School District plans to invest money to take advantage of high interest rates
During the regular meeting last Tuesday, the Nome Public School Board voted to invest $2 million of the district’s checking account funds into short-term certificate of deposit accounts with Northrim Bank. The decision was made “in order to generate additional revenue for the school district,” Superintendent Jamie Burgess said during the meeting.
After evaluating the district checking account and determining a comfortable level of funds, Burgess and the school district’s business manager Genevieve Hollins wanted to take advantage of “historic levels” of interest rates. Administration reached out to the district’s current bank Wells Fargo and Northrim Bank seeking opportunities for small investments as well as a review of regular checking services.
The school district has one main checking account with a large enough amount that they feel comfortable taking advantage of the high interest rates Northrim proposed. The accounts will be fully insured, the only risk would be the district needing to withdraw the money before the accounts matured, Burgess said.
“We’d like to be able to put some money back into our general funds and have to pull less out of our balance at the end of the year,” Burgess told the Nugget, “With us being flat funded for seven years in a row we’re in a position where costs go up every year and we’ve had to reach deeper into our fund balance, which is basically our savings account.”
The board voted to open two certificate of deposit accounts at Northrim Bank. One for a 26-week term for $1 million at approximately 4.88 percent annual percentage yield and another for an 11-month term for $1 million at approximately 5 percent APY. Both accounts will be effective around December 1, 2023.
The recommendation ensures one certificate of deposit account will be accessible before year-end payrolls in case the money is needed for cash flow purposes.
The board also voted to change the Wells Fargo Checking into a Wells Fargo Government Checking which will bear 2.5 percent interest and stay fully insured. Approximately $5.8 million will remain in the Government Checking account, the amount will vary based on timing of expenses paid and revenues received, according to the board proposal document.
Other Business
Following the new delivery of the Pledge of Allegiance in Inupiaq, Jon Gregg was sworn in as a school board member. The previous week board members voted Gregg to fill the place left by Sandy Martinson, after an interview during a special work session.
The school board was also joined by Nome-Beltz Student Council President Iryna Kadatska, who will represent students at board meetings. Kadatska delivered an overview of the first two months of the school year which detailed the multitude of clubs, sports and events taking place. “We are looking forward to basketball season, cheer season and many more activities our student groups have planned for us,” Kadatska said.
“Welcome to the board,” Board President Darlene Trigg said to Kadatska. “We will happily learn anything you’re willing to share with us.”
Superintendent report
In the superintendent report, Burgess said the latest meeting with King Island Native Community and Village of Solomon working to develop a State Tribal Education Compact school went very well. The initial school model and potential support from Nome’s school district were discussed. “We came away feeling very positive. This is something that’s desired from our community members and as a school district we have to be cognizant of that and supportive of them,” Burgess said.
The Alaska Department of Education released their 2025 Major Maintenance list, and the Nome-Beltz’s roof repair was bumped down to number 18 on the priority list. While it’s discouraging, Burgess said this is a problem for many districts across the state who are also aging. Burgess said, “With flat funding it’s really difficult for us to address these issues ourselves.”
Burgess’s report also mentioned an amendment to the Alaska School Activities Association bylaws. Any sport that is divided into boys/girls teams requires the student to participate on the team of the sex they were assigned at birth regardless of their current gender identity. The school district has the option of creating an additional gender-neutral team allowing anyone to participate on that team but the team cannot participate in regional or state competitions against female teams.
Trigg commented on the report stating the Alaska Association of School Boards is advocating to raise the base student allocation by $1,655. Currently the base student allocation is $5,960, which still may not be enough for Nome.
Awards
Sandy Martinson was honored with a plaque for her five years of service on the school board.
Students of the month for NomeBeltz were sixth grader Rose Ozenna, ninth grader Aiden Knudsen and 11th grader Lyndsay Johnson.
Public Comment
Two staff members addressed the board with the topic of salaries.
Elementary School teacher Kim Erikson stated is her 19th year teaching with the district and it seems only fair with the responsibilities she’s taken on to increase her salary.
Student activities director Patrick Callahan said this is his 21st year with the district and he hasn’t received a raise in 13 years.
Later in the meeting Trigg encouraged teachers to attend the district’s budget work session taking place in December where they can participate in a conversation in a way they can’t during the public comment period. During public comment periods, the board cannot respond.
High school biology teacher Sara Lehmann gave a strong testimony about mental health treatment in the schools. Lehmann spoke about Mary Donaldson, the special education director, working to establish a partnership with licensed mental health expert Garrick Fuller.
“I was recently informed that Mary’s proposal was rejected because funding wasn’t available for this position. This was baffling considering the dire need of mental health services in our school,” Lehman said. “For many of us, mental health is not an easy topic to speak up. As a society, we’ve only begun to wrap our minds around the impacts mental health has on the quality of our lives. Moments such as these force us to address the elephant that’s been standing in the room the entire time.”
Burgess later told the Nugget the
deal was still in the works but reiterated the district’s tight budget. “Over half our budget goes toward paying personnel,” she said.
Elliott Weintraub asked about a membership to the Rec Center for school employees. The annual fee for the Rec Center is very high and participating in the community is a positive thing for the mental and
physical health of employees, Weintraub said.
Middle school science teacher Ryan Fox informed the board he was working to start a spring track team for the middle and high schoolers. “As of right now there’s zero sports from mid-April to the end of May,” Fox said.