5/19/2026: School Board Meeting

Good evening. We'll call ourselves to order. Today is Tuesday, May 19th, 2026. The time is 6:19 PM here in the AST School Board meeting room. Present are members Jacobs, Bellamy, Blakeslee, Higgins, McDonough, Lessons, and Wilson, along with our student representative Madison.

Uh, we've called ourselves to order and engaged in a roll call. Madison, would you please lead us in the flag salute and then read our land acknowledgment?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We acknowledge that we gather here today On the traditional lands of the Dena'ina people of the Upper Cook Inlet. For thousands of years, the Dena'ina people have been and continue to be the stewards of this land. ASD is committed to diversity and inclusion, and it is with honor and respect that we recognize all indigenous people who live and learn in our community.

Thank you, Madison. Um, board, we have an agenda in front of us. Is there a motion?

I move to approve. Mr. President, I move to approve the agenda as presented. Is there a second? Second. Motion to approve the agenda as drafted, made by Member Bellamy, seconded by Member Lessens.

Is there any discussion? Mr. President, I move to amend the agenda to include Item G6, ASD Resolution 25-26-03, a resolution directing the superintendent to develop administrative regulations for the inclusion of deceased students in high school graduation ceremonies.

Okay, withdrawn.

Okay, um, is there other discussion? Regarding the agenda, uh, seeing that, is there any opposition to approving the agenda as drafted? Okay, we have an agenda. Thank you, everyone. The first item on our agenda is B1, Recognitions, Denali Awards.

I believe Dr. Bryan is going to start us off.

Testing, 1, 2, 3. All right, it looks like we're ready to go. Um, good afternoon everyone, everyone. I'm Dr. Jarrett Bryant, ASD Superintendent, and welcome. School Board President Carl Jacobs and I are honored to welcome you to the 25-26 school year Denali Awards Ceremony.

Denali is an Athabascan word meaning great one, and the Anchorage School District is proud to have employees that display greatness in in the areas of achievement, service, and dedication. The Denali Award is the highest award offered by the district to its employees. Each spring, supervisors submit nominations and a panel of ASD staff select a number of employees and a team of colleagues that demonstrate outstanding commitment to the district's mission of educating all students for success in life. There are 3 different categories for the Denali Award: classified, certificated, and team. We are honored to recognize 2 individuals and 1 group tonight as the 2026 Denali Award winners.

Before we recognize these winners, I would like to first take a moment to acknowledge the individuals who received honorable mention for their exceptional service and dedication. These employees were nominated and stood out to the selection panel for their outstanding contributions to their schools and the Anchorage School District. We thank each of you for the commitments to student success and for the impact that you make in our schools each day. Please join me in recognizing the 2026 honorable mention recipients. Miss Sullivan, we will call the names of each honorable mention recipient and they will join us on the stage to be photographed.

Luke Albin, South Anchorage High School principal.

Gary Dylan, Huffman Elementary School teacher.

Abby O'Neill, North Star Elementary principal.

All right, congratulations to our 2026 honorable mention recipients. Before we recognize the Denali Award winners, we would like to recognize our student artist Miranda Miller. Miranda is an 8th grader at Mears Middle School. Her art was selected by the Denali Awards panel to be gifted to this year's winners. Miranda's art, titled Chaotic Harmony, was created in Kathleen Crumb's expanded art class at Mears Middle School.

The assignment was to create a collage, a collage portrait. Students could choose any face. They were to cut or tear magazine pieces and come up with their own color scheme and composition. I'd also like to thank our community partners at Blaine's Art, who have generously donated a $50 gift card to recognize Miranda.

Congratulations to her. Thank you, Miranda. Before we continue with tonight's traditional Denali Award presentations, we would also like to again recognize the ASD employees who were honored earlier this evening for their extraordinary service during the Typhoon Halong response effort. Their compassion, leadership, and willingness to step forward during a time of crisis demonstrated the very best of the Anchorage School District and the profound impact of public educators and staff can have on an entire community. If you are one of the ASD employees who received a special Denali Award for extraordinary service during the Typhoon Halong response, I would like to ask you to stand at this, this time.

Please join me in thanking these individuals and the communities they represent for their remarkable service.

Next, we will recognize the 2026 Denali Award recipients. Board members will read the winner bios, and then the winners will come forward to receive their award and be photographed with the superintendent and I. Thank you, President Jacobs. We'll begin with the classified award. This year's Denali Award winner in the classified category is Jeremy Coulson, maintenance supervisor.

Jeremy Coulson exemplifies what it means to serve the Anchorage School District with dedication, integrity, and heart. With more than 23 years of service to ASD beginning in November 2002, Mr. Coulson has built a career defined by reliability, expertise, and an unwavering commitment to students and staff. Since becoming maintenance supervisor in May 2022, Mr. Colson has overseen critical systems including plumbing, heating, and building automation systems, the essential infrastructure that keeps schools safe, warm, and operational every day. This past winter brought some of the most extreme and prolonged cold conditions our district has faced in more than 25 years. During that time, Mr. Colson far beyond the expectations of his role.

He worked day and night, often 7 days a week, ensuring schools remained open, safe, and ready for students. Even when he was not the designated on-call supervisor, Mr. Colson consistently stepped in to respond to emergencies, support his team, and make sure no issue went unresolved. His level of ownership and accountability is exceptional. Mr. Colson leads by example. He shares his knowledge freely, supports his crews, and fosters a culture of accountability, teamwork, and pride in workmanship.

His team knows they can rely on him, and that trust is reflected in the strong performance of his departments. What truly sets Mr. Colson apart is his understanding that every repair, every system check, and every late-night call directly impacts students and their ability to learn. He consistently puts students first, ensuring learning environments are safe, warm, and ready each day. Mr. Colson embodies the spirit of the Anchorage School District through his commitment, service, and willingness to do whatever it takes to support schools and students. Please join me in congratulating the 2026 Classified Denali Award recipient, Jeremy Colson.

The next category is the Certificated Award. This year's Denali Award winner in the Certificated Award category is Krista Rice, school psychologist at Bartlett High School.

Miss Rice. Miss Rice is a core part of what makes Bartlett High School such a welcoming, supportive, and student-centered school community. As a school psychologist, Miss Rice consistently goes far beyond the responsibilities of her role. In addition to managing the demands of her own position, she stepped in throughout the year to help fill critical special education staffing gaps, supporting students and staff during a time of significant need. Ms. Rice serves on Bartlett's Positive Behavior Intervention Supports, PBIS, team at multiple levels, leads small groups, participates in the school's attendance cohort, and provides mentorship and support to new teachers, counselors, and administrators.

Most importantly, she serves as a trusted adult for countless students across the school community.

Her impact reaches every corner of Bartlett High School. Through her leadership in student risk assessments, threat assessments, and emergency interventions, Miss Rice has quite literally helped save lives. Colleagues describe her as someone who is always willing to help no matter how full her plate may be. She is known for greeting others with kindness, compassion, and a steady smile. Even during the most challenging moments, Ms. Rice embodies the heart of what it means to be a Bartlett Golden Bear and exemplifies the very best of the Anchorage School District.

Please join me in congratulating Krista Rice, the 2026 school year Certificate Denali Award recipient.

Hey, and last but certainly not least, we'll recognize our winners in the team category. The Whaley School Life Skills team consists of— please come forward— Madison McDonald, Adam Martinez, Erika Monklin, Vicki Price, Mauricio Roca, Brandy Russo. Woo!

The Whaley Life Skills team exemplifies what it means to serve students with compassion, expertise, and unwavering commitment. Each day, this team goes far beyond the responsibilities of the classroom to create learning environments centered on dignity, independence, and belonging for some of ASD's most complex learners. In addition to delivering highly individualized instruction, the team thoughtfully designed systems that support communication, behavior regulation, adaptive functioning, and transition skills. They continually adjust instruction, routines, and environments to meet students' evolving needs, often extending their work, their work far beyond the school day to ensure every student receives the support they need to succeed. The Whaley Life Skills Team works in close partnership with families, behavior specialists, and related service providers to create consistency and stability for students across settings.

They are also known among colleagues for modeling collaboration, flexibility, and compassion, mentoring paraprofessionals, supporting fellow staff members, and fostering a culture where both students and adults feel valued and supported. Their impact reaches far beyond the classroom. This team serves students whose needs exceed what neighborhood schools were able to support, students who require the highest levels of structure, consistency, and individualized care. Whaley families have shared that they truly felt heard, supported, and partnered with as caregivers. Through their work, this team builds trust with families and students with intensive needs and creates environments where growth, learning, and belonging are possible.

The Whaley Life Skills Team fills a critical role in the Anchorage School District and demonstrates every day what it means to ensure every learner is seen, supported, and valued. Please join me in congratulating the 2026 Team Denali Award recipient, the Whaley Life Skills Team.

The administration invites the board and everyone in attendance to celebrate our 2026 Denali Award recipients for the example of excellence they set for the entire Anchorage School District community. The board will now call a 15-minute recess. Please join us in the atrium for refreshments, photos, and our celebration. Okay.

So here, is that different? What does this mean? They would have signed online. So this is the online signups, right? Oh, there might have been people that signed up between 5:30 and 6:00.

They just sign up by like writing their names? Okay. They can between 5:30 and 6:00, they can Oh, sorry. Oh, I'm sorry.

We'll call ourselves back to order at 6:53 PM.

We'll move to report section C. First item is student representative reports. Madison, would you like to give your final reports? Yes, thank you. All right, so I just want to say it's very exciting being now graduated. I had my graduation last week on Tuesday for Eagle River High School, and so this will be my last meeting because of that.

And I also have an upcoming internship with Lisa Murkowski over June. I was selected for that, so I'm very grateful to be doing those things and moving on to new journeys in life, but I sadly will be having to leave the school board, and this will be my last meeting as a result. Um, I also do want to mention that going forward, um, I am committed to UC Berkeley for my further education, and I'm very excited for that as well because I will be majoring in political science, which is my biggest passion here right now. But moving on as well, to conclude my final student report of this, um, of this over being on the overall being on this school board, I do want to bring up, um, AHSOG from the spring in April. It went really well.

We had students all over the state coming in from Juneau, and then from there we decided that the future delegations that continue to do AHSOG will have our planned meetings in the fall in Metlakatla and spring in Tri-Valley. So if anyone's interested in continuing to do ASOG, the Alaska Associations of Student Governments, then they are welcome to register for those future conferences. Additionally, I was absent from our last meeting due to an orchestra concert, so that kind of explains some of the different absences that I've had. But given that this is my last meeting as well, and then because I am not always too sure, um, how long I will be staying for these full meetings, I do just kind of want to give a few words of wisdom as I leave today, being my last meeting. I just want to mention that public service has definitely been one of my greatest pleasures in my life, and it's not just because of the people, but it's because of the advocacy itself.

For me, advocacy has provided people that I know around me a voice, and voice has always been such an important topic to me because not everyone is able to use their own voice, and that's what being a representative means to me. And being on the school board has allowed me to have that privilege to be the voice of the student body, and I couldn't have been more grateful. And having such a diverse student body makes me emphasize the importance of perspective and advocacy. And I hope not only that the school board carries on this message, but everyone else in the room. And as I leave this room today, being my last meeting, I'm honored to transition into my college journey, but to also have the one wish is that everyone here can continue to carry on the importance of this perspective.

Perspective lets you solve issues in an open-minded manner, which is the number one thing when it comes to societal issues and justice, even in just the smallest, most local issues that come up. Each person comes from a different background, especially living here in Anchorage, Alaska, and as a result, there's so many diverse experiences with what you interact with, and no one's able to assume. What each person experiences, and you can only listen. And the amount of listening I've done on the school board with hours of testimony, I've able— I've become able to learn, and I've been able to learn to advocate for these different communities by prioritizing their issues first and learning along with the other school board members, even just as a student. And so I thank everyone who helped me on that journey of this public service, and I most importantly thank every student I was able to represent.

So thank you so much for having such a great year of being able to be the student representative on the school board. It was truly the number one highlight of my year, and I'm excited for everything else that comes for me, um, as I leave today. So thank you so much.

Um, thank you, Madison, for your report and for your service on the board. Um, I'm going to hand the mic to Member Lessons, who would like to say a few words as well. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, Madison, uh, it is with great pride and a little bit of sadness that I have been tasked by at least a handful of these board members with saying a few remarks about you, uh, following your eloquent remarks. So, um, maybe I would say pride, sadness, and, um, humility as well following your remarks.

First, thank you for everything that you've shared tonight and over the past year. For the record, Madison has been— I need to change my verb tense here— was an outstanding student during her time at ASD, demonstrating really strong academics and incredible— wow— an incredibly well-rounded approach to her education at Eagle River High School. She took Advanced Placement course— Advanced Placement work, participated in orchestra. I saw her play cello the other evening. Debate.

She's a state debate champion, if you didn't know, and in student government at Eagle River High School. She has also spoken on behalf of students, uh, to the Alaska Legislature and worked, as you said, with the Alaska Association of Student Governments, ASAG. Nationwide, she has been chosen as a Civics Unplugged Fellow, so she is an emerging national leader. For me personally, watching you grow as a student representative to the board and as the SAB president has been a source of joy. So what happens is that we have the Student Advisory Board composed of 60 to 75 students from all of our middle schools, all of our high schools, um, correspondence schools, alternative schools.

