Good afternoon. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the joint meeting of the House
and Senate Education Committees. I call this meeting to order at 8 O 4 a.m. Here on Monday,
February 9th, we are in the Betty Davis Committee room here in state Capitol building in beautiful
I want to ask folks if they're here in the room, if you could please mute their cell phones.
House Education Committee members present today is co-chair, representative story, co chair,
representative Hymn Shute.
We are joined also by representative Dibert, Representative Elam,
Representative Schwanke, Rep. Underwood, and Representative Ted Eishide.
For the Senate Education committee, we have members presented today, Vice Chair, Senate President Mr.
We believe we'll be joined by Senator Runt here shortly and myself, Senator Lukigail Tobin, please let the record reflect we do have a quorum to conduct business.
I want to thank Susan from the Juneau LAO for moderating today's meeting and also Mary Gwen as always from joining us from Senate records for documenting today meeting.
On the agenda today, we will hear from school board members and public students from across Alaska.
Ties in with the annual legislative flying of the Association of Alaska School Boards.
We are excited to invite school board members and students to testify in small groups by their school district,
which I will announce with folks who are coming up to the microphone and then folks that are on deck.
So that folks know when their name will be called.
I do want to remind folks if they could please keep their comment civil and to not impugn motives or characters of any of the committee members or the legislature in their comments.
Also, I want remind to please speak into the microphone and speak clearly.
State your name at the beginning of your comments, this will ensure that we have a good record of today's conversation.
Just a quick reminder, once again, we will be taking comments or, excuse me, questions from committee members,
but I do ask folks to keep their questions tightly within the space of a beginning and an end that has a question mark as we have
so many folks ahead of us.
We want to make sure we get to everyone here is listed and we
have about 13 folks testifying, 13 groups.
We are joined first by Delta Greeley School District.
for the Alaska Association of School Boards.
Mrs. Phalan, if you could please identify yourself
with the record and begin your marks when you are ready.
Sure, good morning, and thank you so much
for opportunity to be here.
My name is Julia Phalen.
I'm from Delta Junction, Alaska.
I am honored to serve as the President
of the Association for Alaska School boards,
as well as Vice President of
the Delta Greeley School District.
But most importantly, I'am the mother
of three beautiful children who are getting ready
to head to school as we speak back home in Delta.
I wanted to thank you all for the work that you've done in education over the past couple
of sessions and your support for us and especially for those who are able to come to our conference
yesterday and present the legislative citation very meaningful and we really appreciate the
support we feel from you, our fellow elected members.
I'd also like to introduce to you my fellow board members behind me from across the state
as well as some of our students.
I'm sure we'll have great testimony today.
The legislative priorities of the association have been sent to you.
Please feel free to reach out if you need another copy.
They reflect the core of message we hear from our students, our staff members, and our communities.
You'll see that we have three major priorities around the outside.
Infrastructure, teacher retention and recruitment,
and the financial investment to meet the daily needs of public education.
the well-being of our students.
Each of the first three priorities is a vital part of achieving student success,
but we never want to lose sight of who is most important,
our youth, their needs,
their hopes,
their safety,
their future,
which is the future of Alaska.
I did want to highlight the infrastructure priority just because in my day job I have the opportunity to work in many of our rural communities
and I often find myself sleeping in the school while I'm there.
We've heard that we're carrying a staggering $2 billion in deferred maintenance,
but it's hard to relate to what that really means.
I can tell you personally that some of the schools are so riddled with black mold that I developed a headache almost immediately.
Some of them have only one working restroom in the entire building,
and others are hauling water and using honey buckets.
I've woken up to this sound.
This is gross.
Of maintenance workers rushing in because the septic has frozen again and backed up all over the floor,
and we scrambled to get it cleaned up before these kids arrived to school.
And we have students studying in yurts and man camps after their school burned down.
None of these are conducive to the learning environment.
While our students are wonderfully resilient, there are maintenance and
infrastructure issues that we need to take up as state leaders to set them up for success.
I'd also like to just take a moment to reflect on the needs of the need for
counselors in our school and more support in the mental health world.
We've had some.
Some very difficult moments at home in Delta this year, and I'll tell you they're wonderful
partners who've stepped in to help fill the void.
There just aren't very many people qualified in the state to step in when times are tough,
and we had someone bring their therapy dog.
and just walk through the halls and meet with the students and that was the first day my ninth
grade daughter came home from school with a smile on her face. So just simple things can make such
a difference when times are tough. Whatever we can do to continue to fund not just teacher
retention but also in the mental health space and provide funds for that. It's so vital.
but I want to make way for others.
So I'll close by thanking you for keeping our students
and their success at the core of your discussions
in the last session and in this one.
With so many weighty matters before you,
I think of what Jackie Kennedy once said.
If we bungle the job of raising our children,
it doesn't matter much what else we've done.
From our group of elected officials to yours,
thank you to the work you do
to secure the future of our Children.
Thank you. Thank You for your comments. Are there any questions from committee members?
Thank, you, thank you next we will hear from the Fairbanks North Starboro School District
We are joined by Morgan Julian and the students Liam Wade after that. We will here from Lower Yukon School district
We'll be joined, by Doug Rexford
Thank. You. For the record. I'm Morgan dulien of the fairbanks north starboro school district board member
I am Liam Wade of the Fairbanks-Nersterboro School District.
I'm the student rep and a senior at Norfolk High School.
Thank you. Since 2018, we have cut $60 million from our budget.
Seven schools closed, gifted and talented programs gutted.
Elementary art instructors eliminated.
Elementary band and orchestra cut.
Class sizes ballooned.
We have been in a storm in Fairbanks. A storm fueled by inadequate funding uncertainty and enrollment declines from a shrinking population in interior Alaska.
Yet in the midst of this storm, we have built short-term, short term, fiscal stability through incredibly hard and politically unpopular decision-making, gut-wrenching decisions.
Last year, our decisions led to an unanticipated one-time net positive position of $11.4 million.
The net-positive position was due to $5 million in lower healthcare expenses, $2 million
in salary savings from vacancies, and $3 million from previous year fiscal impact aid trurups.
Although we have temporary fiscal stability, we ought not lose sight.
of the $60 million in cuts and more importantly the pain those cuts have
caused your constituents our neighbors our families and our students and the
reduced educational opportunities for students. I'm here today representing a
district of grit. Our of educators who have been asked to do more with less and
and a district of tenacious students who are thriving against all odds.
I've received support from the district since I was three years old.
Hearing complications early in my life delayed my speech and language development.
I entered school behind many of my classmates and for years I felt afraid to speak.
Public educations stepped in with specialists,
patient teachers, and consistent encouragement. They worked with me year after year.
They helped me practice sounds, organized thoughts, build confidence
Because of those investments, my life looks different today.
I've earned national recognition, public speaking,
I presented at conferences, I advocate for students in meetings with community leaders
and elected officials, and I know I stand here using the same voice that once felt impossible to use.
When I started high school,
I had no clear vision for my career.
I knew I wanted to be involved, but I did not know where I fit.
Teachers and advisors pushed me to try new experiences.
I followed that advice and found student government and future farmers of America.
I learned how to run meetings, speak with adults,
manage projects and represent people whose experiences differ from mine.
I've met students from across Alaska and my own district
who truly care about their schools and their communities.
None of this happened by accident.
It happened because people in Alaska schools commit themselves to students.
In today's political and educational climate is rare to hear the words I'm about to say.
I am proud to be an Alaskan student.
I Am proud be a student in Fairbanks.
Despite all the media talking points about the state of education classrooms around the
state, I am here today to tell you honestly and truthfully that I would not be who I
am without public education at Alaska.
Investments in career and technical education are what drove me to truly find my purpose
behind coming to school.
I'm excited to go to the school because schools where my passions are cultivated and supported.
Because of the amazing teachers and mentors in FNSBSD,
I can spend my days in our school farm producing fresh produce for my community,
with struggles with food and security.
Because the of amazing teacher and mentor in SBSD,
I've spoken on Capitol Hill Advocate for Career Technical Education.
Because amazing teaching in FSBSI, I am here today.
Because Alaska,
I have a story to tell.
That story is what I'm proud of.
I stand here as one example.
a child who struggles to communicate, receive support, practice, and trust.
Over time, that child grew into someone who speaks for thousands of peers.
Public education is the only thing that made that possible.
Thank you for the opportunity to grow into the person I've been today.
And thank you, for improving stability by adjusting the BSA amount in statute.
