Stremple and Valerie Kern, KTOO/Alaska Public Media
LKSD – Kipnuk Traditional Council tells parents to keep kids home from school – Emily Schwing, KYUK
Mat-Su – Mat-Su School Board votes to rescind gender-identity use of bathrooms – Emily Forstner, Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman
Mat-Su – Mat-Su transgender bathroom ban becomes permanent in apparent first for Alaska – Zaz Hollander, Anchorage Daily News
Mat-Su – Mat-Su School Board to vote on new curriculum requirement for high school students – Carly Schreck, Alaska’s News Source
Nome – Nome-Beltz staffing shortage reaches ‘crisis point’ – Megan Gannon, The Nome Nugget
Northwest Arctic – New school, new buses in Kivalina – Alena Naiden, Arctic Sounder
Kotzebue – NANA Allocates $1.5m to Fund Northwest Arctic Borough School District Early Learning Programs – Beth Rue, NANA
Sitka – Sitka’s new ‘Community Recreation’ program to launch this month – Robert Woolsey, KCAW
Unalaska – UCSD School Board elects president, welcomes new superintendent – Maggie Nelson, KUCB
Unalaska – Unalaska school budget drops deeper into red as energy costs rise – Maggie Nelson, KUCB Unalaska
State and Federal News
‘Slow strangulation’: Alaska school districts face fiscal cliff with high inflation and flat funding – Sean Maguire, Anchorage Daily News
Alaska students stay steady in reading but decline in math since pre-pandemic, says national assessment – Lisa Phu, Alaska Beacon
Representative Peltola appointed to U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor – KINY, Juneau
AFN votes to oppose constitutional convention over concerns about impacts to key rural issues such as subsistence and education – Alex DeMarban, Anchorage Daily News
Conservative PACs inject millions into local school board elections – Collin Binkley and Julie Carr Smyth, Associated Press
Confronting rising bills and flat state funding, Alaska schools say they are at a fiscal cliff – James Brooks and Lisa Phu, Alaska Beacon
Bristol Bay Borough School District Superintendent Bill Hill named Alaska’s 2023 Superintendent of the Year – Dominique Johnson, Anchorage Press
Alaska’s Teacher of the Year strives to reach all students and make Point Hope her home – Alena Naiden, Arctic Sounder
What to know about the application for Biden’s student loan relief – Cory Turner – NPR
New coding program available statewide for Alaskan students – KINY Juneau
New University of Alaska Research Demonstrates Potential for North Slope Heavy Oil Production – Jeff Turner, Alaska Native News
Sullivan Reacts to New National Strategy for the Arctic – Senator Dan Sullivan
Murkowski Responds to New Biden Administration Strategy for the Arctic Region – Senator Lisa Murkowski
Meet the Creative Producer of ‘Molly of Denali’ – Daphne Northrop, WGBH Boston