It is an eclectic, enthusiastic, sometimes unwieldy bunch, and sometimes they end up amending their amendments to their amendments, and And someone has to keep them in check and engaged, and they share good things about their schools. And for the past year, that has been Madison. And when you are president of the SAB, you also then become president— excuse me, the student advisor to the ASD school board. So that's how Madison came to fill this particular role. So within SAB over the past year, she has kept them on task.

And in the process has proven herself to be a thoughtful, articulate, and enthusiastic student leader who works hard and takes time to understand every issue and weigh every issue's merits and shortcomings before speaking. But here on the board is where we see you most and where people on YouTube can see you forever, in fact. But it always impresses me, and I think you impress the rest of us as well. Our meetings are frequent, often complex, can garner sizable public input, but you attend all regular board meetings to the greatest extent possible while also going home and finishing your homework later that night. Um, you listen to public testimony with compassion.

You've never been afraid to ask relevant questions, and quite frankly, you bravely share your Student Advisory Board vote before you know how the rest of us are going to vote. You're—. We sort of throw you to the wind, but we listen to you. I listen to you, and I value that input so much. Um, your composure, your competence, your commitment are greatly appreciated.

So I was not surprised to learn a few weeks ago, and as you just shared, that you have a really exciting year up ahead with Senator Murkowski's office this summer and enrolling at UC Berkeley this fall. So I think I can speak for all of us to say that we couldn't be happier for you or really more proud of the leader that you have become and will continue to become. So congratulations, Madison, you will be missed, and there are a few good tidings in here to carry you down to the Bay Area.

Hey, thank you, Madison. We'll move on to report C2. Our military report is up next. Uh, Colonel Hansen is joining us tonight. Welcome, sir.

The floor is yours. You can begin when you're ready.

Hey, good evening team. Good evening, President Jacobs, Superintendent Bryant, members of the board, new members of the board, as well as our district staff. I am Colonel Dustin Hanson. I am the Mission Support Group Commander on JBARE. My responsibilities include management of JBARE's communications, cyber networks, as well as contracting acquisitions outdoor recreation, welfare, morale events, administration for personnelis, as well as base defense and law enforcement inside the base.

And last but not least, I am also the, the school liaison advocate for military-connected students. And so it's, it is genuinely a privilege to be able to have 5 minutes or so to just advocate for my families here who are connected to JBear. Tonight, uh, I would like to give a little bit of a JBear 101, uh, to just a little bit draw the curtains back from, uh, the, the fence line of JBear. So for the sake of transparency and just shared understanding, like, what JBear does and, and how we operate, and probably most importantly, like, why is this relevant to our students within the Anchorage School District? So allow me to start with the big picture here.

And what I'm trying to convey on this slide is if we start with a little bubble at the top, that's the Northern Hemisphere. And the reason that the Department of War values Jaybird, many reasons, but one of them is just its proximity to everywhere, its proximity to the northern, within the Northern Hemisphere. So within 7 to 9 hours, we can project forces anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. So that's strategically important. Additionally, the Arctic also is growing in significance for the resources that it has, and it's not only interesting to the US, but it's also interesting to other countries as well.

And so the Department of War values JBEAR and is going to be continuing investing in JBEAR, and I'll talk about that a little bit later. JBARE itself, the J for JBARE is joint. Joint means that there's multiple military branches that work on JBARE. Within JBARE itself, primarily we have the Air Force and the Army are probably the two biggest partners. If you look at the gray box in the center, I have active duty Air Force listed, about 5,400 folks, active duty Army, 4,800.

I also listed the Reserve and the Guard and our civilians, and that's probably what I'm going to hit on a little bit later is we have 3,174 civilians on base. We have even more like positions that are, that are open. It is my desire as JBear grows and continues to advance in the future to attract the students within ASD to consider staying in Anchorage, investing their time, their talent, and their treasure into JBear, we have positions for them, which I'll touch on later. Lastly, on this slide, I'll just say that JBear, we like to claim that we are the second biggest municipality in Alaska, right? Right behind Anchorage.

So between Anchorage and the— and JBear, it's like its own metropolis within Alaska. But we take great pride in that because it's valuable to the economy. Within each joint base, there needs to be an installation commander. And so there's multiple joint bases around the world. Every joint base has an installation commander.

That installation commander is typically an O-6 or a colonel/captain if you're in the Navy type. And sometimes it's Navy, sometimes it's Army, and in this case, the installation commander is Air Force. Next slide, please.

Yes. Smiling faces. So on your left side, top left, is Colonel Lisa Mabbitt, U.S. Air Force. She is not only a wing commander, 673rd Wing Commander, but she is the installation commander. And in fact, I am representing her when I speak, when I speak in these venues.

So Colonel Lisa Mabbitt is the installation commander. She has an amazing team next to her side. She has her senior enlisted leader, an E-9, Command Chief Sylvester. She's also blessed with— back to the joint piece— two Army, an 06 and an E9, Sergeant Major Bingham and Colonel Pulasek as her senior enlisted leader from the Army side, as well as a colonel deputy. And then the final two folks on the right side, you have Colonel Pierce and Mr. Weghorst.

Colonel Pierce, the Air Force deputy, and then Mr. Weghorst, our civilian executive director. So this is the command team with Colonel Mabbitt being the installation commander. She will move this summer and a new installation commander will come on board in late July. Right below these photos, I've listed just what her organization looks like. Again, we have multiple organizations within JBAB, but I'm listing her.

So she, she reports to a 3-star general. You might think that, well, maybe the highest ranking person is the installation commander, but no, it's, it's not true because that highest ranking person, in this case a 3-star general, has multiple bases that he or she is responsible for. So that's why they give it to an O-6 to be an installation commander. Underneath her, she's— there's several groups and squadrons below that. I fall somewhere in there.

It doesn't matter so much, but you'll see a blue and a green blend. Again, this is just showing the support between the Army and the Air Force. Air Force. Next slide, please.

Okay, I mentioned that mission partners, so yes, we do have a 2-star Army general, Major General Cogbill, and then we have our 3-star Air Force General Lieutenant General Davis, and below them you have again the 11th Airborne Division, and then you have Colonel Mabbitt with the 673rd Air Base Wing, Colonel Shuck with the Third Wing. And so this slide really just conveys, yes, we do have higher-ranking folks than the installation commander, but we have multiple mission partners across JBAB, roughly 55 in total. Here I listed the big ones just to list off a couple like the Air National Guard. We have the 176th Wing, which is also Guard. We have the 477th Reserve.

We have Defense Missile Agency and ISRG. The ISRG is especially interesting. They work over in what we call like the elephant cage. And if you look at a, at a map, and we'll see it on the next map, this is a— yeah, this is a group that works over there as well. So this is just a few examples of the 55 or so mission partners that we have on Jay Bear.

Next slide, please. I mentioned future, the future of Jay Bear, and so right here I just listed a few of the projects that are either currently ongoing or coming down the pipe. And these are big projects and it's going to change the shape of JBear. It's going to change the dynamics of JBear. And like, I think most importantly, it's going to attract more and more talent because these are very, in a sense, like no-fail mission projects.

And so I'm excited to see like how we're going to attract the talent out of anchorage. So I'll just quickly start at the top. You see runway expansion that's ongoing right now. I would expect that to be done within the next 24 months. Moving to your 1 o'clock position, we're investing into more training ranges.

A lot of times that we'll spend— how do we, how do we fight in an agile way? Well, we do that by practicing on these training ranges. At the 2 o'clock position, I have weapons generation complex. We're anticipating more flying squadrons coming to JBear. And so with that being said, we need a weapons generation complex will be going in here in the next while.

And then I have two boxes, both at the 9 o'clock position and the 4 o'clock position, saying fast future development. That on the, on the right side, that fast future development is really the 11th Airborne Division growing. They're gaining more units. Over these next few years, several years. And then at the 9:00 position, Fast Future Development, that's talking about the future flying squadrons that are coming to JBear as well.

And then at the very bottom, what we call the JITTC, Joint Integrated Test and Training Center, that building is being built right now. They're digging up the ground, but that's going forward and that's going to attract a lot of like data-hungry analysts. And at the very end of the slide, I just mentioned two things. You'll see a picture of like child development care and drones. On the left side, child development care, like, wow, we are always looking for, and I appreciate our partnership with UAA to attract our CDC staff and our child and youth workers.

As our mission requirements grow, so does our demand with our demand for more child support as families with kids are working. And so we're always looking to expand our child support. And then drones, uh, you know, drones are the thing that we are also trying to crack the code on to make sure that our base remains safe. And so we continue to create our, um, create a public awareness campaign to ensure people are being vigilant and looking in the air. And if you see a drone, say a drone.

And we have the numbers to support that. Next slide, please. And finally, I just want to touch on this. This is—. On the left side, I listed probably like Jay Bear's hot jobs.

These are jobs that, you know, consistently we're always looking for folks and their talent. And so you can see I listed guest services, housekeeping, child development center, budget analysts, logistics, cooks, beverage clerks, labor, law enforcement. And what I did is I looked at the Jaybird jobs, I looked at the pathways that ASD has created within the high schools. And so it's my, it's my ambition to take some of the folks that are working in these jobs, insert them into some of the classrooms that are, that complement these pathways at these high schools and just look at a civilian who says, hey, I do budget analyst. "Let me tell you about a day in the life of what I do." And maybe that— it's, it's like the civilian position of recruiting.

Instead of seeing a military uniform-wearing person, you see a civilian who's been there maybe 15, 20 years, and they have— they want to share their experience and attract the talent within your schools.

And speaking of schools, I do want to call out Airport Heights Elementary. They've been wonderful partners as we have been. We have 10 volunteers that went to Airport Heights Elementary and supported their Readers Are Leaders. And so thank you to the, to the volunteers that did that, as well as Airport Heights for just hosting them. Reading, reading is, is so good for the brain, and so we are happy to be read to at schools.

And last slide, I would be a miss if I did not address the air show that's coming up in August. We had the air show a couple years ago. I think we attracted over the course of 2 days about 250,000 people. We're expecting that same, and the weather was fantastic, it's true. We're expecting those same numbers.

We have a lot of lessons learned from last year, and so we are excited to open up our gates and bring in the community from wherever to showcase all the wonderful soldiers, sailors, airmen. And oh, by the way, the Blue Angels are coming. It's like, okay, it's okay that they're Navy, but all that to say they're really good at what they do. And so again, like, we're just excited to open our gates, bring in everybody that we can. And oh, by the way, just continue to say like, hey, think about if you want to stay in this area, come work at JBear.

And we're here to partner with the schools here to make them thrive. That's all that I have for tonight. Thank you for the time. I went a little bit over, but I stand by for any questions. Thank you, Colonel Hanson, for your reports.

Other questions from the board for our military representative? Member Lessens. First of all, welcome again. It's always a pleasure to learn from you and hear from you. And clearly there's a really strong partnership between the Jay Bear, Team Jay Bear and Team ASD.

So, so thank you for that. I think one of the questions that came to mind, um, you were really forecasting about Jay Bear's growth, and with growth generally come children. Yes. And I, I guess I won't presume that you would know how many families are coming, but do you have a sense? My, my working understanding is that we have about 3,000 students right now who are military families affiliated with JBear as part of our general student population.

Do you have a sense that that's going to be growing significantly, moderately? I don't know how you would qualif— describe that growth and timeline, but as we think about what does the district need to look like in the future, it's important to keep in mind something like JBear's growth. For sure. Thank you, Member Lessans. Fantastic question, and these are the questions that we're asking ourselves too, like what, how much the growth is there.

I think we're, we're still defining the mission requirements and what that will look like, which will then drive how many people positions are required to be here. So I'm tracking closer to 4,000 military-connected students, roughly 10% of the, of the entire ASD school population. So It is so that piece we understand the weight of, of what we, um, how important this partnership is with these future projects coming down the pipe. Um, while, while I, I won't give a number here in public testimony, I would be happy to give you, um, what analysis we've done and share that with the board once we've done some, some further analysis, if that's okay. I think that would be helpful.

Whatever you're— whatever you're comfortable with sharing with the board through the superintendent, I think is just helpful to have in our—. Absolutely—. Our mind's eye, if you will. Member Bellamy. Thank you.

Just a real quick, uh, as when the new school year starts, uh, what is— could you just put on your register to just share how other schools can get involved in the literacy initiative? Like, how do we— how would other schools— I know how Airport Heights does it because that's my school, but if other schools wanted to be a part of the literacy initiative or whatever initiative you guys have where you send role models into the schools, make sure we know what— how to do that. We 100%— we, we want to We want to use, we want to leverage as many schools as possible, and we have the volunteers that want to go into the school. So appreciate Airport Heights. It's my school liaison officer Adele Daniels.

Yes, she's, she's the first belly button that they would contact, and then we can feed those schools with our, with our volunteer folks. Great, thank you.

Seeing no other questions, Colonel, thank you for joining us tonight.

Uh, we'll move to board conference and committee reports. Is there a board committee chair who wishes to make a report at this time?

Member Blakeslee? Yeah, my report is very short. Uh, I'm the new chair of the Finance Committee, and we have not had a Finance Committee meeting yet, but my report is that we are having a Finance Committee meeting on May 28th, which is next Thursday. It is Thursday. Yep, at 12:15 PM.

And the topics that we have set, been working with Andy and Katie on that, are we're going to have a quick legislative update because by then session will be over. So we'll have sort of an update about what bills passed. We don't know what may or may not be vetoed by the governor, but we'll have a better understanding of what, um, what there might be, um, in the way of resources or implications to contend with, um, for ASD. And then we'll just have a discussion about how that may or may not affect, um, our FY27 budget. So that's, that's it.