Yet without inflation adjusted funding, we will be forced to make painful decisions again.
This session we need one-time targeted funding for transportation, utilities, the Reads Act, and career and technical education through implementation of a long-term fiscal plan and brave decisions.
We are proud of our students, students who have adjusted to new schools due to school closures, who endure 60-minute long bus rides because we can't afford to run more routes.
We're a district of grit.
And although we are tough in Fairbanks, we need you to fully fund education.
Thank you, thank you for your comments.
Are there any questions from committee members?
Representative Eishein.
Thank You Chair Tobin, through the chair, this is for Mr. Wade.
A question and a short comment.
Do you believe, based on your testimony, do you think teachers are heroes?
Through the chair, I believe teachers are
Heroes is an understatement. I think the fact that every single day somebody comes into work and tries to make a difference in a child's life is
Astounding we've a hundred thirty two thousand students enroll in K-12 education and public education in the state of Alaska and
Educators resource managers administration are the only people who make what you see behind you in. The audience day possible
What you see behind you in the audience say is a group of
young Alaskans future Alascans, future voters,
future Americans, and I'm so proud to be among them.
I am so
proud
to have been taught by the Alasket teacher in Alasking School
in my Al asking home, because I
am proud of being an Al ask him.
Thank you.
Thank You.
Thank
you Representative Diber.
Good morning through the chair. Thank you so much for being here
And I just wanted to make a quick comment and then a final question
I'm so glad you're here and I met you a few weeks at the student roundtable and you are advocating for education and Fairbanks at
The Fairbank Task Force and we're asking you know basic simple things like warm buildings
not sitting five at a science table,
sharing science equipment, learning arts, music.
I myself learned violin from fourth grade through 12th grade.
I loved learning art in school
and I'm okay at Spanish to this day.
But my question is, what is one class
that you wish you could have
High school to Liam.
Through the chair, one class that I wish I had early on
in my high school careers career explorations.
One thing that was forced upon me early was,
and I'll say it proud, is that
I have to push myself to go out and find these
organizations and careers that
I feel like I would have a place in.
One of the things that pushed me super super hard
And that pushed me into my career
and what I want to go into in my field,
which I decide was political science
and environmental politics.
Thank you.
Thank thank you, thank thank for your comments.
Seeing as there's no other questions,
we'll move on to our next group.
Oh, we now will hear from Chatham School District
and after that will be Yakutat School district.
Good morning. If you could please identify yourself the record and begin your testimony.
Good Morning. I'm Leigh Ann Weichel from the Chatham School Board.
I am Richard Jack Strong from The Chatterham School board.
I Am Nervous, but I'M HERE, so I m in the hot seat already.
I AM a first-year regional school board member from Chatam School District.
At Chattam, we have just under 200 students and their families from four unique communities,
Of our 200 collective students, 43 are enrolled in the Chatham Distance School,
our homeschool correspondence option for Alaskans.
Ch Durham is diverse, small, and mighty.
I'm here today to advocate for two ways you as a collective legislature can improve education in Alaska.
For all students both ways are also cost neutral.
I think that's important today's economic spot.
place. They will not require Alaskans to pay any additional taxes.
As a new school board member, I am in my first budgeting cycle.
It's flabbergasting the backwards budget cycle and process expected by the state government.
We are asked to make fiscally responsible budgets based on guess working conjecture.
In our small district, guessing wrong can cost students a needed teacher, staffing supports for interventions or differentiation.
You can help.
You can pass House Bill 261, it will help us reduce alarming uncertainties,
improve staffing and staff morale, balance budgets with fidelity,
all leading to better student outcomes through a stabilized school funding method.
That utilizes students counting, count averaging, diminishing uncertainty.
That is a run on sentence if you didn't pick up on that.
And as a school member, we would be grateful.
It's very hard to do a fiscally responsive job
under the current method.
And then as new person, I am overwhelmed by that.
The second way you can improve our Alaska students' education is to more fully fund the Alaska Reads Act and our CTE Career Technical Education.
And it can be done without any additional tax burden for Alaskans. Cost neutral is what I promised.
Let me explain. My husband and I belong to a subscription service called Netflix.
We pay the monthly fee and the sales tax already.
Keep the sales tax.
We are already paying it.
I urge you to pass House Bill 280, the digitized tax bill,
because you will bring money to our state economy that
is slated to support Alaskan students in reading
well by third grade and support the CTE programs
our students need and want.
In addition, this is the big ask.
I'm asking you to leave House Bill 280 separate from any outside request for sales tax increases
because I do not expect Alaskans are going to welcome an increased tax on basic needs of survival
like food. And this opportunity for education is too important. It's a huge opportunity.
Currently, our Chatham School District CTE classes and programs are predominantly grant funded.
They are important for students because of the skilled hands-on learning that allows many students to thrive.
And will lead to skilled well paying jobs that will fill many needed gaps in our Alaskan workforce.
Grants are an important and allow us to explore new things, but it is well established that it's time to reinvest in vocational education, also known as C TE.
At grade level is both noble and necessary and honestly essential for student success in life and livelihood.
But an underfunded Alaska Reads Act brings many unintentional consequences.
I bring to my role as a school board member twenty years of being a first grade teacher.
And seven years in being math and reading interventionist.
I've experienced first hand the unintended consequences of students and staff as of under funded mandates.
Here's my analogy. Imagine your spouse makes a really good blueberry pie.
You probably pick the blueberries yourself, and you invite a few neighbors over for a piece of pie,
but they know how good that pie is,
and so they bring their spouse,
and pretty soon you're finding yourself dividing that
pie into smaller and smaller pieces,
and, pretty, soon...
Maybe a couple of your favorite friends or neighbor are just getting crumbs.
In my analogy, the pie is our teachers.
We are asking them to divide their time,
divide the attention,
divide our skills and knowledge to work as interventionists.
In Chatham, they already work in multi-age classrooms.
Or sometimes they have a classroom spanning three and four ages.
Like we have 1-3rd through 5th grade classroom this year.
What happens in this situation, some kids don't get very much.
And one of the unintended consequences is honestly,
some of your higher kids, because we're
so focused on passing these mandated state legislatures
Additional funding or little funding we're going okay. You can read you can you read? You
Can read okay? Here's your independent work
I need to focus on you because you cannot read and these kids who can
Read aren't getting pushed to their next best level. They're not getting the
Differentiation they need and it's costing us an excellence in the state and I am
Worried about it so remember we don't want to leave students with crumbs
I urge you to pass House Bill 261 and 280, both are good for Alaska students and cost neutral.
Thank you.
I want to attest to the fact that the way we approach in the state of Alaska.
How much funding you're gonna get depending on how many students you have and and it's come to be a
Guessing game almost because we're not sure. How many? Students? We're going to have
And so we are saying okay
We can depend on these people up here up the road to come in and people from down the Road to Come in
We have this many people here and we put that
We write that into the into The program we have for the funding we were going To get
And we find out that we don't have all the students that
we're going to have.
And by not having all those students we can't afford the
teachers that need, and to me it's like taking a crumpled up
piece of paper and with all of the writing on it, straightening
it out and saying, OK, now read it and comprehend this.
And it is just not there.
I would like us to fund the students that we have there and the amount of students and
a lot of teachers that were going to have.
I think we got a little part of my language, but Bass Accords, as far as funding our schools.
And it's really hurting us in the long run.
Our children are not getting the education that they need, basically because of the way
And I don't know where, where the state is going to save all kinds of money by not educating our children the way they should be educated.
I was born here in June of 1951, went through the schools in, in Southeast Alaska, moved to California and actually got an education there because it just wasn't happening here.
I would probably have never made it through high school if I stayed in Alaska.
The opportunity is there if you're strong enough to hang in there.
And she put together a beautiful presentation there and I'm all for it.
And we do need our funding in school, otherwise we're giving up on our future.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you for your comments.
Are there any questions?
Representative Hymshoe.
Thank You through the chair, Mr. Strong.
We have an excellent teacher and sick
and named Jeremy Strong from the Cluck One area.
Is that a relative?
He's your nephew.
Thank for letting us have him.
Thank, you.
Give him back.
Representative Story.
Thank you chair Tobin through the chair thank you both for being here today and
for your words that you shared. I do know that one of the cost savings Chatham
School District has was you're sharing a superintendent this year with Mount
Edge come. My concern is of representative from Gustavus and Cluck
How can our schools get the attention from the superintendent when it's spread?
I understand your cost savings, but I'm just wondering the effect of that.
