Nome Schools to implement new sex ed curriculum

At its regular meeting last week, the Nome Public Schools Board of Education approved a new sex education curriculum for students in grades 5 through 12.

Nome-Beltz counselor Misty Tweet explained that a sex education program had been approved in 2019, but fell by the wayside when the Nome Public Health Center was experiencing high staff turnover and was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Deanna Stang, a registered nurse with the Nome Public Health Center, presented the board with a new curriculum that should be more resilient against staffing issues. “If we are responding to other infectious diseases, or we don’t have staff, we wanted to be able to use a curriculum that’s very easy to implement, and that it doesn’t require public health nurse or a trained sexual health educator to provide this education,” Stang said.

The curriculum, which is called

FLASH, was developed by the Seattle and King County public health department. Stang said its goal is to prevent teen pregnancy, STDs and sexual violence and to increase knowledge about the reproductive system and puberty.

Under the district’s initial plan, students would begin sex education in sixth grade, starting this spring with a weekly session about an hour long for five weeks. However, several school board members felt that younger students would benefit from the program as well. Superintendent Jamie Burgess said it should be possible to extend the program to fifth graders after some discussion with the elementary school administration. Stang confirmed that the FLASH material could be adapted for elementary school students. Regardless of when the program starts, parents will be notified and given an opt-out option.

Other business

The board also approved the first revision to the district’s budget for fiscal year 2023. The district is expecting more funds from the state as it reports its highest enrollment numbers in recent years.

“We are, with the increased enrollment, going to be in a little better position,” Burgess said. “We’re using less of our fund balance and we’re going to be able to put some money into capital improvement [projects]. Even with the large fuel cost, we’re still staying in a pretty healthy position.”

The district’s business manager Genevieve Hollins told the board that with 41 percent of the financial year passed, Nome Schools had received 36 percent of its budget and expended 37 percent.

Justin Gardner from the accounting firm Altman, Rogers & Co. presented an audit for the year that ended in June 2022. The auditors did not find any issues with the district’s financial statements and the board approved the report.

Staffing issues continue to be a problem for the school, and Burgess said in her report that the district still needs substitute teachers, though they have received more applications recently. HR manager Cynthia Gray has also recently resigned, and Burgess said the school may be able to get some help in temporarily filling that department from the Alaska Association of School Business Officials.

“I’ll be handling those responsibilities as much as I can for a while, but it’s not ideal,” Burgess said.

In the last few meetings, the board has discussed how to address vaping among students at Nome-Beltz. In this meeting, high schooler Addison Knudsen gave a public comment encouraging the district to take action.

“The last time I remember learning anything about this was in fifth grade, where we were talking about cigarettes—basically don’t smoke, and they have bad chemicals in them,” Knudsen said. “Also, as a kid, you’re told not to do drugs. But that

hasn’t been enough.”

She asked the board to consider a substance education program that takes place more regularly. “We should let students know how they can get help, and who to ask for help,” Knudsen said.

The board’s student member, high schooler Dot Callahan, reported on the recent athletic accomplishments of Nome-Beltz students, including Natallie Tobuk, who won the Most Outstanding Female Wrestler Award at last month’s tournament at Anchorage Christian School. Callahan also told the board that the student council has been meeting for several weeks and has begun to plan a winter formal, which hasn’t happened since her freshman year.