School board hears budget updates

Nome Public Schools Board of Education held their monthly meeting last Tuesday. Opening the meeting was the pledge of allegiance, which students from Nome Elementary School led in Inupiaq.

The first order of business was the Student of the Month awards.

Anvil City Science Academy’s Dylan Walrath was unanimously chosen by his teachers. The 5th grader was described by his teachers as a “conscientious” “self-starter” who “holds a high standard” and strives to learn as much as he can and help others. He “contributes to the positive climate of the school.”

Nome-Beltz High School’s Parker Kenick was described as “a terrific asset to the school,” with the “perfect voice for the morning announce.” A “hilarious,” “great team player,” Parker is dedicated and hardworking. He is an E-Sports State Champion and an NYO athlete.

Nome-Beltz Middle School’s Student of the Month Alora Stasenko was unable to attend, and their award will be presented next month.

There were two public comments. Jon Greg, a community member and parent, asked the board to reassess their employment and volunteer policy, which prohibits some people based on a barrier crime matrix. “Don’t make all crimes the same level” and blanket ban people, he requested. A printout he shared with board members offered a “simple solution” of adding a five-year waiting period.

The second public comment was by Cameron Piscoya, parent of a first grader. Their child had been in both the kindergarten and first grade Inupiaq immersion class, and he recently found out that there wouldn’t be a second-grade immersion class. Based on the valuable ties that these programs provide, Piscoya encouraged the board to reconsider and have a second grade immersion class.

Nome Public Schools Superintendent Jamie Burgess opened her report by thanking the Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation for a $9,000 award for the 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. Due to the pandemic, the students had been unable to fundraise.

Next, Burgess announced that she is working with Kawerak and Nome Eskimo Community to look for a grant to hire a Cultural Curriculum Coordinator.

Burgess also shared a second draft of the FY23 budget with minor changes. Technology Director Jim Shreve has found a way to double the school’s bandwidth which comes out as cost-neutral. This is very exciting, said Burgess, and will open up a lot more possibilities. Another addition to the draft shows records of facil

ities.

The superintendent gave updates on what is happening in Juneau which would affect the schools. Several bills would have a significant impact on school funding if they passed. The bills, HB272 and 273, introduced by Representative Andi Story from Juneau, would increase the base student allocation funding in FY23 and FY24 and would then tie it to the Consumer Price Index.

Due to the recent price of oil increasing, there is a chance for a one time additional $50 millions for schools in Alaska, which comes out to about $150-175,000 for Nome Public Schools. Burgess said they wouldn’t say no if they were offered, but because one-time payments are more difficult to use on salaries – there is no guarantee a newly created staff position will have funding to stay open in the future – they would prefer base student allocation increases.

The last issue in the superintendent report was that of health insurance. As moderate illnesses turn more severe because of delayed treatment due to the pandemic, and people now being increasingly more comfortable seeking medical attention, insurance companies are rising prices. Burgess said that they are going out to bid for a better health insurance option for NPS staff.

There were few questions from board members, but several expressed appreciation for Burgess’s work on maintaining COVID safety measures because of the “really small margin of error” and for working to forward a culturally relevant curriculum.

The next report presented to the board was by Student Representative Lupe Callahan. Spring Break and the Iditarod are on all students’ minds. The basketball teams had their last home games, and student council is working on producing a commercial to encourage parents to screen kids for brain development issues. The theme of the 2022 Prom will be “Throwback,” and the details are still being decided. From April 10-15, 17 students will be travelling to Hawaii for an educational trip sponsored by UAF. Finally, Callahan talked about this year’s Native Youth Olympic Games. NYO State is scheduled to be in person this year, and the first practice was held on February 28.

Nome Elementary School Principal Elizabeth Korenek-Johnson talked in her report about several conferences that she and her colleagues had attended in person and online. Four NPS staff attended the Trauma Sensitive Schools Conference in Houston, Texas from February 20-22. One February 26, five NPS staff attended a Virtual Culturally Relevant Literacy conference.

Ms. KJ was asked by board members about “the week that wasn’t,” when COVID and staffing shortages resulted in NES closing from February 28 through March 4. She understood that families are frustrated, and said that they are, too. The decision to close the school was not taken lightly; she explained that they had eight staff test positive for the coronavirus in the course of one day, and that closing the school “didn’t feel good, but it was definitely necessary.”

Anvil City Science Academy Principal Lisa Leeper’s report talked about the 27th Statewide Poetry Competition in which three students earned recognition, the upcoming ACSA/NBMHS joint science fair to be held on March 22, and Mr. Jeff Collins’ Master’s Degree in Library Media Sciences with an emphasis on Indigenous perspectives. In a note Collins submitted inside the report, he talked about “increasing support for Native Alaskan libraries, collections and how our libraries and schools could support the Land Back movement.” Board members were appreciative of this note, noting the importance of teaching literacy with a critical eye towards recognizing the narratives that are not included. Board members also asked for a copy of the students’ poems.

Nome-Beltz High School Principal Jay Thomas opened his report with what he described as “a little situation with our basketball team.” The assistant coach tested positive March 7 and the head coach tested positive on the 8th. Also not included in the report but much better news were the results of the Educators Rising conference: five girls entered, four placed, and two, Dorothy Callahan and Victoria Gray, are going to the national competition in Washington, D.C. Due to teachers in quarantine, a basketball tournament, and bad weather, school was canceled for two days and the quarter was extended two days and will end shortly after Spring Break. Thomas also provided a short staffing update, saying that a social studies teacher recently accepted the position, and they haven’t yet offered a contract for the new assistance principal position, but a language arts teacher opening is the only one left to fill at the moment.

During the questions and comments, Thomas was asked what the new student mural going up in the main entrance represents. Thomas explained that it represents all that we see in Nome. He said that the students are fully committed to it, and it just blew him away.

Next on the agenda were the director reports, and with everyone present, board members jumped straight to questions. The biggest discussions were around AKSTAR and testing of English Language Learners. AKSTAR, Alaska System of Academic Readiness, is a new assessment tool that will replace MAP Growth. Board member Dr. Barb

Amarok said she found the AKSTAR messaging bothersome, lacking all mention of school accountability. The directions, she said, were also difficult for students to understand. Amarok also asked about Access 2.0, or WIDA, testing of English Language Learners. Director of Federal Programs Megan Hayes said that there are four students at NES being tested, and 26 at the middle and high school. She explained that once identified as an English Language Lerner, often while at one particular elementary school in Anchorage, students are labeled that until they test out, which gets increasingly difficult to do in the high school level. Hayes is working with the State to see if they can remove this designation.

The Business Manager report explained that with 66 percent of the school year passed, 59 percent of the revenue budget received and 50 percent of the expenditure budget spent, they are not worried about cashflow at this point. As Superintendent Jamie Burgess mentioned earlier, NPS will be rebidding for health insurance. The only other point brought up in the report was that they would be keeping an eye on rising fuel prices.

Under action items, there was a first reading of board policy, which Burgess explained were all minor edits. One was around conversations to revamp the college and career readiness assessments into a fouryear plan, starting earlier to give students more time to think and experience what they might to do.

There was the approval of an addendum to the payroll contract through the end of next year. Burgess said that they have had extreme difficulty finding a payroll clerk, and the contractors did an excellent job so she’d like to extend that contract. The final action item was for a contract for Nome-Beltz’s Douglas Coulter, who will become tenured next year. All board members voted yes on all items.

After board member comments, Burgess closed by saying that it has been a challenging month, but “everybody’s doing their absolute best.”

The next meeting will be a work session on March 22, the next regular meeting will be April 12.