We're keeping a close eye on it.
We shared the concern going in.
But again, you're hearing it again and again.
There's no money.
And he has value.
He's a strong superintendent.
Instead of doing a yearly review, we're reviewing every three months,
talking through concerns, making sure things are happening the way we hope they will,
and so far so good. We'll report in. Do you want to add anything to that?
My biggest question to to, that whole approach was that,
why is it the state wants to do that. You know, they were, to me, the,
Is it because they can't afford to or don't want to afford
to and our our district is already burdened with with
not enough money to to educate our children in a manner that which we'd
like to education them and now we've got another one that we
got to take on that the state didn't. That's the way I see it.
Thank you. Thank. You thank you for your comments.
And we will be having hearings regarding the dynamic happening between Chatham and the
Edgecombe School District here in the coming weeks, so we'll be looking forward to hearing
again from your perspective and some of your insights.
With that and seeing no other questions from the committee, we now move back up to Lower
Yukon School district.
Just to give folks a bit of a time check we're here at 8.30. We're doing great keeping ourselves to five minutes and also to
Good succinct comments, and I just want to encourage everyone to stay on this particular pathway
Please identify yourselves to the record and begin your comments when you are ready. Hi. Good morning
I'm John Hargis. I am the superintendent for Lower Yukon School District.
I have Conrad Woodhead here with me who is our
CTE director and director of our Coozle that career Academy
Just want to start out by saying thank you are we're going to we'll keep it positive today
want start up by thank thank to the legislature for not only the job that you do but for the
job you did last year and helping us out a little bit with some BSA increase it goes a long way
and we are putting those funds to great use.
Kind of the feather that we have in our cap as a district is our
Coozle that career academy a program in Anchorage and Conrad's gonna talk just a little bit about what that program looks like and
Extend an invitation to anyone who's not been over there to tour that facility to maybe come check it out
So go ahead Conrad
Good morning. I just want to thank you for allowing me to be here this morning and I want
to acknowledge some of the people that are sitting behind me. We have six KCA students who have
traveled from Lower Yukon School District. They are in our residential program.
We are the only nine-week variable term residential
program, we also have some masterly programming and weekly programming.
programming with some very key partners. Those partners include voice excellence,
you've got school district, BBRCTE for our aviation instruction, and then also
our T3 intensive that we do with our University of Alaska Fairbanks bridge
program. And so if the six students that are here could stand up behind me, I'd
appreciate that. I want to acknowledge you.
very much. And then Brian Regiani and Adam Lauer here with T3 as well, our
chaperones, and then our very own Jessica Hunt. She is our math teacher at
Kuzavak Career Academy and born and raised in Imanik. So we're very lucky at
KUZavik, we are a reflection of our region right in the heart of Anchorage
and we were a CTE program without a CT facility. We have a really good
a lot of different programming available to our students
because we bring our student to them.
Really work hard with our
students to make sure that they understand
what options are available
to the them for a
lot our our
students they want to be nothing more than in their villages
contributing and want
to provide services and make their place
they live a better place
and for some of our
students, they wanna see the world.
We wanna foster that no matter where they end up.
programming trying to get students ready for the day after high school and it's
life-changing. Variable-term programs like ours are doing really good work to
provide access to CTE programming and provide those opportunities of students
that just don't have the facilities the personnel the industry experts to provide
those things in our region that is in a cost-effective way so we flipped the
hotel and Anchorage, turn that into the residential access point and now our
students are exposed to all sorts of things and what we're finding is that
for the last three years and we've been existence for seven so if you've
been coming to KCA one or more sessions the
last 3 years you had a 0% dropout rate so for our to compare that to our
district average we average about 20 to 22% as a drop-out
that KCA is really helping kind of pull from the bottom up and we're really proud of that
work.
And it just goes to show that variable term programs like ours that haven't had any increases
in funding since 2014 are doing really good work to provide that instruction and programming
to our students.
Really glad that BBRCT just got residential funding as well.
They got funded at 2014 rates.
what kind of hills we have to climb as residential programming,
you know, to echo what Chatham said.
We kind live and die by the grant cycle to be able
to provide these programming to students.
We have three federal grants right now that are helping us
pull this work off while we're continuing
to explore three other grants at the moment that aren't even
announced yet just so we are in a position to ready.
And that is exhausting work.
any help that you can to support variable term residential programs like ours, and
our many partners that we have in other variable-term programs would be much appreciated, so thank you.
Thank you. Thank You for your comments. Are there questions from committee members representative him shoot
Thank, you through the chair. I just need to understand what you mean by variable term
Absolutely, so there's year-round residential programs in our state and there is a variable-term residential
Programs those are a lot of those programs are week-long intensives that they're providing
And again, we're the only quarterly boarding school option in the state. We bring students nine weeks at a time
of our students who don't choose to go to year-round boarding school options, they're
choosing to come to us.
So what that means is kids get to pick and choose when they are with us, if they want
to be home for basketball season, then they can be at home from basketball, but then
they come when you are ready and can access CT programming that you just can't access
follow-up thanks when you say students can come to you these are students who
are enrolled in your brick and mortar program correct these kids from all
over the state so we are pulling 36 average 36 students from LYSD or CT
programming so one of the cornerstones of our program is anchor school district
for juniors and seniors access CT courses that happen over at king tech high
school for the other students that we have come in they come
both in our facility. And then we also have university bridge programs that are
semesterly long. So those are ANSEP acceleration. Those are Alaska Middle
College School and our students can come in and commit to a semestersly
long program and do it that way as well.
So for the dual credit programming that we have those
are semestially programmings and then for
the CT accesses or quarterly.
And sir can you identify yourself just one additional thing?
Conrad Woodhead, CT and residential director, lower UConn School District.
Thank you. Any additional questions from committee members?
Well, thank you for your comments. We appreciate you joining us today.
We'll now move on to the Yakutet School District.
And after that, we will hear from Yukon Flat School district.
Thank
you
for joining
us here. If you could please identify yourself for the record and begin your
testimony when you are ready.
Yes, thank you. Good morning. My name is Rihanna Brown. I serve as a school board member for the
Yachtat School District. And my name's Rain Pavlek.
I'm the Yachtat schoolboard president. Okay, I will go ahead and start. Yacatat is a small
remote coastal community accessible only by boat or plane. Our ferry route has been shut down
for past three years increasing isolation and cost for everything we do.
Our school is more than a place of learning.
It is the center of our community,
our culture and our future.
Because of the cost of educating students
in the ACTA is significantly higher.
Teacher recruitment, retaining staff,
powering our buildings and transporting supplies
all costs more.
Whether it can shut down our travel entirely,
but learning must continue.
Teacher recruitment.
I apologize.
Yakta is also facing a series housing crisis.
The lack of adequate housing and infrastructure
makes it extremely difficult to hire and retain educators
simply because there is nowhere for them to live.
When education funding is uncertain or insufficient,
rural districts like ours feel the impact first
and the hardest.
Our students deserve the same opportunities
as any student Alaska, regardless of their zip code.
Stable, equitable education funding allows us to retain quality educators, support student
services, and provide safe, consistent learning environments.
I am here today to ask you to support policies and funding that recognize the true cost of
rural education and respect local school board's ability to meet their community's needs.
Education must remain top priority in Alaska.
Thank you.
This is my third year on the school board and I also have a master's in education with four
years teaching experience and one year as a substitute teacher. I'm a parent of two young
daughters coming up in the Actat school district.
Yakta is a small rural community in southeast Alaska with limited access to neighboring and outside communities.
Decisions made at the capital have direct and profound impacts on communities like ours.
Life in our village is becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet.
And while these decisions are wrapped in the cloak of well intention, policies and
mandates passed without a fiscal plan put insurmountable pressure on the backs of our hard working educators who are already overwhelmed.
With the study to decline a population across the state comes the inevitable decline of student enrollment.
With that, we need to uplift the families.
We have, by passing policies that support families and their choice to live in the rural parts of our state.
The ability to choose is the foundation of freedom.
However,
In the current state, there's an illusion of choice for families like mine who want to stay in places like ACTAT.
With increasing economic pressure, it's becoming enticing to leave our small communities and
go somewhere where the quality of life is better supported.
There are continued legislative measures that push pressure on us to move away from the communities we come from.
We need to invest in student achievement, not by passing more mandates, but
by funding the mandates that are already in place.
We needed to introduce legislation that support our schools and families.
We made public school systems that is desirable in every corner of the state, so families are, sorry.