Thank you, Member McDonough. Thank you. Excuse me. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, So as the new Governance Committee chair, I'm happy to announce our first meeting is also May 28th.

It will be at 11 AM here in the board conference room. Um, and I met with the other members, Member Lessens and Member Bellamy, to discuss the priorities for this year's things to tackle in all things board policy. Um, we discussed the, the heartbreak and strain that has been filling the boardroom, especially on that side of the dais, for most of the last year. The palpable force of school closure announcements, and then a vote, and then more announcements, and then another vote, and the fallout that has happened since then. And we realized that trying to repair the right-sizing process through board policy alone through the purview of Governance Committee would overwhelm and essentially capsize the committee as well.

It's a, it's a very big task, and I think this priority is true for the other two standing committees, um, and I would invite that they have the opportunity to comment on this, but the scope and complexity of handling school closures requires a much bigger task force than any standing committee of the board because our business agenda is already pretty important. So for that reason, myself as the governance chair hopes that the board president will establish an ad hoc committee that can focus on the future purpose and use of ASD school facilities. This is because we cannot avoid the realities of a shrinking enrollment in ASD, and we cannot continue to disrespect to the needs of the community that needs us to be responsive and proactive. I also note that I'm calling for an ad hoc committee in a process that's been very successful in the past. ASD successfully used an ad hoc committee to comprehensively build the health education policies in 2024, and we use an ad hoc committee to seek for a superintendent in 2021.

I would say both have been very successful, as Miss— or Dr. Bryant is still here. And, and this is a model that I really hope we use to address school closures. So with the report, we won't have right-sizing on the agenda of governance because it's far bigger than one committee. And I hope the board president answers this call by establishing an ad hoc committee that can tackle that problem on its own.

Member Bellamy. Sure, thank you. Um, I'm chair of the Communications Committee this year, and our meeting will be May 28th at 1:30. The one item that will probably take up most of our meeting will be looking deeper into the survey that was shared with us at our last meeting, and then our standing reports, hearing from community engagement hearing from our advisory committees, uh, if there, if there are, um, inform— if they, if they have information to share. But it is the end of the year, and I know that it's kind of crazy with everything at the end of the year.

So, um, we— I will get with our cons director and our, um, uh, Dr. Riley, and we will, uh, do as much as we can to give with as much information as we can as we close out this year and plan for the coming year, which would include whatever the decision by the President as to whether or not we have a— whether the task force will move forward. That hasn't been announced yet, but it's in anticipation. So I thank you.

Thank you. All right, that completes board conference and committee reports. We will move to public comment at this time.

I want to welcome you to the board's opportunity for public comments, uh, during our meeting. Uh, we have set aside a 1-hour time slot at the beginning of our meeting to hear from all testifiers. We We'll be able to accommodate all testifiers during that time slot. During public comment, board members will not answer questions or engage in discussion with members of the public. This is the public's time to speak and the board's time to listen.

We utilize Robert's Rules of Order to keep our meeting structured and civil. Uh, specific provisions that are relevant, uh, to public testimony include: please do not attack a member speaker's motives, no profanity or foul language, Please refrain from disturbing the meeting. No cheering, applause, outbursts, or waving of signs or posters. If you have handouts you wish to share with the board, please give them to Ms. Sullivan, who's seated to my left, and additional details and information can be found at the— on the handout located at the door regarding public participation in our meetings. We'll begin as always with student testimony.

Our first two student testifiers are Hunter Burnis, and Sydney Bartlett. If you could please come forward.

Welcome, Hunter. You have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready.

Good evening, everyone. Um, I'm here to talk about my ex— my experience with music within the Anchorage School District. Recently, the Cervus High School Jazz Band, of which I've been a member of for the past 4 years, traveled to Kansas City to compete in the Basically Basie competition. We ended up winning the competition for our division, and we were also recognized as an outstanding ensemble in the jazz festival the following day. This was an incredibly rewarding experience for not only me, but for the whole jazz band, as we learned just how much our hard work paid off.

We gained confidence in our skills and learned the value of teamwork, honesty, and dedication. Ever since I discovered music in elementary school, it has been such a vital part of my life. Music has always been my biggest motivator to keep going in school. I know that some of my peers would be lost, unmotivated, or depressed without a music class to go to every day. My favorite class out of the entire high school career has been jazz band because I know that everyone that is in the class actually wants to be there as it starts 1 hour before school starts normally and even 2 hours on Mondays.

The passion for music that I found through school has led me to many other opportunities, such as Music for Hearts, a nonprofit organization that performs for the elderly and those who would otherwise not be able to experience live music. The Anchorage Youth Symphony, which I've been a member of for the past 2 years, that provides a full symphonic orchestra experience for many young musicians, as well as coaching from professionals. And all of the honor groups, whether it be jazz bands, concert bands, or orchestra. With the solo ensemble competitions that I have performed in were all made possible by having music in my school. I'm so thankful to have music in my life and for all the opportunities that I was very fortunate enough to be a part of.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. Welcome, Sydney. You have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready. I'm Sydney Bartlett, a freshman at Robert Service High School in both symphonic band and jazz band.

Music has always played a big part in my life, from that first year when I could barely make a noise to now traveling and winning a competition. Even well before that, constantly improving and learning. The skills learned in the band room not only relate to playing an instrument, but also to life in general. You learn teamwork, collaboration, and so much more. And band not only opens up opportunities, but also brings community.

Being in band has brought me closer to my peers and made me a better person in general. This not only applies to me, but also everyone in the music programs. Band is some people's future, the highlight of their day. I'm not only assuming these things, but I've seen it up close in multiple people, but more specifically my younger brother. He's only just started band this year, yet I've seen him come home genuinely excited to go to school for the first time in a while.

All because of band. To see him thinking ahead to his future goals in possible careers. As an older sister, it excites me to see my brother finding passion in something. Band isn't just about playing an instrument, but it's people's lives for current students and the next generation. Keeping music programs alive is something that's extremely important.

We should think of the younger generation that spent the last years looking up to older music students. And the kids who've only just started and don't know where they can take them. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Our next two speakers are Islay McDonald and Robert McDonald.

Welcome, Miss Lee. You have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready.

Is it okay if I go first? All right, thank you. Good evening, members of the school board. My name is Robert— Rob McDonald. Um, uh, unsurprisingly, I'm here tonight to again talk about Campbell STEM.

Um, and report cards recently went out, and a copy of my daughter's first grade, um, report card has a number of interesting things, um, regarding academics and then also work habits, attitude, and conduct. And I had the idea of assessing you guys on work habits, attitude, and conduct, um, like works cooperatively, works independently, listening, speaking, has positive attitude. And I realized this is going to go to a fairly negative place potentially. And so instead what I did right before I came in here, um, so this is kind of ad hoc, excuse me, I looked at a school board video from several years ago and I realized that everybody was talking to you guys was mad about something. Doing, and it has to be very, very draining having people come in here and only complaining about everything you guys are doing.

So I would find that really, really hard. Um, and I think that the willingness of you guys to step up to public service is commendable. I don't agree with the decision that was made about Campbell Stem and would very much appreciate it to be reversed, but I, I very much appreciate what you guys are doing. I would, in the sense of talking about stories, like to talk about a couple stories that have happened at Campbell STEM that I've even either heard or witnessed directly. One of which is that I recently heard an employee there had a science-themed wedding.

Uh, the table of the different guests and the different meals, they were able to do very small science experiments, and that to me was really, really cool. You have somebody that lives and breathes science, and they are at that school. You can't replace something like that. This isn't somebody that turns it off at— when they go home. This isn't somebody that goes home and does something else.

This is what they do in their spare time, and that's the passion that they bring to the school when they come to work. My daughter was recently doing a ropes course there, and as part of it, because it is a STEM science immersion program, The coach was talking about what force is acting on you as you're trying to climb up these ropes, and how much force is it going to take to go up the rope and fight against the force of gravity. Cable STEM is an amazing program. I was really heartened that you were willing to reassess based on the potential for the legislature to pass additional funds for the school, and I, I'm heartened that you are open to assessing that. And I would just urge you to either visit the program the last several days it's there.

There's several events that are going on this week. I would encourage all of you to see the tremendous value that it is. And I, I'm not familiar with Lake Otis, I'm not familiar with Fire Lake. I'm sure they are fantastic programs as well. I just don't have experience with them.

Campbell STEM is amazing. Please consider, uh, closing up.

And thank you. Welcome, Miss Lee. If you would like to testify, you have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready.

Read a couple? Is it okay if I read a couple of them?

Good evening, Anchorage School Board. My name is Isla. I have great friends at Campbell STEM and my teachers are fun. Take over. Okay.

I am here again to ask you not to close Campbell STEM. This year in Mr. Zimmer's class, the Veterans of Ireland. Miss Erfert's class, I learned about erosion. In Coach Rowland's class, his PE class, I learned how to climb ropes and do the ninja course. In Miss Stewart's class, we did a science project in which we found out which liquid dissolves Skittles the fastest using the scientific method.

The liquids we tested were water, apple cider vinegar, and oil, and Mountain Dew. I thought apple cider vinegar would dissolve the Skittles the fastest. Members of the school board, which liquid do you think dissolves Skittles the fastest? Please raise your hand if you think water.

Please raise your hand if you think apple cider vinegar.

3, 4. What about the next one? Please raise your hand if you think oil. You have 4 choices.

Please raise your hand if you think Mountain Dew. You can absolutely change. We encourage you to do the same with Campbell STEM. So it turned out that water dissolves skills the fastest.

Science helped me learn something new. Please don't close Campbell STEM. Thank you. Good night. Thank you for your testimony.

That comes—. Thank you. I'm sorry, we have one last student testifier, Lucas Jesperson, and then if Michelle Jesperson wishes to testify, please come forward.

Welcome, Lucas. You have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready.

To the Anchorage School Board superintendent and administration, the recent decision to engage in drastic cuts to music programs across the district is atrocious. Music has numerous benefits for students, such as improving performance in school and providing motivation to come to school in the first place, and we cannot be sure that the voices of those affected are being adequately heard under the circumstances of these cuts. Participation in, in music classes has been proven to improve test scores. A 2019 study by the American Psychological Association concluded that students who participate in music classes scored higher in test scores across math, English, and science. The reasoning for these cutbacks to music programs is that money is short and academics need to be prioritized.

However, We are helping academics by keep— if we keep music, meaning we're actually hurting the things we claim to be prioritizing if we cut music.

In addition, music provides many students motivation to come to school that they would otherwise lack. Betty Davis, East Anchorage High School's own principal, has said that if he had not participated in band during high school, he never would have graduated. If music is cut, we will be dooming many students to a similar fate as the one East's principal would have had, which in turn will again cause funding to drop due to reduced enrollment— well, due to increased dropouts, sorry. Finally, in programs where— in times where programs must be cut, it is only just to have the voices of those affected both heard and considered. But of the 3 normal meetings from the announcement of these cuts to the end of the school year just a few days from now, this is the only one that has not fallen on concert days for multiple schools.

For—. For—. And of the 2 special meetings in that time, at least one was announced less than 48 hours before the meeting, meaning it undoubtedly had reduced participation. And the other was at 10 AM on a Tuesday when most students who would have wanted to testify would have had to have been at school and most parents at work. If the—.

He's got—. Okay, how can we say that these cuts are fair when significant portion of those affected have no opportunity to speak their voices due to the scheduling of the meetings? With music providing these benefits and more to students, and it being impossible to say for certain that those affected are being adequately heard, I plead with you to reconsider these cuts to music across the district. Thank you for your testimony. Welcome.

You have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready.

Um, good evening, Superintendent, board. My name is Michelle Jesperson. I am a parent of a high school student who participates in band. It is a grievous decision to cut the music programs across the district, including but not limited to the termination of the band program at the second largest high school in the state, the sweeping cuts to music programs in elementary schools. Music provides both physical and mental health benefits, enhances development of early skills in young children, and many students affected by these cuts students cannot afford any alternative options.

According to the National Library of Medicine, music has been proven to improve people's mental health as well as provide numerous physical benefits such as improved heart rates and motor skills and enhancement of the immune system. When music provides such benefits, we will be hurting our students both in body and mind if we cut their music programs. Betty Davis East High School, which is facing a total cut of its band program, has over two-thirds of its student population eligible for free lunches according to the National Center for Education Statistics. If over two-thirds of the school is in a financial situation that it needs this form of assistance, they are likely cannot afford alternatives to school band programs. Therefore, school programs may be the only access many students have to physical and mental health benefits provided by the music instruction.

Further, the California Learning Resource Network describes several benefits of music regarding skills developed early on in school, such as pattern—. Oh, sorry, my screen just moved.

Okay, such as— sorry, okay, such as pattern recognition, language processing, mathematical reasoning, and spatial-temporal reasoning with significantly reduced presence of music in classes in elementary schools. Did it again. Student— students will lack this critical and critical aid to development, which may cause them to struggle in school as they get older. Between the health benefits of music classes and the lack of alternatives for many students, and benefits of the music classes on brain development early on in school, I beseech you to reconsider the cuts to music in our schools. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. That completes student testimony for this evening. We'll move to community speakers to be heard on non-action items. Uh, our first two testifiers are Jen Pudge and Bethany Brown. Please come forward.

Welcome. You have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready.

Good evening, my name is Bethany Brown. My friends and colleagues call me Quinn. I come tonight as a concerned Campbell STEM teacher and community member. I wanted to share some important context about school funding and what it means for Campbell STEM moving forward.

