Alaska school boards group honors Nome board, citing reading gains

The Association of Alaska School Boards named the Nome Public Schools board its 2026 Outstanding School Board in an announcement Sunday. The association cited reading gains among the district's youngest students.

The share of Nome elementary students reading at or above benchmark grew from 37 percent in the fall to 54 percent by spring last school year, the association said. The number of kindergarten students meeting reading benchmarks more than tripled over the same period.

The announcement credits the board with making student achievement "a firm expectation in every school improvement plan."

The figures measure students at the start and end of one school year. They do not compare one year's class to the next. Statewide, state figures released in August showed 4,264 fewer K-3 students ended last school year in the lowest reading category, also a fall-to-spring comparison.

The association also cited the board's Strategic Equity Framework, which it said is meant to address historic inequities for Alaska Native children in the K-12 system. The board developed a Portrait of a Graduate with broad community input. The announcement says board members worked to strengthen tribal consultation locally and through the association's policy committee, so tribes have a strong voice in decisions at the district and school level. The board is also working toward State Tribal Education Compact schools, the association said.

Board members teach cultural and language courses, judge science fairs and officiate at NYO, the association said.

Boards nominate themselves for the award, and an association committee picks one board each year. The award is presented at the association's annual conference. It also comes with a free registration for a student at the spring Youth Advocacy Institute, Superintendent Jamie Burgess's report to the board says.

The Nome board is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 5:30 pm. Its agenda includes a second reading and possible adoption of a new tribal consultation policy, which a district memo describes as a framework for consulting with Alaska tribes. District enrollment stood at 673 students as of Nov. 7.