So when families are deciding on where to live the quality of education will never be the question
Please plus legislation that makes it easier for our families to stay and come back to our close-knit communities like Yakutat
Thank you. Thank You for your testimony. Are there any questions?
Well, thank you again for testifying today
We'll now move on to Yukon Flat School District and then Southwest Region School district
Hello and welcome if you could please identify yourself. My name is Rhonda Pitkam chief of the village of Beaver
And I've been a school board member for Yukon flat since
Well, I just got reelected. So it was a 2024. This is probably my third term as a School Board member
I usually don't have time to come down to the to The legislative plan, but I really appreciate
The the education that we get from the a sb. It's been so instrumental in making me a better schoolboard member
Our school district has 165 students spread across this, an area the state of the size of Michigan.
It's right up there, it's labeled Pochin, whole minus the Canadian part.
But our villages are remote and they're flying only, we only have one village that's on the road system.
And they've also got their own challenges.
They are falling apart from the lack of basic maintenance. Some of these schools are 45 years old. I
Started second grade in crook shank school when it was built in
And we have not had any significant upgrades to our school since then our heating systems were built
In the 1980s when gasoline and heating fuel was like a dollar a gallon
So they're over engineered and they are not
They're not really fit for the temperature.
We're either really, really hot or really really cold
and there's no in between.
The lady before me who said she stayed in a lot of these
schools, yeah, I've been there.
Every time we traveled to rural communities,
whether it's for meetings or events or basketball games,
there is always a problem with the sewer system
and the water system.
One of our smallest schools Chalkitsik has about
I think 13 students this year, but they've had this water issue for like 20 years and
it was even redlined on the governor's budget one year as a direct veto, which clean water
for students that seems basic to me.
I guess stay on the school board in these challenging times.
I work a lot in subsistence regulation work.
So the School Board for me was sort of my safe place,
where I could really learn a lotta about education in our region,
and learn about what the kids need.
So.
Even in speaking with the young people here today, they told me that they want basic behavioral health services.
They want access to counselors.
They're facing a mental health crisis and it's harming them all.
And it is causing them to not be able to finish school.
One of the young ladies from Minto told me that they have a teacher housing situation
That hasn't been fixed in a couple of years
The teacher had had a series of unfortunate events and she she broke her arm and he wasn't able to
Take care of her basic needs in her teacher Housing because it was also
50 below for five weeks in the interior of Alaska. So pretty much everything froze up that could freeze that happens in our school, too
You know, we have maintenance people that that are working on about $20 an hour
and I was looking at some of the job listings like you can't even hire a janitor for $ 20 an
Hour, I think they probably pay that at Wendy's right now
It's caused a problem in our communities because these positions are usually reliable throughout the year.
But with the lack of decent pay for the position holding together a 45-year-old school with a duct tape and wire.
and whatever little tools he has.
It's become a serious problem.
The deferred maintenance backlog is,
I think, truly, a feeling stated earlier.
It was like $2.1 billion.
That kind of thing, that doesn't get resolved overnight.
These are issues that are like 40 years in the making.
I keep on bringing up 40
because I just had a birthday recently.
And it wasn't the 40 year one.
These issues make it difficult for us to retain students.
So we frequently have issues of declining enrollment in our areas.
Pretty much the only thing right now that's keeping kids in school is the basketball program in Fort Yukon.
Go Eagles.
So they.
So, sports are really incredibly important to our students in rural Alaska, and that's
one of the things that was a big shock to me coming from a tiny school in Yukon Flats
where I was raised.
I didn't realize that basketball was such a good deal in Alaska until I got to some
of bigger schools and they had enough kids for a team.
I hope the catcher caught it.
You can tell the tight-knitness of the community based on our relationships with each other.
And we've had pretty decent success in hiring a couple of local teachers and retaining them,
but they have the same challenges that our not resident teachers have with our teacher
housing issues.
incredibly cold weather. It was 50 below for five weeks and then it hit a three
day streak of minus 70 below in the interior. So you know at those temperatures
nothing's running, nothing is working. We so after that incident you
know we continued to have these these issues which I feel like could have been
a little bit better handled you by our community but we've also had this
overarching federal
I was gonna say mess. I don't even know how to describe it other than mess, but
That's left us with like the thinnest margin ever to deal with these these things that come up
You know these thing happen
Freeze-ups happen
Emergencies happen
Fires happen our schools are often the the heart of our community
There were times in the past when we've had
50 firefighters staying at our school in the summer time because of the horrific fires that we're in our region.
So
So I would just ask that you do everything in your power to ensure that a decent spending bill is passed. I don't know the
the specifics of of
The politics or whatever, but you know our kids are really worth it and I thank you for your time today. Thank you
Thank You for comments. Are there any questions?
Well, I want to thank you again for for joining us today. I'm gonna do a little bit of a mix-up as we do have one of our
Committee members who has to head up to finance. So after this,
I am going to ask if the Juneau School District can come up so that we can hopefully get them. Oh I think they have I
Think unfortunately he has the head out now
Well sorry about that folks will stay on the agenda. We're gonna have southwest region and then Juneaus school district
Sorry. Hey, can't. Sorry if you're thinking you need to go.
No, no, you'll get. You're good.
If you could please identify yourself, the record, and begin your testimony when you are ready.
Good morning. Thank you so much for allowing us to be here.
And thank you for having this joint session to hear us today.
Thank for all of your work that you doing.
for Alaska. I know you have a real hard job. And so education touches everything, doesn't it?
Patches everything. With that, my name is Kay Andrews and I serve as a president of
South Church Research and School District and i'm here in strong support for stable investment
like ours. Education challenges.
Education is not just a line item in a budget.
It is a foundation of our workforce,
public safety, and long-term economic stability.
When education is underfunded,
rural communities feel it first.
Staff turnover, limited student supports,
aging and inadequate facilities, and many communities, as you know and are aware.
Schools are more than our classrooms.
They are community centers, they're safe places for our children, yet schools are being asked
Without the resources needed to respond sustainably and healthily
Mental health support
Mental Health support for students is an urgent need we discussed this last year the year before year-before
As as many other things as you know if you've dressed as well
Our region recently experienced another suicide
Deeply affected our students and our only regional counselor
We serve pre-cray through 12 grade across eight schools and
I think it was mentioned before that our region was a side of size of Idaho. I
Excuse me
To address this gap, we support the behavioral health aid program, which also needs help and funding.
So if you do come across that arena, please support that.
But that program which is tailored to the needs of rural districts,
it can grow to meet our needs, the demand that the students and
the staff, mental health services, and provide services with cultural safety.
I'm sorry, my tooth was just pulled and I am trying to talk.
Am I doing okay?
Yes.
When you get old, your body gets riddled.
Okay.
Anyway.
Okay, so what the school district did to address this because we don't have the funding
to have school nurses, etc.
what we did is we launched an app this this school year and it connects
students and staff to professional to health professionals any time anywhere
24 7 3 67 and if it provides support you know despite our the absence of of
So, legislative support, thank you so much.
I want to go back to all of your work that you're doing now.
And House Bill 261, we strongly support House bill 261.
And with consideration that changes do not negatively affect the student count period
for our short term residential funding and that's our CTE program where we've
We also support House Bill 78.
So with added language, if you will,
allowing peers tier one or tier two,
this is probably hardly tier 1, but tier 2,
including paraprofessionals earning teaching credentials
to remain in peers if they become teachers.
So if could make that language that would be beneficial.
And then House Bill 28, we fully support the teacher and state employee student loan program as a tool to attract and retain educators in rural communities.
We fully supported that bill, so thank you.
In reference to facilities and funding, you know it, feel it.
You see it I hope that you go out and see in our communities please so you can see and understand exactly what we're talking about.
We need a safe environment for our students, our staff.
They need to feel safe when they go to school.
So facilities and funding,
our district has over 106 million in deferred maintenance.
And it grows every year. You know that?
It grows over a year if you're not dealing with it.
And our top three priorities and the six-year capital improvement plan
totaling 36.7 million, which grows
We urge the legislature to allocate additional funding for deferred maintenance across the state to keep schools safe and operational.
So we need the educational funding that is predictable.
You've heard it, equitable, you've hurt it.
And responsive to the real costs, investing in education.
is investing in healthy students, strong communities,
and Alaska's future workforce.
So thank you for your time and consideration
and having this joint session today.
Thank you, for all your great work that you're doing.
And you know, I could talk about transportation,
and other areas too, but that's a whole,
another area that should be looked at as well.