In a recent newspaper article, School Board President Carl Jacobs referenced the reopening of Campbell STEM if there is a significant increase in the base student allocation, or BSA. That matters because the BSA is the core formula the state uses to fund our public schools. This year we are projected to see an increase of at least $700 per student. Let me repeat that, at least $700 per student. That is not a small adjustment compared to recent history.

It represents a meaningful shift in education funding. In fact, the state education funding charts show that Fiscal year 2025 included an estimated $680 BSA equivalent provided outside the traditional funding formula. That level of support was already unusually large compared to prior years, and the current proposal builds on that momentum. What this tells us is simple: when the state steps up in a significant way, we have an opportunity and an obligation to revisit decisions that were made under very different financial conditions. And to seriously consider reopening Campbell STEM for the 2026-27 school year.

If we are truly seeing the kind of funding increase that has been discussed, then our action should align with that investment in students. So the, the request tonight is straightforward: be transparent, keep your word, and support reopening Campbell STEM for the 2026-27 school year. If significant funding was cited as the condition for reconsideration then we should be prepared to act when that funding becomes reality. Our students deserve stability, honesty, and follow-through when conditions improve. Thank you for your time and consideration.

And thank you for your testimony. Our next two community speakers to be heard are Chanti Ward and Pierre— the last name is, uh, D-E-R-Y-C-Z. Please come forward.

Welcome. You have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready.

Good evening. I want to speak tonight about transparency, trust, and Campbell STEM. On May 14th, 2026, during court proceedings, the judge expressed surprise upon learning that the Anchorage School District had stated that they had completed a task that in fact had not been completed. Following that disclosure, the judge indicated that she would be open to considering another injunction. That moment raised serious concerns and deserves attention.

At the last school board meeting, around the 2-hour and 7-minute mark, Dr. Bryant stated that all court-related documents would be posted on the district website under right-sizing section as part of the district's commitment to transparency. However, as of today, that is not fully reflected on the website. Most court documents have been posted, but the notice filed regarding a public meeting by ASD attorney William Wright— the document tied directly to the claim in question— is still the key missing piece in full context. This raises an important question: why was the court informed that a task had been completed when it had not yet been fully completed? School board members, I challenge you to ask in this meeting tonight, who did this?

Why was this done? Is this the type of district we are becoming? Are we becoming a district that does not do what a judge asks us to do? This is not about paperwork. It is about trust between the district, the courts, and the community.

In the last board meeting, members spoke about the importance of transparency and rebuilding relationships with families. That commitment matters, and it is something that Campbell STEM Community is paying close attention to. So tonight, I am respectfully urging the board to take a clear step forward, be fully transparent, correct the record where needed, and rebuild trust through action. Not words. And most importantly, right now I ask you to take the next step in restoring confidence with families by voting to reopen Campbell STEM for the 2026-27 year.

We want to be partners with you moving forward in the district. That partnership begins with honesty, accountability, and follow-through. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. Welcome. You have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready. Good evening.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak. My name is Pierre Darich. I am a musician and the executive director of Alaska Youth Orchestras. And I, I would like to speak tonight to the importance of ASD's music and fine arts programs to our community and share our profound concern over the pressures felt today by our public school music and arts classrooms. Our organization, Alaska Youth Orchestras, was founded 60 years ago with the creation of the Anchorage Youth Symphony.

The orchestra was led at the time by ASD music educator Frank Pinkerton, and for 6 decades has brought together young musicians from all corners of Anchorage providing opportunities for youth who find reward and community in the challenge of performing in a symphonic ensemble. Youth like Hunter Burnis, our first testifier this evening, and the bassist who you might have heard perform with the Service High School Jazz Band, uh, prior to this meeting. 9 Out of 10 musicians in the Anchorage Youth Symphony are enrolled in ASD. The vast majority of these students are also musicians in their school bands, their school orchestras, and school choirs. Over the years, the Anchorage Youth Symphony has graduated over 2,000 musicians.

Many have gone on to professional music careers in our community, including as educators in the Anchorage School District. Hunter himself is the third generation of bassists to have graduated from the Anchorage Youth Symphony program. His teacher, Miss Katie Eakes, here present tonight, is the orchestra teacher at Central Middle School and performs in the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra. Her teacher, Mr. Paul Sharp, leads a university music program in North Carolina and every year sends students back to Anchorage to learn from our community's summer music programs. This vibrant musical heritage does not just happen.

It begins with a strong elementary school music program and is fostered through the daily practice and dedication of ASD's middle school and high school music educators. Without whom programs like ours would simply not exist. So thank you for your time listening to my remarks and for your support of the young musicians in our community. And thank you for your testimony. Our next two community speakers are Erica, uh, you know, you and Tricia Elliott.

Please come forward.

Welcome. You have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready. Good evening. My name is Erica Ninoyu, and I'm speaking to you as an East High School graduate, but also a former East High band director.

I'm simply shocked, distraught, and frankly angry about the decision to terminate East High School's band program and slash fine arts. For 6th graders, which will have devastating immediate and long-lasting consequences. I, I understand that you and ASD administrators are in gut-wrenching positions to have to decide which programs, teachers, and staff to cut. You are choosing to effectively eliminate music education at ASD, closing off career pathways for both students and teachers and dismantling school environments that foster a sense of belonging. If you've ever played in a band, you know that it's a space that helps to build leadership and community, cultivate individual expression, and provides an opportunity to engage in lifelong discipline.

The consequences of your decision could be devastating for generations to come, but thankfully we have a chance to make things right for our students. Our parents, and our community. ASD will likely receive a portion of the one-time funding or even an increase in the base student allocation. Restoring our students' music education must be a priority for these— those funds. The robust input from students, parents, staff, and the community— input that we're denied the chance to provide before this decision must be a priority when allocating these funds.

Let us be a part of the solution. My experiences as a student and teacher at ASD prepared me to succeed at the highest levels of federal government and at national nonprofits. The skills that I learned in Mr. Bauer's band class, they still play into how I navigate the world today. I know that none of you would disagree that every student deserves the chance to gain from music education and what I have benefited from throughout my life.

So let's remember that as leaders of our community, our responsibility is not just to keep schools afloat, it's to ensure that our students, uh, thrive. So let's find a way to protect music education at ASD together. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. If I could submit written testimony as well.

Our next two community speakers to be heard are Imre Manyoki and Terry Wood.

Welcome. You have 3 minutes, and our timer isn't working right now, so you'll hear a bell when you have 30 seconds left. You can begin when you're ready. Hi, my name is Emery Manyoki. I've been attending these meetings for the past 6 months.

And trying to apply a scientific approach to solving the problems that the school district is facing. Um, and I've been trying to express in so many words that, um, you know, you're having trouble to meet the standards that you've been trying to meet, but the reality is the standards need to be much higher because of the way the job market is rapidly changing and technology is changing. Uh, so, and in general, the school system has been, you know, not by you, but by the people that set up the school system and made all these norms that everybody's following. It's been set up to fail. And there's lots of good people doing good work, but they're working within a system that has designed, planned obsolescence assigned to it.

The same way all our manufactured goods are made to break and designed to fail at a certain rate, uh, the same concept has been applied to the public school system. And, um, you know, it sounds like a lot of the funding problems has to do with people taking their children out of schools and either homeschooling or go with public schooling. And really, the community has a lot of power there because, you know, we could— if enough people got to the point where they say, uh, you know, we'd rather do something alternative than to have this poor service, then, you know, the, the school district would have no choice but to to listen to the community and make improvements. But the community would have to make a decision on their own to say, what do we want, um, and at what point are we just gonna take our kids out of school en masse? But divided, the community doesn't have any power.

But if they could unite and organize, then they would actually have incredible bargaining power against the system. Um, so last month, uh, the, um, the analyzers who, who give the various spiels on how the school district is doing, uh, said something interesting, that we have, um, this 2.7 GPA Uh, doesn't look like anybody can read this on this board, but, uh, so that students with above 7— a 2.7 GPA do a lot better. There's a notable success. And so my theory is that this— what represented by this learning equivalent of this 2.7 GPA Thank you for your testimony. Uh, welcome, Miss Wood.

You have 3 minutes. Uh, you can begin when you're ready, and then you'll hear a bell when you have 30 seconds left.

Um, I'd just like to start by talking a little bit about the May 5th board meeting. Um, At 2 hours 6 minutes in, Dr. Bryant states that we will hold the meeting if the judge still required it after the— what we thought would be the Thursday ruling. At 2 hours 7 minutes in, um, he says that all lawsuit documents will appear on the right-sizing website. Um, please note in the papers I just gave you that on Court View, the public notice of a meeting is cited, and in the Anchorage School District website, the public notice of meeting is not listed. Um, at, uh, 2 hours 8 minutes in, CFO Andy Ratliff notes that the $1 million grant that the grants department was applying for, for the district, they chose Campbell STEM to apply for it, and that was highly competitive.

A quick Google search shows that National public and private investment in K-12 STEM education stands at roughly $12 billion annually. Why would you close a school with that focus when funding will always be needed? Later in the meeting, parent Mike Neild and school board members McDonough and Blakeslee all voiced a desire for the board to still have a meeting with the Campbell STEM community. President Jacobs also noted that the meeting could only be called by him or a majority or of the board. No one, including the school board members, believed the May 5th school board meeting to be the meeting to address all of the reasoning for the Campbell STEM closure.

At hour 3, minute 37, President Jacobs says we should not have to pick winners and losers. I'd like to say that in any school district, a program achieving outstanding academic growth among the most disadvantaged students should never be the thing saved last. Please do not underestimate the importance of starting a student's education by helping them develop a passion for learning.

Open or closed, we're still voters, and as a community, we are awake and informed more than ever. We will continue to help the Anchorage community be aware of what the district is doing, and it'll be up to you to ensure that it's what the Anchorage community wants.

Thank you for your testimony. Our next two community speakers to be heard are Cadence Gallegos and William Baxter.

Welcome. You have 3 minutes. You can begin when you're ready, and you'll hear a bell when you have 30 seconds left. All right. Hi, my name is Cadence Gallegos and I'm here to talk to— talk about a few things.

Thanks for the opportunity to work on my public speaking skills once again. I have two requests today. The first is much smaller than the second. First, I would like some information about if there will be any art instruction in the schools with a STEM specialist. As I understand it, schools with a STEM special this year have been in place of health.

Next school year, with no health specialists in elementary STEM, In elementary, STEM replaces art. This was not announced but could be deduced by looking at the ASD job openings earlier this month. When making a choice for my children affected by school closures next year, this is information I would like to have.

STEM and art are complementary rather than opposing. STEM focuses on analytical, technical, and objective problem-solving, while art fosters creativity, emotional intelligence, and critical subjective thinking. These are all important skills to cultivate and support in especially early education. My second ask is to keep Campbell STEM open, and not only keep it open but recognize it as a model for what success in a largely economically disadvantaged school can look like. We continue to hear concerns about district-wide performance rankings and declining confidence in ASD.

Community members have said they are tired of paying into a system that ranks near the bottom nationally while schools that are succeeding are placed on the chopping block. Campbell STEM is not a failing school. Multiple sources and community data points consistently show that Campbell STEM has historically outperformed many peer school, schools in Anchorage in attendance, enrollment stability, and academic growth relative to demographics. This matters because schools serving moderate to high levels of socioeconomic disadvantaged students often struggle to exceed district MAP norms. Yet Campbell STEM is doing exactly that.

So the question becomes, why would we dismantle one of the schools producing stronger outcomes for students? Instead of treating Campbell STEM as expendable, ASD should use it as a district learning laboratory, study what is working there, and replicate it across the district. Look at the STEM-integrated instruction, at the teacher retention and school culture, Look at the attendance rates and family engagement. Look at literacy integration across subjects and the MAP growth strategies that are helping students succeed. School Board President Carl Jacobs recently said he wanted to hear from voters who may not have direct ties to ASD.

While many of those voters are speaking clearly, they want accountability, they want results, and they want the district to stop tearing apart schools that are demonstrating success. They're tired of Alaska schools consistently ranking from 47th to 49th nationally in academic outcomes. Um, let's see. Please reconsider. The district needs the support of the Campbell STEM community and the greater Anchorage community as a whole.

Earn it. Rebuild public trust, and let's work together to replicate our success for the benefit of all Anchorage schools. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Welcome.

You have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready. I helped, uh, with, uh, community garden this week in Fairview, uh, a couple Sundays ago, and it was a, uh, Great thing. A lot of times I think a lot of people think we can't grow anything in Anchorage. We can grow a lot of things in Anchorage.

And how they did it was we put dirt down and then we put like horse manure and then stuff we got from the—. I can't think of their name anyway—. From the beer place, you know, breweries. They— we put that stuff down, but you know, And it's called permaculture, and FFA kids can help on it too. And there was a lot of—.

I did it for last year in October, and it was quite a few people there. There was even more people there this time. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. Our last two community speakers to be heard are Maddie, um, Okay, um, Maddie, uh, Roche and Brittany Harris, please go forward.

Welcome, uh, please, you have 3 minutes, please begin when you're ready. Hi, sorry, I was scribbling when I wrote my name. It's Molly Roche for the record. Um, I'm not wearing my Campbell Stem pin. I feel a little weird without it, Thanks for being here with that.