So, thank so much.
Thank You.
Rihanna.
Seeing questions from committee members.
We'll now move on to the Juneau School District.
After that, we will hear from the Northwest Arctic
Burrow School district.
We're doing so good on dying.
Hello and good morning.
If you could please identify yourself
for the record and begin your comments when you are ready.
Hello, my name is Maddie Bass, I'm from Juneau, and today I would like to share, oh, you have to just, sorry.
And then, um,
and,
and I am Steve Whitney, Juneaus School Board,
and thank you members through the chair,
thank-you members of the committee for having us,
and
like Ms. Bass on this child of teachers,
but her family actually taught my children.
I think my kids gave her gray hair, so with that, I
think I'm in debt to the Bath family,
so I am going to defer to Ms. Baths.
Thank you to committee through the chair for having me today.
I would like to share my experience as a student
in an underfunded district.
I have never had the opportunity to learn in a classroom that was funded enough to have
materials for everyone.
Since elementary school, my teachers have had to send out lists, markers, pencils,
glue sticks for parents to buy so that children could participate in class activities.
Even with the recent consolidation of schools in my district, which caused the firing of
multiple teachers, the cutting of programs, and more, there is not enough.
Today, the situation has deteriorated and I am seeing my teachers being forced to work
multiple jobs and in some cases I'm seeing teachers having to decide between being teachers
and having a job that provides them adequate health care.
Nobody should be forced to make those decisions, especially not the people that are growing and educating a new generation.
My father was an educator in Alaska for 27 years.
He taught for three years in Kodiak, then for 24 years here in Juneau.
I have seen him go into school hours early and stay hours late to give students extra help.
I've seen them come home from meetings stressed and tired, from fighting from his rights as
an educator and the rights of his students for the umpteenth time.
I had seen to go in to work while sick so that his student wouldn't have to
go without an adult in the classroom because there were just not enough substitutes in our district.
And when he finally retired, I saw the weight that was lifted off of his shoulders, a weight
that much too heavy and that he had been carrying for much to long.
When teachers are stressed, students are impacted.
When teacher are overworked and underpaid, they cannot give their best to teaching.
That means courses are getting cut or they are only offered once a day.
The classes that are on the chopping block for next year, classes like oceanography, art
classes, klingit language classes and more, are the classes
that make school worth coming to for so many students.
I recently completed the course selection for the 2026-2027 school year.
It will be my junior year of high school and I am worried that I will have to choose between
This impacts my education.
The simple fact is I should not have to choose between taking science or math as a high school student.
As a 15-year-old, I shouldn't be missing class time to testify in front of legislators,
to ask for more money so that my teachers can afford to live,
so my peers and I can have the enriching experience of education."
Last year we got a BSA increase through HB 69 and this helped but the simple
fact is that it is not enough to support Alaska school districts so I'm asking
you please do as much as you can for me for my teachers and so my little sister
will not have to stand up here and testify when she goes to high school in
four years. Everybody counts thank you for your time. Thank you thank
Would you like to wrap up, sir?
Yes, please.
Again, thank you.
Thank you to the committee.
I've got a few points that I'd like
to reiterate.
First, yesterday, it was brought up to us
that when resources are tight, people turn on each other.
And it's true in our schools, and I
think it is true statewide right now.
We're definitely in a hard time.
And I appreciate those of you trying
to navigate us through this.
As you heard, teachers are hurting.
I was on the board from 2016 to 19,
and after I lost my mom, I took some time off,
and I recently came back.
We've got quite a few principles.
There are only two still left in our district
from where I've been before.
We have lost teachers, but on our administration staff,
they're almost all brand new.
There's only 2 left, and one of them is about to retire.
One of the things that we're going to cut before was our IT department.
And I went and talked to the programmers, like any organization, we need programmers.
We need payroll.
And all the people who are working there, they earn less than the
people working for the city, work less for
the state, less in the feds who earn
less then the private sector.
Every single one of those people has gone since 2019.
The turnover has been brutal.
Another point I want to reiterate, there's a bill out.
Moving average for for student counts
When I was on before one of the things I hated was we couldn't give teachers new teachers continuing contracts
And there were so many families with young kids who
They just were perpetually brand new teacher's never got tenure and never knew if they're going to get a permanent job or not
This one seems like there is a cost, but it seems. Like low-hanging fruit to me. It's
The uncertainty is just no way to run a raw road. Yes
it's wasteful basically. And I know I'm getting close on time. My youngest recently,
he's a biochemist, I lost my mom to Alzheimer's, my father-in-law is a Vietnam vet who
loaded age orange and he suffered from Parkinson's.
My younger wants to go into farmer calls you and create treatments for
to cure these diseases. So the first place we went to is US world news to look at grad schools.
And if you look at global universities, I mean,
if pharmacology, that's one place the US
still comes out on top, and Harvard was on the top.
But most of the schools were in China.
If you go to a chemical engineering,
this just blew me away.
The top school is number 57 in the United States, Georgia Tech.
Almost all of top 100 are based in china.
And this comes in to give you're
We can we can try to stockpile the minerals, but that doesn't do us a lot of good
if we don't have the expertise to actually develop them and when President Trump tries to go up and create trade deals with President G
G can say well, I'm gonna not give you earth minerals and you can't build electric motors and they have us over a barrel
It's important
Education it's kind of important to the well-being and strength of our nation. It
It's difficult, it's expensive, but there are some really big implications for not taking
it seriously, and we're not doing as well as we once did.
And again, we are in a hard situation and I appreciate all your work.
And I know this is going to be a difficult bipartisan struggle,
and appreciate your working this.
Thank you.
Seeing no questions. We'll move on to our next invited testifiers from Northwest Arctic Burrow School District after that
We will hear from the North Slope Burrows School district
Nope Northwest Artic
Well, we will move on to North Slope Borough School District.
For Northwest Arctic, if you can hear us and you're in the gallery on the second floor,
come on down so we can get you in queue.
After this, you'll hear from the Yupiat School district.
Hello, and welcome.
If you could please identify yourself with a record and begin your testimony when you
are ready.
Good morning, my name is Frida, and I have Faith Brower and John Agar.
Good more.
The Narsalbora School District has about 1,900 students and covers 94,800 square miles.
That makes it one of the largest school districts by land in the area in United States.
It stretches across Alaska's entire northern coastline from the Canadian border all the
way west towards the Chuck G.C.
This makes a difficult with transporting school freight, teacher housing, and teacher retention.
Our district teacher recruitment and retention competes with districts that are on the road system.
Despite our challenges, our district has outperformed the state
percent change for movement of students on Alaska's Star Test in grades 3 through 9.
From need support to approaching proficient.
as well as moving students from approaching proficiency in literacy.
Our greatest leap towards proficiency was in grade three, with over 20% less students in a needs support category for over three years.
SB 184, school bond reimbursement, funding for school construction and major maintenance.
Our schools in the rural areas are used for emergency shelters,
Christmas feast, and Eskimo dances and community events.
John Algak from Cocktail Peak will be testifying on SB 184.
Ufla Lautak, good morning, kung yuk, this is my new park name and I'm in the same with John Olga, I am from Kalkdovic, Alaska
and now I have been here to testify on SP number 184.
I would like to share the impact of this bill to my school and community.
It was a windy, cold night, February 7th, 2000 and 20.
Our school was going up in a gym and school
was growing up and flames.
Boxed me around 2 a.m.
fire department, water lines froze.
So we had to get help from Beryl Utcavitt.
They came into assist with the fire,
but it was too late.
Fast forward, six years later,
December 1st, 2025.
We celebrate our new gym with joy and excitement.
Bricks of this, our gym is not connected to our learning facility or school.
So we have to travel to the gym every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for recess time.
Our class is currently located on a tribal land in a facility I refer to as man camp or conixes
Can you imagine during the class time the
Sewer waste water backing up in the classroom
That's a tough thing to experience
We the students exhibit strength, perseverance, and
commitment towards education and attendance.
Did not weather, hence the importance, this bill be passed.
It is shared that we are the only school district to fully fund
the rebuild of a new school.
I am glad that help is on the way in March of 2026.
UIC will be coming back to build the school phase.
But we are still in need of $33 million for
the completion of our school.
I trust that a glimpse of my current learning environment provided clarity as to why I support this bill.
Thank you.
Move to Alotac, my name is Faith Brower.
I am a student representative with the North Pole Borough School District.
I'm here in support of HB 105, which focuses on mental health education.
And to share why this build is important for individuals, families, and communities.