So I'm here to speak on behalf of Campbell STEM, and you guys have heard me say, you've heard others say it, that I hope you'll reconsider. I know it's late in the game, but I'm optimistic. Um, I'd also like to talk about how conversations are framed. Um, as you know, we've been a frequent flyer here at these meetings since February and also listened to all the public testimony along with you guys, and I know it's harder to listen on your side than it is on mine. Um, but the themes that keep coming up are, I wish I had been a part of that conversation before you made the decision.

We heard that tonight too, um, about the music program and parents wishing that they had had a chance to engage with you ahead of time. And I know that timelines and decisions don't always line up how you want them to, and I, I'm sympathetic to that. But it's interesting having heard it over and over from the BOOP program and these people who are finding out that cuts and changes are happening to their kids and they had no notice and no engagement. So again, it's this engagement, it's this timing.

The trust has been lost in a lot of areas and we've seen that, and it's not helping to, to keep making these decisions without this engagement. And I know that's hard, right? It's a big community. It's hard to figure that out, but It feels important that the community is brought in a little earlier in these decisions. I'd also like to talk about the framing of this or that, and I work with budgets.

I understand there is only so much money, and yet a community can be creative. Our kids are learning how to do the scientific method. There's all these things that can happen, and when you say that me standing up here and advocating for Campbell STEM with all that I am is me Somehow advocating against music or against the BOOP program is completely missing what we're trying to achieve here as a community, which means coming together, working on solutions together. And when you say that it's either the BOOP program or Campbell STEM, I like to think that they're both possible. I've heard a lot of good reasons.

I've seen music teachers say, hey, if we reorganize this differently, this could be a net zero. We could maybe achieve this. And so I'd like to push back against the either-or framing. I'd like to push back when you tell me that we can't celebrate anything. I'm sorry, we only have to talk about bad things today.

Those are choices that you're making. We can do both. We can celebrate the amazing things that's happening. I read on your Facebook page today that the Turnagain School, I believe I might be misrepresenting, but it's on Facebook, you can find it out. They just got a national certification or a national award for doing amazing work.

And I was really proud of them, and I was really kind of disheartened because I don't believe that will save them from any future cuts because we're a nationally STEM-certified school too. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your testimony. Welcome. You have 3 minutes.

Please begin when you're ready. Hi, I'm Brittany Harris. Um, so Friday at 5:30, me and my kids went to Campbell STEM for the 60th birthday. I was really hoping that I would see some of you guys there. Um, only one of you has made an appearance that I'm aware of since the talk of closure to the school, so I was, I was a little disappointed.

That is something that should have been celebrated. You guys should have been proud to go and attend. 60 Years. We had decades of principals there. My principal was there.

I'm 41 years old, you know, and two other principals since then. Um, I did recognize one person, but they are no longer part of the board. So, um, I was, I was really disheartened to see that that wasn't a priority And I haven't seen any of you guys show up to make a presence at the school since the talk of the closure from the very beginning, except for Pat Higgins. He's the only one that showed up that I'm aware of. I could be wrong, so I do apologize if I'm wrong.

The other thing that I would really— I, I know that there's been conversation about What's going to happen to the building? I, I've lived in that house that I live in from day one. My parents bought it in '79. I'm the original owners of that house. My husband and I decided to stay in the neighborhood because it's a great neighborhood.

Okay, um, what are you guys going to do with this building? We heard that you might give it back Municipality. They—. There's a lot of unknown. That is where a lot of this community in the heart of Campbell is concerned.

Our kids spend the summer at the school playing. Drive by there, you will hear kids screaming and laughing and having a good old time playing basketball and everything else. We're concerned because we We enjoy hearing the laughters. We enjoy seeing all of the kids come together, and it's in the neighborhood. So if the building is vacant, Municipal— sorry, I'm saying that wrong— doesn't take it back and it just goes vacant, are you guys just going to fence it off?

There's a lot of unknowns, and I think that if you could come back with some of the unknowns, that would help us as the neighborhood because we are scared of that. We fought pretty hard to try to keep the homeless out of our neighborhood.

Thank you for your testimony. That completes everyone who was signed up and is present for non-action items. We have a few testifiers regarding our scheduled action item tonight. And thank you to everyone who came out to testify.

We will move to our consent agenda.

Is there a board member who wishes to pull an item from the consent agenda for discussion?

Member Lessons, uh, I moved to pull ASD Memorandum 149, Revisions to Board Policy 5041, Health Education. A second. That will become— is the memorandum number 149 will become action item F2.

Is there any additional items board members wish to pull for discussion?

Okay, not seeing any additional items wishing to be pulled. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended?

Move to approve the consent agenda as amended. Becca. Motion made to approve the consent agenda as amended by Member McDonough, seconded by Member Bellamy. Um, not seeing any discussion. Can we have a voice vote to approve the consent agenda, please?

Yes, Student Representative Madison. Yes, Member Wilson. Yes, Member Higgins.

Yes, yes, Member Blakeslee. Yes, Member McDonough. Yes. Member Bellamy? Yes.

Member Lessans? Yes. President Jacobs? Yes. The consent agenda is approved by a vote of 7 to 0.

Move to action items. Um, our first item is AC Memorandum Number 166, Adoption of Tentative Agreement, Custodians and Building Plan Operators, Article 71. We have a couple testifiers tonight. Um, before we hear from them, we want a motion to approve. Mr. President, I move to approve ASD Memorandum 166, Adoption of Tentative Agreement, Custodian and Building Plant Operators for Local 71.

You would also please read the recommended action from the memorandum, please.

Okay, again, Mr. President, I move to approve ASD Memorandum 166, Adoption of Tentative Agreement for the custodians and building plant operators for the Local 71 union, and to approve and adopt the tentative agreement between the district and Local 71 representing custodians and BPO employees, which will establish terms and conditions of employment for individuals in this unit during the period between July 1st, 2026 and June 30th, 2029. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Okay, motion made by Member McThonus, seconded by Member Bellamy.

We have 2 testifiers with us tonight. First is William Mears. Welcome, sir. You have 3 minutes. Please begin when you're ready.

Good evening to the school board. I'm Bill Mears. I'm the business manager for Public Employees Local 71. We do, as you said, Mr. Chair, we represent the Anchorage School District custodial and building plant operators.

I had written written. I had printed something to read, but as I'm looking around the room and I see all these familiar faces, you know, I've been a business rep for Local 71 for 23 years representing the Anchorage School District custodians. I've negotiated 15 contracts. Um, I am now the business manager, and sitting on my right, and I'll introduce him, his name is Richard Lott. And so Richard Lott is going to talk a little bit.

I'd like to thank the entire school board, and through the chair congratulate Paul McDonough and Rachel Blaisley on your guys' run, and welcome to the school board. To everybody out in the audience, good thing it's a small one, but our custodians keep disease and illness from coming home to you. You know, they went through COVID. We work our asses off. Pardon my language, but I'm also a former Anchorage School District custodian.

I did 15 years with the custodial department. You know, I'm proud. I'm a product of the Anchorage School District. So for about 46 years. I am ASD.

I am ASD. And so with that being said, Margo and I go way back, and she reminded me of that, that, that not of that we go way back, but that I am a product of ASD. So with that being said, um, I just thank you. And Superintendent Bryant, you're doing an awesome job. Keep up the work.

You know, you guys have a tough, tough job. So do I. But you know what? Like Ms. Bellamy and I were agreeing to, we have to have thick skins for what we do. We don't always make the easy choices, we make the hard choices.

And so I thank you guys for working with Local 71 and allowing us to negotiate contracts throughout the years that supplies us with the custodians to continue providing a clean environment. You guys' mission statement says that you will provide a clean, safe learning environment. So to me, that's our custodians right up front. So with that being said, I am now going to introduce my protégé who is taking my place representing the Anchorage School District and Public Employees Local 71, Rich Lott. Welcome, Mr. Lott.

Um, you have 3 minutes, please begin when you're ready. Yes, uh, thank you. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the board, uh, district staff, uh, President Jacobs, Superintendent. Um, my name is Richard Lott. I'm a union rep for Public Employees Local 71.

The tentative agreement before you is the result of hard work and collaboration between the members of Public Employees Local 71, the Operations Department, and Labor Relations. This agreement represents our best effort to address the district's ongoing problem with recruitment and retention of hard-working custodians and BPOs. We feel this agreement addresses the rising cost of healthcare, um, as well as the rising cost of common goods and services. The agreement incentivizes current employees employees to remain with the district while also inviting former employees to return to ASD service. I would like to conclude with a note that this is my first time being involved in negotiations with ASD, and I want to commend the district's commitment to our community students by providing a safe and clean learning environment.

As Billy Mears said here— William Mears said that, that it's in the mission statement, and I just appreciate negotiating with people who understand that. Um, so with that, I'll conclude and say thank you. Thank you both for your testimony and your service. Okay, that completes public testimony on this action item. We have a motion to approve and a second.

Is there discussion on this action item? Yeah, Mr. President, and if I could have Mr. Mears, Mr. Lott stay for questions, is that— sorry guys, I think I can make this quick. Yeah, thank you both for coming, and I'm very honored to affirm my support and then hopefully see the board unanimously vote in favor of a successful tentative agreement negotiation. I do have a question that will help me take this side of the, the table and make sure that worker protections and worker justice is advancing. So given the increasing concerns around workplace safety, staffing instability and nationwide political pressure.

I've heard from a lot of union members that there's a fear of speaking out openly and a fear of being retaliated against if they are bringing concerns forward. This isn't just an ESD problem, it's everywhere. But I couldn't help but notice that the agreement that we're going to be presented with is one that lacks a, a strike protection protection clause, and it lacks whistleblower protection clauses, which would be huge protections for your members if there is conduct that really needs to be elevated and addressed. So my question is, is this something that there was a pressure during negotiations that led to the absence of these clauses, or was there something strategically that the union found, if you, if you would like to comment on those? Absolutely.

You know, when it comes to public employees, you know, depending on what category they're in, they cannot strike. And so with our people, we can't strike. You know, even back in the day when the teachers struck, we could not strike with them. We had to go to work. We just could not do other work other than what we did.

There is language in the collective bargaining agreement— it's, uh, almost called you, Senator— I mean, Chair McDonough, that states that if there is a complaint to be filed, that in the collective bargaining agreement it is filed with the EEO office, whereas I've actually utilized that back in the day, you know, and you do file a complaint with the EEO. It's confidential and they do do an investigation. And Ms. Margo Bellamy was actually the chair— the director of the EEO office at that time. So there are avenues. We were not pressured into not including language because we felt that there was safe language in there already.

Thank you. Is there any other discussion from members of the board? Member Higgins? Yeah, but I just first of all say appreciation. It takes two parties sitting down, working it through, and coming out with something, and it never gets done without a lot of effort on both sides.

So my appreciation in getting here. I appreciate the comments and the questions about concerns because a lot of different managers in the school district gives me answers on how they would expect subordinates to go, and some of them say they have to go to the union if you want to go anywhere. Well, we should be dealing with concerns anyway regardless, without requiring you, but you need to be a voice when they don't have a chance to do it otherwise. So, um, you know, I would hope that that would be a given, uh, in regards to your role for your employees because I never want employees feeling uncomfortable about raising concerns, feeling like they are not protected. We're going to be working on that issue from a policy standpoint, but I think it's just a real critical issue.

We did not get an audit done of that process that, that got derailed, but we will, we will be working on it. So if there were concerns there, I hope that the board hears about it from you. Thank you. Thank you.

Seeing no other discussions, we have a voice vote to approve AST Memorandum Number 166. Student Representative Madison? Yes. Member McDonough? Yes.

Member Bellamy? Yes. Member Lessens? Yes. Member Blakeslee?

Yes. Member Higgins? Yes. Member Wilson? Yes.

President Jacobs? Yes. AST Memorandum Number 166 is approved by a vote of 7 to zero. Thank you, and thank you, folks.

Brings us to our second action item, F2, ASD Memorandum Number 149. Is there a motion, Member Lessons? Yeah, Mr. President, I move to refer ASD Memorandum 149S back to governance.

Second motion made to refer AST Memorandum Number 149S to governance was made by Member Lessens, seconded by Member Bellamy. Member Lessens, would you like to discuss your motion? Um, thank you. I will mostly defer my comments to and ask Member McDonough to speak, but I am aware that he drafted significant section of new language in this document. He did reach out and ask if I would like to be aware of it recently, and I was interested in looking at it and I had a couple of thoughts, but it is substantive enough that I don't think we should be wordsmithing it in this particular body at this particular time, and I believe that a robust conversation in governance is the most appropriate venue.

For the full board to have time to contemplate, um, the changes that were made, and the administration can reflect. And I'll pass the mic to Mr. McDonough, if— uh, Member McDonough, if he'd like to add anything else.

At your discretion, Mr. President. Member McDonough. So, uh, I just needed to make— which version is this? Member Bellamy will answer your question in just a second. Member McDonough, I saw your mic.

Do you have comments? Oh, I was gonna have the second go first, but I can, I can. I don't care. Okay, I'll take over from, uh, from Member Lessin. So the version that we are committing, or we are asking to commit to governance, is the S version with all the red text on the last page.

Um, and even then, after this afternoon's work session, um, from the administration on the, the new health curriculum plans. This S version is out of sorts from that. So I think that the board has a duty to set a curriculum target that the public needs and to build guardrails around it, and then to let the administration manage that in a way that's best for the, the staff. And I think that the policy that we built and had an April or March governance committee reshaped because of the middle school schedule, now is going to change drastically, not because of middle school, but because of elementary school. And there's just so much change that I think getting this in governance so that we can set a faithful target on what health curriculum must be, and then we can set careful guardrails around teacher certification that are descriptive and easy to interpret and also reasonable.