Mental health affects how we show up every day.
When someone is struggling, it can make school, work and relationships a lot harder.
I've seen how not having support can affect people I care about
and it really can take a toll on families and communities.
Families feel it through stress, worry and sometimes loss.
Communities feel that when people turn to unhealthy coping
or when no one knows how to step in and help.
HB number 105 and that it will take an important step towards addressing these challenges by
strengthening mental health education. This bill will help people recognize early warning signs,
build healthy coping skills, and seeking help before reaching a crisis. It also
reduces stigma by encouraging open and honest conversations about mental
health. Investing in education and prevention needs to
healthier youth, stronger families and safer communities.
Thank you. Thank thank you for your testimony. Are there any questions?
Thank You again for joining us this morning.
Or we will try once again for Northwest Arctic Borough School District.
After that, we'll hear from Uphiet School district and then Kenai Peninsula Borough school district.
Just want to remind everyone once, again,
we're doing great on time. Let's keep this going.
I feel very strongly that we finish exactly at 10 o'clock.
Hi, welcome. If you could please identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony when you are ready, okay?
My name is Martha Groot. I am from Cosby, Alaska, and I'm
testifying on bill number two under ten.
I support this bill because I feel like a lot of kids don't even know about their culture, like how to hunt,
speaking subsistence, or even basic way of life.
Even me.
I only know so little about my culture. The stuff I learned is from stuff my teachers from out of state gave me while they just sat there and did nothing.
My peers and I went to learn my culture more thoroughly than just sitting down with the book and someone who knows nothing.
I also think if there was more about their culture, the attendance rate would go up because people would be more excited to go to class.
Also, once they learn more of their cultures, they would take the things they learned and use it in everyday life.
And their cultural don't die and live on.
That is all I have to say, so thank you very much for listening to what I had to saying to take with Bill into consideration.
Now if you have a good rest of the day,
And once again, thank you for listening to what I had to say.
Thank you.
Hi, I'm Savia Oviak, and I am here for Cedok.
Our school is coming right now because the water
or the school has become unsafe to drink.
During the break, the weather went bad
and made a lot of students and teachers sick,
which forced us to stay home for a long time at our bedtime.
Our schools actually had
to close it down for few weeks.
It ended up being months next.
Just to deal with it no no it's winter we have a new problem because the pipes keep
freezing and breaking in our school and make our plumbing bad and then make
our whole students get uh more sick from the snow
it from high school side to the whole almost to
the elementary side.
It's cold out here for the students on learning
when we could not have basic water on the school now that's our freezing
Rusty pipes are keep bursting and leaving us about water, without water for a week, impossible
to focus on our classes and when we're building six, building sick.
If you could get a little bit closer to the microphone.
Oh, okay.
And we can't even use the bathrooms.
It's really just so small and unsafe
for a basic thing.
We're working plumbing so we cannot continue our work.
Can you hear me?
I can read this.
I'll thank you.
Thank you, thank for your testimony.
Are there any questions?
No.
Excellent.
Well, thank you again for testifying and joining us here today.
We'll now hear from the Upiet School District and then the Kenai Peninsula Sparrow School
District.
That was...
Oh, we're doing so great.
Yes.
you be it down to the bottom of the agenda.
If the Keeneye Peninsula Borough School District
will now join us.
And after that, we will hear from,
and I apologize in advance,
Cash and Amute School district.
Good morning, Chair Tobin, and the rest of
esteemed colleagues that are sitting here today.
I feel a little awkward because I was told never to have my back turned.
Yes, you could please speak directly to my friend,
look right at me and don't forget to identify yourself.
Oh, I want to. Yeah. My name is Tim Daugherty.
I am a Kena Peninsula of
Barrow School District Member, Vice President.
Today I'm torn between two loyalties.
I have a duty to the KPBSD district.
because of my elected office and that kind of stuff and the other thing I'm torn
between is that my passion for kids in Alaska and so today I prepared two
testimonies at 5 a.m. today. I couldn't realize which one I would probably present
but I chose what I always did and it's one for
kids so
I'm a 40-year-old or 40 year educator, I am not 40 years old, in Alaska and this is my
fifth year on the school board.
There were many wonderful moments during my career, but the proudest that I was the my
Inupietic name of Quinnic.
We brought camping on to Tundra and Anatuvik Pass and a little kindergarten girl looked
at the porcupine and she said, Mr. Tim.
And I looked at her and I said, what does that mean to you?
And she says, well, you're all prickly and gruff on the outside,
but soft and gushy inside.
So I'm going to go with that today.
Today I want to speak of child abuse.
In the years of my involvement in Alaskan education,
I have systematically watched us neglect young people
and victimized them by not meeting their needs.
Not finding education or schools and assuring one size and assuming that a one-size-fits-all
models has created crisis we may never recover from.
My idea to help mitigate these injustice has nothing to do with the volatile term of the
BSA.
In order to invest in our kids, we need to think out of box and make some one time allocations
from the potential death of our Alaskan education system.
First thing we need to do is quit telling our students
that they are failing.
It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The two tests that are often cited as indicators
of effectiveness have no statistical validity
in our irrelevant for Alaska students
and only stokes an ignorant political agenda
Let's help stop the emotional burden that students feel with high pressure testing.
The highest day of absenteeism on the North Slope was the day that we gave standardized
tests.
I believe that need to delve into our constitutional budget reserve and create a state fiscal plan
to invest in the biggest resource that that's our children.
We can start on a road to recovery.
When we decided to mandate no child left behind,
we threw out the baby with the bath water.
I still remember the day they pulled the woodshop equipment
out of my wood shop, sent it to auction,
and told me to go teach a core curriculum.
At that time, we abused the population of the school
that loved getting their hands dirty.
Finding a life and finding a livelihood, we need to fund CTE or
used to be called VOCED in all districts.
And start preparing nearly 75% of our Alaska school children for
meaningful lifetime jobs, not just higher education.
Next, the cost of transportation and fuel in our district is killing our budgets.
On the keynote, we drive 3,341 miles daily.
In the village that I'm most familiar with, they went weeks without fuel to heat their
homes and had to rely on the school as a sanctuary.
Buildings are falling apart and the facilities that were once the gems of our communities are in shambles.
Can you imagine the helplessness and despair a student may feel when they walk in and see windows broken and roofs leaking?
This is another form of emotional trauma students suffer when we walk into our substandard rundown buildings.
As far as educational programs I could go on and on but to really stand out.
We need to fully fund the rest of the Reads Act.
It just makes sense to finish funding something that is obviously very successful.
Next, an allocation for implementation of a statewide pre-K program that's stable.
I've seen students that come to their first year of school that have never seen a book before.
And I have also witnessed the look of pride in the eye of little who reads their
This is the first step to break the chain of neglect in some places in the state.
In summation, we focused exclusively on the big five districts, a few outliers, and maybe
charter schools because that's who makes the most noise. We are working on school consolidations
and closures that are demoralizing our students in a keen eye peninsula district.
However, the schools that need the most assistance,
altered state scores, and are in crisis are rarely mentioned are discussions of school improvement.
Abandonment and negligence are behaviors of which the cycle of abuse is exacerbated
in areas of the state off the road system.
Please consider using some CBR funds to help alleviate the disparities that have generated a futile feeling in the education delivery of our state.
It's not throwing money away if we save a child and build a steam through the confidence that schools are safe, appealing, and pertinent to the place they live.
Thank you.
I'd also like to introduce my colleague here, Ms. Kelly Sizik.
She is a representative from our sold.net area.
Thank for coming.
questions.
Would you like this one?
No.
All right.
Seeing no questions from committee members, I want to thank you again for your testimony.
We will now hear or try once again to hear from UPI at school district.
Excellent.
If you could please identify yourself with the record and then begin your
testimony when you are ready.
My name is Melanie Casayuli-Alexi, I'm from Mac, oh hi my name
is Melanie Casaiuli Alexi I am from mackechuck and I represent the UB
school district. We have three schools in the communities of
Thank you for giving this opportunity again this year to testify and thank you
for the increase of the BSA. Please consider a state statute to increase it
annually. Our school needs, all our school
along with the teacher housings.
Our schools serve as emergency shelters.
Please invest in our schools, treat education as a whole state investment.
since our children, they are our future.
We have good students.
They would be thriving with adequate funding.
Our students lack full staff, very limited CTE programs.
We, in each school, we do not even have guidance counselors.
I've noticed how much education matters in our schools.