And, and that's what this S version tries to do, but it is not in line with what the administration says it has the resources to meet. So I think a recommit back to the committee will give us a lot of face time with the curriculum team and, and make sure that we, we hold a standard of health education, but we don't make it so that it's impossible to comply given the resources that come from the board right now.

Member Bellamy? I'm good. I, I— my question was answered. Okay, seeing no additional discussion, can we have a voice vote on the motion to refer ASD Memorandum Number 149 to the Governance Committee? Student Representative Madison?

Yes. Member Higgins? Yes. Member Bellamy? Yes.

Member McDonough? Yes. Member Lessans? Yes. Member Blakeslee?

Yes. Member Wilson? Yes. President Jacobs? Yes.

Motion to refer is adopted by a vote of 7 to 0. That completes our action items this evening. We have a slate of non-action items which will be moved to action item status in our last meeting of the school year early next month. Is there any board member who wishes to discuss a non-action item?

Seeing none, we'll move to the superintendent update. Dr. Bryant, the floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, we're running out of board meetings for this school year, so I'd like to dedicate some time to pull up a PowerPoint So I'll give my team just a moment. So I've been thinking about what I wanted to say for this meeting for quite some time, and I thought it would be, you know, a standard year in review, looking at the data, recapping the very turbulent year that we've had, and there'll be some of that in this presentation.

But, you know, just given some of the celebrations that I've had the humbling opportunity to attend, I think yesterday was my 11th graduation. And after having shaken thousands of hands of incredible students and getting to send off some wonderful faculty members and others, I just wanted to share a little positivity and joy about everything that's happened in the district and just how thankful I am to work on this team and with the thousands of incredible people that work here. So, uh, first off, I want the community to experience what I experienced last night, what I would say is one of the most meaningful graduations of my career. Of my career. Let's go ahead and take a quick look.

For 6 students from the Lower Kuskokwim School District that had their senior years turned upside down in October, Monday was a moment of triumph. Tonight is more than a graduation ceremony. It is a celebration of resilience. Their high school graduation coming 7 months and 6 days after former Typhoon Halong made landfall in western Alaska, forcing them and thousands of others to leave what remained of their villages behind. Graduates, while you have experienced the shock of leaving your home, reorienting your lives in a very different and much larger, faster-paced society, You are anchored by the strength and wisdom of your forebears, your family, your culture, and the landscape that has been theirs and yours for millennia.

What's followed has been a difficult and often isolating year full of adjustments and struggles, but this, at the end of the school year, is a celebration of how far they've come. Even though it's not in my village, I would prefer to graduate there. I'm still graduating and it's very fun.

And the people they've met. People from Kwig, they were very fun to meet. Like, you'd think that after what happened, you'd think that they would be like sad and not as happy, but no, they were very joking around. I guess that's a native thing. While acknowledging there's still a long way to go before things are truly back to normal.

I will probably go back when they give the okay that it's good to go back home, and I left a lot of clothes and some other stuff. And this now symbolizes that you guys are all graduates. Congratulations.

Charlie Fellows, Alaska's news source.

I would have never guessed if you asked me a year ago that I would be in a situation where I'd be welcoming hundreds of new students to the Anchorage School District, but that's exactly what happened in October shortly after Typhoon Halong, and it was an honor to be reunited with these 7 students who graduated last night. At the Heritage Center because it brought me back to that fateful morning in October when, you know, we had literally school buses meet these students at Jay Bear to help get them off the, the planes and get them to their emergency shelters. And it was an honor to be with those 7 students on the school bus to Betty Davis East Anchorage High School where the entire community and staff welcomed them with open arms. I remember it was October because Sorry about that. I remember it was October because at the time the big thing was how are we going to get these students Halloween costumes, and we figured that out.

And for these high school students, you know, they had their unique challenges, and I remember for them the thing that was on their mind was, you know, how can I get involved? This is a heavy time. How can I get active? And I really credit Principal Brown and his team team for getting the basketball shoes that these students needed to participate in sports at Betty Davis shortly after arriving. Same thing for volleyball.

And, you know, honestly, I think our district's response and our community and state's response was really Alaskans at their best. It was really ASD at its best, just making sure that people have that sense of belonging during a moment that was very dark in many ways. And it was an honor to welcome these students. And as I said back in October, these students are welcome in ASD for as long as they'd like to be here, and I'm excited to welcome these students back next year. Um, so more broadly about the, the Typhoon Ho-Long support, you know, our schools really became places of stability and even possibility in the face of a lot of emotion and trauma from the situation.

In these villages. We enrolled more than 150 students, and I really thank our team for deploying translation support in Yup'ik and Kupik to these students, and it really took an entire village of state agencies, the districts, and others to really come together for these students. It was unexpected, but I think during crisis it really shows you where your values and priorities are, and I just It just showed me a side of ASD that I'm very proud of. We have our challenges, but in this moment, I'm just so glad that these students made it through and we're going to have another year together.

Thank you. So, you know, that spirit of perseverance that I saw with these students really translates towards graduations in general. So let's go ahead and go to the next slide. So this year was graduation season recently. And I had the privilege to shake in the good majority of those 2,400 students at the graduation stage.

And, you know, we're just so proud of them. They have honors in academics and CTE. Some have incredible jobs. You know, these were actually some really emotional graduations too. It was the first time I've ever seen a faculty speaker speaking at the same graduation as the class speaker.

So to see that father-son combination, I think, was just truly inspiring. And I would say both our students from Lower Kuspokwim and ASD, they, they really do demonstrate that we have some of the most resilient students in the entire nation. So congratulations to our class of 2026. Next slide, please. And I want to remind us that we have a lot of different environments in the Anchorage School District, and I'm really proud that we have multiple options options for students to recover credits.

So for those of you that don't know about Save High School, this is really one last opportunity for students to have a non-conventional approach to earning credits so they can get to the finish line. A lot of these students are looking for a second chance. They're looking for a chance to, you know, give it their all and get to the finish line, and they do great work for kids. And we have a wonderful principal that I think is finishing his first or second year, I forget, Mike Scott, wonderful guy, and under his leadership we've expanded the number of graduates from 54 to 84. Our students are just doing very well there under his leadership, which means more graduations, more opportunities for kids.

So let's go ahead and take a look at one student at SAVE High School who I think captures the spirit of the school.

Definitely the experiences that I've grown from. Definitely the times that I shared with the friends that I made and just the community that welcomed me. The most— the two big inspirations that I've had was definitely my parents. I think they taught me a lot about discipline, definitely self-growth, and Bravery. And I also want to just give a little thanks to like all the past teachers that I had, especially giving me all the help that I needed, making all the good jokes that we've spread around each other.

I definitely want to at least travel a little bit. I feel like I've been stuck in this area for too long, so when I get the chance, I definitely want to travel. My first stop is Japan. Japan. I want to live there for a while, maybe work at a little coffee shop and just settle, settle down.

You know, he represented— next slide, please— who, you know, may have had a lot of uncertainty earlier in high school. And, you know, that really gets at my heart because I used to be a 9th grade teacher and a college counselor, and I know how vulnerable a time that is. So to see him persevere just makes you really proud. And one of the reasons that I continue to recommit to ASD, because in this line of work you truly do have to commit to the work. It's all-consuming.

Everything that we do at this table is all-consuming. But one of the reasons why I commit to ASD is because of our strong school choice system. So we have opportunities like Save High School for those that need another chance, another shot at getting to the finish line. But, you know, based on this picture, you'll see the wide range of choice options, everything from experiential learning to cultural immersion to science and all sorts of other activities. And we have a lot of different families in this community, and many find a place of belonging in our choice schools.

And of course, it goes without saying that we also have thousands of families in this community that choose neighborhood schools too. I think no matter what type of school you're talking about, we're all choosing ASD, we're choosing to be here. And I will say, and I think this board knows it very well, that with choice does come challenges. And I think that some of the biggest challenges that we need to navigate together will be around school choice. It's not going to be easy, but what I'm gathering is that we have a community that's willing to step up and figure it out if we'll let them in.

So I'm hearing just really good feedback from the community that's helping me understand what this future is going to look like. Even if we don't have all the answers now, I think collectively we can figure out what needs to be done in service of our kids. Next slide, please. So I just wanted to highlight just a few, just successful neighborhood programs too. Right here is Homestead Elementary.

They were working at one of the local food organizations in town where they were distributing, uh, I see over 100 weekends worth of food bags to those in need in the community. And they're just one of dozens of examples of our students learning from a very young age that it's never a bad thing to give back. In fact, that's really kind of what fuels the human experience, and I'm just proud of these kiddos. Uh, next slide, please. And then, you know, I think We all need a little bit more joy in different ways, shapes, or forms.

So I wanted to spotlight the Spring Hill Elementary School. The students actually created a kindness committee, so it's literally a group of kids that figure out, you know, we may not have a lot of resources, but we can be kind to one another. And I think, you know, when I reflect on what that means, I think that's something that we can all espouse in different ways. And then, you know, I do want to applaud Baxter, which is a school that's gone through its own transitions. It's one of the schools, one of the first schools I visited.

I think it was the first school I visited at the beginning of the school year because they had the unique opportunity to welcome students from Nunaka Valley Elementary School. It wasn't easy, but from minute one, those students from Nunaka Valley had a friend from Baxter, and it was a moment that I'll never forget, seeing Nunaka Valley students eating lunch alongside their, their Baxter friends. And I, I see that there's still those connections that exist today, and I applaud Principal Cherry Galloway for being the catalyst for building those bridges with our students. Next slide.

And then I want to shout out one of our Title I schools. So this is Northstar Elementary School. This is a school that has a lot of challenges but a lot of heart, and I applaud Principal Abby O'Neill. She was one of the people recognized today in our earlier celebration. I have a soft spot for those that started their roles 4 years ago, so Principal O'Neill when I was a first-year principal, when I was a first-year superintendent.

And when I reflect on how far she's come in 4 years, it just makes me a really proud superintendent. And to see how she's celebrating the individual growth in her students just reminds me that we have almost 100 school buildings in the Anchorage School District, and there are dozens of people like Miss O'Neill who are going above and beyond to provide incredible educational experiences for our kids. And it's not easy, but she cares deeply, and we have dozens and dozens of principals like her. So just a huge heartfelt gratitude to Principal O'Neill and the wonderful North Star team.

Next slide, please.

And then, of course, you know, I wanted to recognize a middle school, and I think the collaboration that's been happening between Clark Middle School and the Alaska State School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is one worth spotlighting. Because one of the values that I want to really emphasize going into next year is making sure that all of our buildings are places where students and families feel like they belong. And I think when I think about these students that took it upon themselves to start learning different signs every week so that they could make their peers in that program feel like they belong, feel like they're seen, I think that's a beautiful thing that I think we can all learn something from. So I just have a deep respect and appreciation for the Clark and the AKSDHH family. Next slide.

And then I wanted to just spend a moment on one of our high schools. This is Betty Davis, and, you know, we have a lot of students with exceptional needs in the Anchorage School District, and it's in this moment at Betty Davis that I wanted to spotlight because There they espouse this idea of belonging. And, you know, they have a number of students that are in one of their special education programs, and they went above and beyond to make sure they could fully participate in a trip to Washington, D.C. with their general education peers. And they learned together the authentic experiences of learning the ins and outs of governments. And I think all of them have learned a lesson that they'll take with them.

And I truly hope that they will use those lessons to make our world a better place. We need more kindness like that. Student nutrition, we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, but I do want to applaud Marcy Gill. That presentation that she gave to the board has caused chatter across the entire state, so I wanted to just publicly recognize her, that her work is being seen by other superintendents around the state that want to replicate some of what she's done here. So at the top bullet point, it says that 13 schools have been added to the Community Eligibility Provision program.

So for those of you not following what that is, that's the program that allows every student in a building or even within a cluster of buildings to get free lunch and breakfast regardless of if you fill out the paperwork or not. This was really a lifeline during the pandemic, and Marcy's kept that momentum going for our students. And we talk all the time, you know, we need to keep dollars as close to the classroom as possible, and we do, but it goes without saying that if our students are hungry, they can't learn to their full potential. And even though Marcy is, you know, sometimes far away from the actual school buildings, the work that she and her team are leading are making sure that we're meeting the whole child's needs, and we're better for it. So I truly thank Marcy, and our student meal participation has gone up by more than 320,000 meals, which is a huge feat, which I think merits the statewide attention she's been getting and the entire student nutrition team.

Next slide, please. And then, you know, I wanted to take a moment to recognize our advisory committee. So this is just one example. So these are members of our Multicultural Education Concerns Advisory Committee. We refer to it as MECC, and we recently had the opportunity to celebrate Simone Grant, who has been a student member of MEAC since she was in 8th grade.

And just a fun fact about Simone, I had the opportunity to shake her hand not once but twice this week, um, because she graduated from Betty Davis East Anchorage High School, and she also graduated from our middle college. And she's also been an incredible member of MEAC, which is a group of people that advise my leadership team and myself about how we can be more inclusive and have that sense of belonging. And there's still a lot of work to be done, but I'm so thankful for every member of that team. And I want to recognize Chair Jen Matoyka, who stepped up to the plate when we asked her to personally a year ago. She's one of the busiest people in town, and the fact that she spends, um, at least an hour plus a month to put together those agendas and show up for our kids on top of her job and 10 other boards she's a part of— I know because I'm on those same boards too.

So, just a thank you to the entire MECAC team.

And then shortly before graduations, I did have the opportunity to shake the hands of 55 students as part of the Gifted Mentor Program. So, for those of you who don't know, we have about 55 students that are paired with leaders across the whole state, everyone from state senators to doctors, engineers, incredible kids. They completed over 2,800 shadowing hours. These kids are all across the district. They're brilliant in their own ways.

Some like science, some like math, some like debating, some like words. They're brilliant. And to bring them together with some of the most brilliant people in our community just reminds me as superintendent that we don't have a lot of money. We know that part, but we do have a lot of people who care deeply about our future. And this Gifted Mentor Program is just one example of what happens when you put opportunity into hands and inspiration into hearts.

So my deep respect and gratitude to all the busy professionals that dedicated the time to mentor our kids. And I guarantee you that some of the hands that I shook in that room, they're going to be our future teachers and engineers. And I think I met a future governor in that room. So stay tuned in a couple decades, or maybe even sooner. Who knows?

All right, next slide, please.

Just a few more. I didn't want to get too much into the data, but I think that this one is worth spotlighting. It's Seal of Biliteracy. For those of you that don't know, this is a statewide recognition for those that show strong performance in English language arts, but then also in a different language. So our team has been working very quietly behind the scenes, but the proof is in the pudding.

That we've exceeded our pre-pandemic high of 403 students, and now we have about 470 students that have qualified for the Seal of Biliteracy. We are a proud multicultural organization within a deeply diverse community, and this is an important step forward that we must protect. I know it's very difficult to figure out how we're going to protect everything that makes us strong, but I know that there's great data points in here and great examples of Let's figure out a way to keep these types of opportunities moving forward because we made all of those gains despite all the financial headwinds that we faced, and that was not easy. I can guarantee you that. Next slide, please.

And then mental health, I, I wanted to make sure I spotlighted that. We have a number of partnerships throughout the city, but I want to thank our partners at VOA Alaska. They are really helping schools like Spring Hill and others. Have integrated supports at their school. It's deeply aligned to our board guardrail, and I just really wanted to use this slide to shout out the board for setting clear community guidance through the board goals and guardrails that do make a difference in our buildings.

And this is just one of many examples of that. So thank you to the Spring Hill team and for VOA Alaska. Next slide. Just a few more, I promise. And this is as data-heavy as this presentation is going to get.

We have a wonderful assessment and evaluation team and incredible educators that are in our buildings every day with our kids. So the short of it is that we're becoming more sophisticated with our data, and we can now track progress on our positive behavior interventions and supports more than we have in the past. We're also tracking a lot of great data on our Title VI programs, PLC performance, and we're also deeply tracking our progress on our board goals. So the punchline here is that over the past year we've seen 14% increase in K-3 students that are above benchmark compared, fall compared to last spring. So that growth is noticeable, but when I see these data points, I think about like what I saw Monday.

I went to Turnagain's PLC Showcase where I literally sat down next to the very teachers that are more than just a line in a spreadsheet. They're the educators that are working with their colleagues to create personalized plans and interventions for their kids. It's not easy to do it on a Monday morning, I can tell you that. I see it in their eyes, but it's working for the kids. I see it in the M-class, and we spend so much time talking about the budgets and trade-offs and all that to where we forget that yes, we have our challenges, but we are moving closer to the board vision that's been set and continues to be set.

But we can't do it without our educators and without a strong path forward. So I thank our educators who choose to be here in ASD when it's not an easy time to be an educator, but we can't be here without you. Next slide, please. And then, um, let's get to the punchline. So there's been a lot of great things that have happened in the district, and Great things have been happening in the district for many years.

So at the beginning of this year, I shared with the public that we've rebounded from our graduation rates post-COVID, highest graduation rates we've had in many years. We saw a 5% increase in performance on math proficiency. And now, as you just saw on the previous slide, 3 years in a row we've seen increases in K-1, K-3 literacy performance, which means that we're getting closer to creating those enduring changes for our our kids. So this slide represents my focus area for next school year, which is on reflecting and refocusing. And this is something that I want to talk with the board about over time, not just tonight, because we do need to recalibrate.

There are some things that we need to do differently as a team. Specifically, I want to focus on demystifying how major decisions are made. I want to invite people in to helping us shape decisions before they're made. We can't do that with every single decision in every single context for reasons that go beyond the scope of, of this conversation. But when it's possible, when we're able to do it, let's do it, even if it means that our processes might need to look a little differently.

And I'm really thankful to have, uh, two new colleagues on this board who are going to push us in the right direction. Like, we may have some trial and error along the way, but I know I'm willing to do the work to get there. And I know this team is willing to do the work, and we have community members that are willing to take our hand if we offer it to them on problems of mutual concern, which is the future of education for our kids. So I'm ready to move forward together. We have some great things coming down.

We're going to unveil our academic strategic plan to the board in the coming months. I'll be announcing the new deputy superintendent of the Anchorage School District very soon, and collectively we're going to get this done right. We have a great foundation. We're moving in a right direction academically, but this community focus in interrelations with our families and partners can be strengthened, and I'm ready to do that work. I'm ready to recommit to that work, and I hope to do it with you all together.

So on that note, um, I think the Last thing that I want to say before we close out the video is that no matter what challenges lie ahead, and I sense that there are going to be a number of challenges that we'll be facing over the coming months and coming year, but despite all of that, I still believe deeply in the Anchorage community, in our students, and in the people who make up Team ASD. So let's close the video.

Thank you, Shelby. Congratulations! Congratulations! What an awesome day this is to celebrate these 2026 graduates from AMCS. Hi guys, we're about to graduate.

This is Aiden. Hi guys, my name is Molly Krueger. I'm graduating. I'm so excited. Woo!

Oh my God, it's Caitlin! We're graduating. It's Cameron Lucas. Woo!

Guys, it's true! There's my camera. It's Miss Lewis and Mr. Lewis. Woo! Janelle and Bruce.

Everyone say hi! Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Everyone say hi!

Woo! I'm serving as a humanitarian in the Dominican Republic over the summer, and then I'll be attending Boise State in the fall. Woo! Go Broncos! Air Force!

Woo! Hi, Iowa! My name is Abubakar Marena, and I'm about to walk the stage.

These kids have put a lot in in the last 4 years, and they've done a lot of excellent things. Stay focused and stay on top of your academics. Never be afraid to do or try new things because it only helps you in the end. Favorite memories? BCA program.

It got me where I am and who I am now. I'm headed to High Point University to study international business and political science. Oh wow, big stuff. So I might be working for you one day. Yes, you should be so lucky.

Don't think of it as an end to anything. We kind of feel like it's more of a beginning, uh, to what they're going to become. Yeah, that's the way you should holler at graduation. My family over there. Shouting out Costco for letting me take off a day off.

One that has helped me in the last couple years would be Miss Cooper. She has a special place in my heart. Uh, do you have anything to say to her? I love you, Miss Cooper. Thank you for everything you do.

And who's all proud of Carly? Me! Hey, how are you feeling? I'm feeling good. You guys excited for your graduates?

Yeah! God is good. I want to say thank you for everyone who brought me to this place, and you know, whoever helped me get through high school. I want to give a shout out to my sister. She's my twin.

Hi! We've been through thick and thin together. The Senegambian communities here today. I love that. Yeah!

How do you feel? How do you feel, Mom? Uh, so happy and proud.

Thank you, Dr. Bryant. Um, other questions for the board for the superintendent update?

Seeing none, we'll go to board member comments. We'll start to my left. To Member Wilson.

Um, I, I wanted to start with I appreciate the work that Lisa Miller did— Lisa Miller from our Communications Department did this evening, being able to celebrate all of the amazing work that our staff has done to help welcome our Western Alaska kids into the district. The Denali Award winners was awesome. I would love to see more of that celebrating our amazing staff and students and featuring them at future board meetings, um, not just at the one. So I would love to see it happen more often. Or I heard many folks in the, in the audience who, who commented how they really appreciated being able to come and celebrate and recognize and, and cheer on all of the great work that's being done at ASD.

So thank you again for that work. Very excited. About all of, all of the amazing work and talent that is here at ASD. So hope to see more of that. I had the pleasure of attending some of these graduations that were featured at Bartlett High School.

One of the things that really resonated with me was the staff member shared that those students, that particular class earned approximately $1 million in scholarships combined, and there was about 250 students, if I remember correctly. So the work that they have done, the recognition that they will receive, and the work that they will continue to do as our future community members and our future graduates is absolutely amazing. And that's just one high school, so I would love to hear about our other high schools and the accumulation of, of scholarships that our students have, have earned and the partners that have provided those. I was at King Tech High School, their graduation, but I also went to their awards ceremony, which was a week prior to that, and again, scholarships were provided. Our community partners continue to step up.

I would like to feature one in particular because our Anchorage International Rotary has partnered with King Tech providing scholarships to those students. And, and I'm happy to say that my, my daughter was a recipient of those when she was at King Tech and graduated in 2017. But Anchorage International Rotary has provided scholarships since 1996. 30 Years of scholarships, 30 years of partnering with, with our schools. And assisting our students in their future.

And Rotary does a tremendous amount of fundraising to make that happen. So I, I really again want to highlight the work that they are doing and continue to do to support our students and support the community. Many of our Rotaries do fantastic work. South Rotary provided scholarships at King Tech as well. Our, our students receive scholarships from UAA.

There was several students that signed on with the carpenters program as in their apprenticeship program. Lots and lots of scholarships just at that one ceremony. So I continue to say that I really appreciate our community stepping up to support our students in so many ways, including financially to support their future. So great appreciation for, for all of that work. I also had the privilege of being at the Lower Kuskokwim School District graduation, and that— I've participated in many graduations over the past 5 years, and honestly, that was the first time I absolutely was in tears.

It was a smaller graduation. They had a rose ceremony where each of the students had— I don't remember if it was 4 or 5 roses, and they said they do this every year. It's part of their culture, part of their community, and they— each of those students has the opportunity to provide a rose to a family member or a community member or friend who has made an impact on their lives. And the appreciation from those students, the, the, the love and respect from the families and from the community members was just really truly felt in the room. And so that was, that was, that was a privilege to be a part of.

So just wanted to share that. The video didn't convey as much of what I got to feel in that room, and the video was amazing. So really appreciate the work being done with those students and welcoming them into our district. So again, thank you and congratulations to our graduates.

Thank you, Member Wilson. We're going to Member Blakeslee.

There has been a lot of celebrating tonight, um, so I'll just very quickly echo, um, yeah, I've also participated in a lot of different graduations and celebrations throughout the past few weeks, and they've been really memorable, and I have cried at many of them. Um, the two that I cried at the most were the McLaughlin Youth Center graduation. That was very powerful celebration for those students. I was really honored to attend with Sven, um, and, uh, I just think that the, the weight of that moment was, was incredible, and I would like to set myself up to attend that graduation every year. Um, I also cried a lot at the Campbell STEM, um, celebration as well.

That wasn't a graduation, um, specifically when the kids got up to sing, um, their last choir performance about— like, the song was Feeling Groovy, um, and I took a video of it, and then I went home and I watched it again and I cried some more. And, um, and so I think I am— I'm gonna use this time to talk about two things that I've heard tonight and that I've seen tonight and many nights. Um, I'm going to start by just acknowledging that a few of the comments that I heard during testimony were mentioning that funding is likely. I will say from the years of, um, of time, years that I've spent following the legislature and working with our legislature, nothing is likely. Um, and it is very much, uh, a decision that comes down to to the willpower of the people in the decision body, um, at the time who have the power to make those decisions.

So we have one more day of session left, and we have no idea what will happen. Um, and I like to remain optimistic and realistic at the same time, and it's sort of this constant tension that I have. Um, but, but we don't know. We don't know what's going to happen. Um, we don't know if there's going to be a special session, though it sounds like increasingly likely there might be a special session about other topics in the legislature.

So it's—. I'll just say nothing is likely, and yet everything is worth fighting for until there is nothing left to fight for, until there are no more opportunities. And so the opportunities to fight for funding, to fight for the things that we care about, remain until they don't remain. But, but those opportunities, those doors are not yet closed. Um, so please, as much as you are testifying at the school board also testify to the legislature.

Um, and they need to be reminded that while the governor is one decision maker, there's an entire institution of other decision makers that have incredible power, um, to affect change for a lot of Alaskans. So, um, that would be my, my first push. And, and the second thing that I heard tonight was a lot of things that I, again, I will say again, have felt about not about feeling listened to, about feeling like this lack of engagement has been a through line over many years of decision making. It's sort of built, right, to the point that we're in now of this very low public trust. And I really appreciated Dr. Bryant's own reflection about wanting to focus this year on things like rebuilding trust, right, in this slide.

Moving forward, really engaging deeply, maybe changing some processes And when I was a teacher over a decade ago, it's been a long time, it felt the same. Like, I felt very much bound by layers of red tape, layers and layers of bureaucracy, layers and layers of systems that maybe were designed well with well-intentioned, you know, ideas behind them, didn't didn't serve the people that it was meant to serve. And in the very limited amount of time that I've been on the school board so far, it sort of reaffirms my belief that a lot of the systems that we have right now feel archaic, and it makes the act of listening to the public appear more like a formality than an actual dialogue or a feedback loop. And it's the feedback loop that we are missing And so I know that we'll be talking about this over time, but I think I, I just urge us as a body to address that issue with expediency because it is just so critical to have that feedback loop that is so desperately missing right now. And we, we might have that opportunity to incorporate more input when and if we find out the outcomes of this legislative session.