Why is the schools need major maintenance?
They're outdated facilities falling apart,
but our students still show up
with determination to be successful.
For one of our school's
In Tulek's Act, their ceilings are leaking.
Their water and sewer needs to be updated,
even their electricity, like any other dwellings.
But our students still show up.
Are we going to keep coming back and testifying?
introduce himself. Hello, my name is Davion Jasper. I am from AKYAC.
I'm representing the UPH school district. A major, a few major problems
our school slash community has, but first let's start with the school. The
Class classrooms could fit 12 to 15 students without being so absurd.
And that puts a lot of stress on the teachers.
Now about the community.
For months, our local store hasn't had anything.
or doesn't have finance to pay for a plane ticket.
Moving on from that, another big problem we face is power outages.
Just recently, we had a big power outage.
We didn't power for 48 days.
After power was restored, power would go out daily.
And families that do have wood stoves don't have any wood to keep warm.
This is all I got to say for the school and community of ACAC.
Thank you for your time.
Thank thank you, thank for you testimony.
Are there any questions?
Thank, you thank, both for joining us.
We will now move on to Keshe Unamute.
school district and after that we will hear from Huna School District with final wrap comments from
the current executive director of the Alaska or the Association of Alaska School Boards.
Hi and welcome. If you could please identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony
when you are ready. Good morning. My name is Molina Pangag and this is Lucia Patrick.
Every day we see the impact of not having enough resources for our education.
One of the biggest challenges we face is a lack of funding for
our students' elective classes.
Elective class are more than just extra courses.
They are where we discover what excites us and where
we find talents. And when we could discover our future paths.
When these classes are cut or limited it feels like doors being closed on our
potential. We also don't have a dedicated student
Some of our peers struggle with stress, anxiety, or uncertainty about the future.
Without a counselor, there is no one to guide us,
listen to us or help us navigate these challenges.
It's a heavily struggled to carry alone, and too many students are left feeling
unaware about what to do.
On top of this, student engagement is low because of the fewer opportunities
and the lack of school spirit.
Without some of these needs, it is hard to feel connected to our school community.
When students feel disconnected, it impacts learning, motivation and confidence.
We are asking for your help by increasing funding for elective programs, hiring a full-time
student counselor, and supporting an institution that students get involved.
You can create a school where every student needs to thrive.
We're not asking much.
Thank you for listening and for considering how your support can truly make an impact for students and our community.
Thank You, thank you. And can you once again state your name for the record?
My name is Lucia Patrick. Thank, you thank,
you
Oh, come please sit.
I'd like to thank my students back home from ChiVac. We're in their Bethel on the coast and
we experience quite a bit of two storms, Merbock and Helon, but we're all okay.
I see some of our familiar faces that and with my colleague back then and in the story and I
first time I see some of you guys. So thank you for being here and thank
you to listen to us. We all represent our young kids from K to 12 and I want to start off by
we have a preschool back home which is operated for about six years and the intention of that was
But it comes from a real-life story of my own two of
my kids who are not eligible for Head Start.
And I was furious on the first year, but on
the second year they're allowed to come in,
whether they are fully not qualified or not.
But that's the Head start.
They focus on emotional and these kinds of learning.
and the preschool focuses on academics, they can already run and balance, but they're focusing on
how to read and how put their names on. I have a story to, I mean, i wouldn't go through it,
The preschool in our district school, inside the school we dedicated a room for that otherwise we had to go out of the
school building in order to accommodate that but since it's been six years I'm sorry to say that I didn't bring any data with me but if you can believe me our scores are going up.
If we didn't do nothing at all, maybe our scores would be different right now, but these kids
that were immersed in preschool, they're going to help us in the long run, in education of
K through 12, especially when the state sanctions these tests to be taken in.
possibly pass, pass a test. So funding of preschool is really important. That's where our district
schools start to thrive, not immediately, maybe after six, seven, eight years, but they will thrive.
I guess you guys heard of it that we're having a teacher nationwide shortage, and I want to
thank somebody who thought of outside country, importing teachers, in this case, our Philippines,
and there's a problem right there. They have a limited stay here since they're out of country.
We've been doing really good with our teacher staff from the Philippines because we share
each other, they share our food and we shared our
food, and how we do things we just intermingle,
and they're human beings.
There are no other different than us right here.
So with that teacher shortage problem that we had,
thankful that we imported some teachers and they have a limited stay on a visa and somehow
any one of you guys can think about ways to extend their stay here because
teachers back home want to come back again but their limited time will not let them
have a doctrine degree. I mean, they're up there dedicated to education with doctrine degrees and
we have one in our district with a Doctrine degree from the Philippines.
The electric rates will soon be up. It's I don't know how come they bring it up maybe to
look at inflation terms. I think they're doing that. And we
ourselves, in education, follow suit, because we, every year
it's different on approach to finances and we should.
focus on our tits. Tits are a natural resource. We got gold, oil, all these timber, but the
tits, they're human, we're a human and we should take care of them. It's our obligation
to take of em.
We don't want them to come upon things that were not meant to be.
Like, if we're fully funded, we'll be happy on terms of finances.
But we don't often see that administrators going like this, oh, no, they don t let us
in.
I mean, We don' t know if they're worrying about this money, well, it's their job to
We would be in a much better situation as Alaska as a whole to be fully funded.
I mean, I see news in Anchorage, KTEU TV with people who are picketing about education.
I'm going to see people picketting around Anchorage to get their message out.
education committee to fully fund our our intentions on education. So we have
young people that will take over our place even everybody in this room. The
young People are right here. They'll they'll takeovers even me.
They will takeover me so let's give them the best. Let's not let them worry or
things of that nature. We're humans. Let's work together. I'll be willing to work with you guys.
I'm pretty open and I got light. A lot of ideas. If it was up to us to fund education,
we would do it in less than one month in our district with all kinds of...
fundraising at this basketball is number one. So every time we have basketball we
have full house and the other day we had kids 66 in all drivers by snow machine going from
one village to another. The drivers aren't usually charged at the gate at that time but
somebody thought of it at the last minute to charge the drivers to get more
money. That's what we do. I'm back then we were under a native time and all these
things that come together.
I got a bunch of bills listed here and some of you guys' names are in here.
I'd like to thank you, guys, for bringing these bills up.
If you question, bring these up, who will bring them up?
So, I want to...
Thank you. My thank-you's are going to extend all the way outside to the room and keep going.
for on this legislative
Session, I think it's 35th
Yeah, so let's make it the best 35 on education, and let us not
Have people picking on an education to be heard. Let's let support each other. That's it
Thank you. Thank You, sir. Can you please say your name into the record? Sorry about that. Okay. I got carried away. John Echak from Chivak. He should have made is our first village name.
Can she know me? Yeah, we moved twice on our own now with the Catholic Bishop of Northern Alaska helping us. So we didn't we did require any state funding or anything like that we just moved.
So our original village was right smack near the coast two miles away from the
Bering Sea and the flood waters moved us inland 15 miles to Ochivac and they
thought they were protected 15-miles in but they
were wrong so we had to have our
We will run this run to our neighboring village to ask for permission to move to a high ground in the hill.
And now, we're fully protected thanks to all our forefathers.
So kashoon to me, this is our origination.
Thank you, thank you sir.
We'll now hear from our last school district, Huna School District, before we receive wrap up comments from the executive director of the Association of Alaska School Boards.
Hi, if you could please identify yourself for the record
and begin your comments when you are ready.
OK.
Yeah, you guys could get close to the mic
so that everyone in the back can hear you.
Of course.
Hello.
My name is Nathan Fonc, and I'm a high school history teacher
from Hoona City Schools.
When I was as old as Raina here, I learned in my civics class
that democracy was built upon compromise.
And as much as I would love to offer that, any compromise feels like too deep of a concession for our schools.
How are we, as who in the city schools, expected to compromise on our failing generator,
which has already caused that loss of valuable class hours.
How we supposed to Compromise on a broken water boilers, which provoked a similar question each morning.
Mr. Fonts, why is it so cold in here?
How are other districts expected to compromise when their buildings are closed, when our students live in camps,
when the sewage builds in their classrooms, and when power fails to, how can we compromise?
We are retreating to our core functions,
and those core function are also failing.
What am I supposed to say when my students are cold?
This infrastructure was built with stability, fiscal or otherwise in mind.
And now that that stability is gone, as we can expect with a cyclical boom cycle of our state, how can we adapt?
Let me point out the contradiction.
We need money, that's we struggle to have.
To offer a synthesis, a dialectic, compromise feels impossible.
I would like to state firstly that I believe that funding, however possible, is my priority as is echoed by my superintendent, my board, and my students.
If, that is a heavy if, it cannot be resolved, then my proposed compromise is to devise plans for downsizing.
I'd like acknowledge Fairbanks with their ability to respond to collapse gracefully with the centralized leadership.
I want to ask warmly for representatives to consider guidance through our upcoming turmoil if we cannot have our request met.
It's not easy for me to say.
The world will move regardless of our funding, and I must prepare my students to become the next leaders of the town, the region, their districts,
and their state regardless.
Reina here has demonstrated quite a bit of resolve in this.
She's taken much initiative over the course of this trip.
And therefore, she comes forward not to represent really me, but also my issues,
but to present her students.
In that sense, I hope that she can be a leader in the future soon.
So I would very kindly like you to listen to her as she says her piece.
Thank you.
Hello,
I'm Raina Sharklin.
I am a sophomore in Huna City Schools and I
am speaking on number SB 18.
I Am Against This Bill.
I feel that the bill will remove a lot of decisions for schools and parents.
Many parents like mine have invested.
much for their child education just for it to be banned in schools like personal
devices computers are not cheap but many parents have invested in computers and
other devices for the child's education. Adding on in my school many teachers
have used their phone as a privilege and it has worked. It has made our students
the decisions made by school boards and not only them, but our parents too.
With that, phones are not going anywhere. There's no evolving. With
that being said, what would we gain from taking personal devices during passing period and lunch?
It is not good to run from a problem, restricting it and cutting it off completely.
We can only restrict things for so long with this bill. It just teaches kids to be sneaky
Learn to hide from teachers and rebel. We see this happening with the phone policy. we have already I
See a lot of kids turning in their phone case instead of their a phone loophole it will always
They're turning and burner phones loophole lying about where their phones is loophole there will be loopholes
It is better to work with loopholes and try to close them. No? These students will only get
more creative and if we find a common ground with these students, I truly believe that we will get
their attention and really get their interest in learning because if don't feel the need to
find the loophole, there won't be any. If we found a feeling of choice, the feeling
With this we can strengthen the skills that employers value most such as self-discipline and this way we
can teach them to make the right decision when given a choice and
Even then I feel that if we are given time to do what we want when we after doing what
We need it will greatly improve our agility and motive a motivate us to be better
I believe that personal devices or phones at least should be a
privilege something to earn
Once again, I'm against this bill and I feel it will do more bad than good.
Thank you for your time.
Thank thank you. Thank for you testimony.
Seeing no questions, we'll move on to our second to last presentation, which will be
Ed Rising. I will ask if Ed rising can ensure they keep themselves to a good
less than five minutes as we are getting close to 10 o'clock here.
Hi, if you could please identify yourself the record and begin your testimony when you are ready.
Hello, my name is Paige Midgett. I'm a student at Career Tech High School in Wasola, Alaska.
I am testifying on SB 209.
I generally oppose this bill because I feel that further clarification is needed.
What exactly would a proficiency confirmation tool entail?
Would it be similar to a standardized test?
is passing the proficiency test or requirement to graduate or just in addition to a student's diploma.
If a Student is unable to pass a proficiency
test, are there going to be strategies put in place to ensure students become proficient?
This policy could add an additional obstacle for students with disabilities, especially if proficiency is a requirement to graduate.
Although this bill could help hold teachers and administrators accountable to state education standards, funding would be an issue.
In my school, we lost three teachers last year and are expecting to lose several more this year.
Class sizes have grown immensely and course offerings have been reduced.
Similarly, summer school, which has been an option for students who haven't yet reached proficiency,
has being cut at the secondary level in the Matt Subaru School District.
This policy will add significant workloads to teachers that are already overwhelmed.
If we cannot afford to employ enough teachers and provide summer remediation programs,
how can we expect to enact new policy that will require significant funds?
In conclusion, I urge you to vote no on SB 209 due to a lack of clarification and funding.
Thank you for your time.
Thank You. Are there any questions from committee members?
Seeing none, we will move on to our last invited testifier today.
It is the executive director of the Association for Alaska School Boards, Mr. Lon Garrison.
I'm going to say that you have five minutes.
Thank you chair Tobin
Good morning. My name is lon garrison. I'm the executive director of the Association of Alaska school boards
And I am going to take far less than five minutes. Oh, I'll make this pretty brief
to wrap up today
I want to say that you know the testimony that
You have been able to hear today as we've done for many years
I think is
Exceptional and I hope it makes an impression on the work and the thoughts that
you have to put into the
making the decisions that you as committee members and ultimately as the legislature
have to make about public education. The Association of Alaska School Boards has for
you know nearly 70 odd years advocated on behalf of school boards across the state of
Alaska and it's my privilege to be that executive director and to lead this.
involved in advocating for education now for 20 years first as a school board
member I have been in this building every February for twenty years and for
twenty-years I had been saying nearly the same exact thing and we're at a
point now where that conversation is at an inflection point and I think you've
heard the stories today
that pretty soon public education will not work in the state of Alaska, and we have to do something.
We have be bold.
And first, I want to say thank you and congratulate you for the boldness that you showed
in that first half of the session by passing an increase in a base student allocation that was unprecedented.
That was significant, but at the same time, we all know that the passage of that BSA increase did not
make up for the true cost that districts are experiencing that are not met.
And the other piece is that we have not strategically invested in education and infrastructure that needs to make,
needs, to happen in order to makes sure students have a great place to go to school and be effective in their learning.
that you visit rural remote Alaska because there are buildings that students are inhabiting and
trying to get an education that are not appropriate. They're not inappropriate at all. And it's not
living up to the opportunity that the Constitution requires of the state of Alaska to make certain
So, I won't go on much longer, but to say thank you, thank
you for giving these folks an opportunity to talk to you today.
Thank you keep your eye on the ball and thank
you working towards this.
I know it's hard, democracy is hard.
But we do have to keep our eye what is one of the greatest
and the posterity that they bring to the state of Alaska.
So with that, I'll close and say thank you very much.
Happy to answer any questions, any time.
I know you've got a busy day
and we have a number of folks needing to get to meetings.
So again, thank-you.
Thank you, thank you Mr. Garin, it's Garrison.
Are there any questions or comments?
President Stevens.
Thank You, Madam Chair, and thank
you Ms. Garrison for being here.
I appreciate your comments about inviting the Special Committee
to roll the stools, but the two issues I'd like to bring up.
One is.
is that that involvement of all legislators
in the school districts.
We used to have a very progressive program
with National Conference of State legislators
making sure that every legislator was invited
into the schools at one point.
That's sort of fallen away.
Many legislators do a great job.
Some don't do anything.
So I really think it's up to you
to organize a approach to making
sure every legislature is invited
into this school one time or another.
We're your advocates, and if we're not there, we can't advocate.
The other thing had to do with student testimony today.
One young lady, I think, from Juneau said that I have to miss school to come to testify.
I think she should best go more often to come to testify because she will really learn what it means to be a citizen.
I see your students here. They're standing up.
They are saying things.
They were able to speak to us in a very solid way.
I'd encourage more of that.
I appreciate the student.
We love our professionals, teachers and principals and school boards.
But what really moves this legislature, I thank you as a student and former.
I hope that you will work on in the next few years.
Thank you.
And through the chair, I accept the challenge.
Well, thank you, Thank You President Stevens.
And I would be remiss if I did not note that this is President
Stevens last year with us.
And he has been integral in establishing the education
committees and doing the work that is clearly the most
important work to be done in legislature,
which is investing in our kids.
So I want to thank everyone.
Especially all who testified, I know it is not easy to come up before a group of legislators.
Especially when you are on the spot and definitely on camera.
So I just want to applaud all of the students today, all the adults who brought them here.
And I echo many of my fellow colleagues' remarks in that I'm very excited to see you all throughout today in the building.
We look forward to our conversations with many you.
This concludes today's agenda.
I think we should all pat ourselves on the back for ending on time.
That is such a significant feat.
Four years in and we have finally done it together.
The next meeting of the House Education Committee will be on Wednesday, February 11th at 8 a.m.
The Next Meeting of The Senate Education committee will beyond Wednesday February
11 at 3.30 p.M. Both of those meetings will feature overviews and
discussion about Mount Edgecombe High School.
As there is no other business before us today, I will adjourn today's joint meeting
of House and Senate education committee at 9.56 a A. M.