We don't know. That might be a near-term opportunity to better incorporate input before we have the potential opportunity to, to make decisions about the FY27 budget. We don't know what we don't know. And I also think that we need to start this process much earlier when we're talking about the FY28 budget. I mean, before January, right before just the couple of months leading up to the decision about the budget, we need to be starting that conversation with the public.

Early, um, and very soon. So, um, I, I really appreciate everyone's testimony tonight, um, and those are my reflections. Thank you.

Member Bellamy. Thank you. Uh, just a couple of, um, I mean, the graduations were amazing. I love— the families were happy, the kids were happy. I loved when they asked the kids to turn around, look at the parents, and say thank you.

Cheer their parents for helping them, or, and, and, uh, teachers. So I do, uh, want to congratulate all of our graduates. I had the pleasure of attending, uh, Whaley, the middle college, King Tech, Betty Davis East, Anchorage High School, and, um, I also got to get to the Inlet View ribbon cutting, uh, which actually the kids were amazing. It's a beautiful building and there's just lots of joy. I felt lots of joy in that community engagement.

I would like to congratulate a few of our— three of our students who received the Association of Alaska School Boards June Nelson Scholarship. Scholarship. We had 3 students from Service High School. We had Princess Jasmine Tanner. From the Alaska Middle College, we had Isabel Brown.

And I'm sure a lot of us remember Maggie Coulthron. Maggie is now a, um, a senior— I mean, a sophomore in college, but you get to apply for a second year. So she was one of 2 second-year college students who got a scholarship this year. Year. So I congratulate those students and their, and their families.

I know that, um, I also want to congratulate, um, our student Stephen. He— they had to leave, but I wanted to welcome Stephen because he's taking Maddie's place. Maddie is off on different— on a different journey, but she is really an amazing student. Uh, when I first met Maddie, we were at state-level conference, and of course she was doing her thing as a student leader, and that's when we met, probably about almost 4 years ago now. So I have loved seeing her grow and develop.

One more reminder that the communication meeting is coming up on the 28th at 1:30, and we will— that agenda will be published soon. Uh, I think that is all I have right now. Um, so thank you. Oh, and congratulations again to all of the Denali Award winners. Thank you.

We'll go to Member McDonough.

Yeah, I, I want to start by thanking the tens of thousands of voters who decided I was the right person to go to graduation and confer the achievement of the students in the graduating classes. I think that will be the biggest honor of school board service every year, and it probably won't even come close. Um, so I got to attend the South High School graduation commencement, Frontier Charter School Family Partnership Correspondence School, and the Highland Tech Charter School, which is actually my brother's alma mater. Almost 20 years ago now. Like I said, it's an honor to have the trust of the public to say that this is a collective promise of giving a young person a future, and we have to certify that.

Somebody has to say the children did what they were supposed to, and for that to be my responsibility is a huge honor. And I also attended with Member Blakeslee and Member Higgins, the 60th anniversary of the Campbell STEM Elementary School opening. Um, and I just want to say it was beautiful, and I can't help but really honor— honor keeps coming up— the picture of the diverse community of that school is striking. It is what people think of when they hear the words like Anchorage is one of the most diverse communities in the country. And I still remember the warm feeling of tears as I cried with Member Blakeslee during that tiny— those little tiny voices singing Simon Garfunkel.

And it's just an uplifting feeling to see the vitality of a school that has done so much for Anchorage's culture. And I was very, very grateful to have been invited. And, and lastly, um, just personal updates. I've set a goal to put my feet back inside every school. As a former district-wide program administrator, I've had the privilege of being in every school, and I hope to get to do that this year as a board member.

So yesterday, I think it was the 6th school of this new term that I've been able to visit, and I got— I went to the Chugach optional program. And saw the, the wonderful way that that school is basically just one hallway with no walls. It's just got cubbies compartmentalizing the, the flow of bodies, and, and it's a wonderful open experience that's really true to the word open optional. And I couldn't help but wonder, what does a cut of 2 teachers of 11 nooks really look like when the, the floor plan of that school is supposed to be— kids can go in between teachers, and if you remove 2 teachers, the principal pointed out, be these 2 right here in the middle, just taking the center of that building completely out for, for staff to go from 11 down to 9. Um, this is really the impression that every school is going through and the absence of, of adults in their hallways and the empty spaces that the state government system has tasked us to manage.

But I do want to say that this, this week of celebrations for our graduations and for the 60th anniversary of Campbell and for public policy advancements in the legislature, like, I'm really excited that there are many bills that have advanced with a majority vote that the legislature is saying they will give arguably the right amount, in some cases an inadequate amount, but still something. Like, we will be getting something under most circumstances of this legislature after it gavels out tomorrow, and that's a celebration. Like, anytime the state government says they're committing to public education, I'll be on the front celebrating with as everyone else here.

But then last night, I was disappointed that the governor gave a late-night veto to the pension bill, and I was then further disappointed but not surprised when the legislature fell short by 7 votes to receive the supermajority to override his veto. So the state pension plan is all but nonexistent for one more year at least. And the effects in Alaska to not have a public pension system are very easy to see. This is the original empty hallways problem. Like, we, we have a very hard time filling teacher positions because it's just more supportive to their family to teach in other states with the pension.

I've left the classroom myself because there was no pension to keep me there, and to show that, that support is, is given to me by the state that I work in. My wife is a teacher for more than a decade, and she too is leaving her special education classroom this week. Um, now in her case, she's, she's taking on a research fellowship for the University of Kansas. But this story of teachers leaving because we are not supported is not— it's not just my wife and me. We're in the two-thirds of Tier 3 and Tier 4 teacher retirees who have left before the retirement plan matured because we got smart enough to do the math and realize this retirement plan is not right for our children.

And so I was, I was very disappointed that the governor vetoed it. I was very disappointed that it couldn't get past the supermajority. But we will still keep advocating. I liked how Member Blakeslee said we will keep fighting until there's really nothing left to continue fighting for.

We do have an opportunity to tell every governor candidate for governor, of which there are many, that we must reverse these devastating blows to the continued instability of Alaska's public education system. And tomorrow morning, I hope to see every gubernatorial candidate say that they will commit to restoring the pension day one in office. That'll be the first thing that they instruct the legislature to put back. And for the governors who don't say that tomorrow, I, I hope that they respectfully show the public that there— it's not their time to lead this state because they can't provide what the state needs, which is a public education pension, a public pension for educators and all public workers. So I, I hope to see that in the coming days as the governors continue to jockey for the public support and show that they will deliver what Alaskans need.

And then finally, it is my responsibility to look here in governing this district. So if we do get any one-time funds— because I mean, for about 24 more hours there, there is no BSA funding yet. It could happen, and I will continue to advocate for the next 24 hours. But if it's one-time funds, we're going to have to make tough decisions as a board, and I hope to advocate to my colleagues that we need to be able to make bold decisions now, even if that means another scarring budget in February. Because I think we realized last week, doing the exercise of the restoration resolution, that programs have reached beyond critical mass and are completely eviscerated to the point that they will no longer be here in 10 years, even 2 years, even if money comes back.

Programs like the high school band, high school choir, high school civics classes, career classes, elementary programs where, where retention is necessary, like optional programs. These require class size shrinking. Otherwise, they're, they're untenable models. And I don't want to have children in a city where band is an untenable model. So we're going to have to make tough choices, and these are going to be the ones that I think I will advocate for, and I hope the public reaches out to us and lets us know what we really cannot afford to lose next year.

And, and with all that said, I do want to make a quick note to also Member Blakeslee's comment about the feedback loop between the public and the board, and to offer a suggestion to the public and, and to the, the president here in a couple minutes.

I've been for the last 20 years on that side of the dais trying to get the school board to listen. Some years have been very successful, some years have been very hard to do that. Now that I'm on this side, I have realized one of the things that makes it the hardest to respond to the public is if there's a message brought to all of us at once, it then becomes a message of the board and not to any of us individually. And what that means is none of us can respond on behalf of the board unless it's something that the board has put into business already. So I can tell you what we have voted for, and, and that's about it.

So I, I ask the public, as you reach out to us, you will get engaging feedback if it's addressed to us individually, asking for our personal perspectives, because I'm free to speak my personal self to all people who ask. If the question is phrased as, what does the board want to do, or can the board comment, I can't. And really, none of us can. And the president can on very limited authority on business that we've done. So if you're reaching out to us, email us individually.

You can send 7 emails, and that's 7 individual conversations that we have a lot more leeway to respond to. And, and with that, I would ask the president to help us correct this one-way feedback process. I understand the intention of having an email called [email protected] because it's very accessible, but I don't think that the public, including me a month ago, we didn't realize that's an email that's very difficult for any members to reply to. And, and I would consider fixing that process. It could be just removing the email entirely and then just making sure that our emails are front and center when it comes to reaching us.

Or I would— I don't know any other way, but I think making it known that the public, when they address us as a, as a politician, I can answer you. As a board, it would be wrong for me to do that. So I hope we can get this fixed. It is the president's authority to adjust those email accounts. It's not policy.

And I understand the intention of being accessible to the public, but I think what this has created is a one-way complaint box that all of us want to respond to but can't. So with all that said, thank you all for, for having me as your graduation officiant at the, the 5 ceremonies I got to go to. Thank you to the Campbell families for having me there, and I look forward to being in every school this year.

Member Lessens.

Thanks. Um, really generally a really uplifting evening this evening with our recognitions. Uh, the graduation, um, videos and, um, the other shoutouts were really welcome, and I appreciate that. Um, I guess I just wanted to point out as a matter of record, this board started talking about the FY27 deficit a long time ago. It was the subject of Finance Committee meetings in August and September.

We had legislative priorities established by October. A message from the superintendent went out to the community on October 22nd, and it's still posted online. And at that point in time, we were looking at a 70-something million dollar deficit, which has since increased with inflation, actual student counts and the cost of since-settled contracts. Legislators, Anchorage legislators were invited to a meeting here at the ASD Ed Center with the board president.

And, you know, I think there were 3 members of the board at that point in time. Every legislator was offered a chance to get insight at that point in time. So recently I read in the paper that at least one legislator was surprised about the, quote, magnitude of our needs. And I really wonder if— and I don't remember whether that legislator came to the October meeting where we discussed the magnitude of our needs, but we surely did. We also invited the community to provide substantive feedback through the Balancing Act software, and it's not perfect.

But it is actually award-winning, quite frankly. I know Team ASD has gotten recognition for the way it has used the Balancing Act software. So feedback is hard. This is a community of 300,000-some-odd people, not all of whom vote, fewer of whom have kids in the system. There's still 40,000 and change students in the system, which means 80,000 parents, maybe a few are smaller, you know, maybe less if there are siblings involved, but there are grandparents, aunts and uncles.

There are a lot of people who care deeply about success of our students. Um, I, I appreciate Member McDonough's comments about thinking about email. Um, you will have a very full inbox Welcome to the board. Um, they're probably smart reforms that can be made. I don't know what the right answer is at this point in time.

I did want to point out that there, as other members have, that there is some remarkable, um, legislation at play right now, and I haven't seen news coverage, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. But there is a Senate committee substitute for committee substitute for House Bill 28, and there's an element of that, and it passed the Senate just this evening. There's an element in that which, subject to appropriation, which is a big asterisk, would reimburse districts for their energy costs.

If we look at the utilities and cost to heat our buildings, there is a substantial amount of energy that the Anchorage School District uses. I do not know whether the legislature has the will to now fulfill what they've just written in this Senate committee substitute for committee substitute for House Bill 28. But that is absolutely something specific to advocate for, and if we could get accurate facts about it, that would be helpful. But I think it's the mid-$20 million for ASD just for energy costs, if I peeked at the budget correctly. I'm looking for my phone-a-friend for a nod.

Okay, a moderate head nod. Okay, I'll take it. There's money there, and if it is written into statute That means that subject to appropriation, it's recurring. That's fundamentally different than one-time funds. So yes, Member Blakeslee, it's important to fight, but it's also important to fight with our pencils in hand and a finger on speed dial and to be very specific about what needs to be advocated for.

Um, so if, if members of the legislature are wary of increasing the base student allocation, then please by all means help us keep the lights on. Because when you help us keep the lights on, we can redirect dollars from lights and heat to teachers. So it's going to be a really interesting 26 hours and 30 minutes or so, um, to see what happens in Juneau before they gavel out Um, but I guess that's just something that I wanted to share because I haven't heard anybody else talking about it yet, and it seems all very dynamic. Um, and then finally, I, I would gently suggest— and I realize that I'm on microphone, so it's never a gentle suggestion— um, that not all board members may have received invitations to the Campbell STEM closure. So, um, That is just something if there is a community member who wants all board members to be aware of an event, that's actually a really useful place to use the [email protected] email address so that we all do receive it.

Thank you.

Member Higgins, showtime. Um, let me, um, start by saying the graduation I've made reference in, in the graduations I've attended, it's really a community celebration. I mean, the families, the staff, the friends, all being supportive made it possible, and it's, it's, it's an exciting time out there for them. Their success is— makes a difference. When I first got on the school board, 2008, we had a low 60% graduation rate.

4 Out of 10 don't make it. That's unbelievable. And now we're closer to 83, 84%. So it's, it's a night and day difference. And the staff and the families, everything that takes place there made a big difference.

And my congratulations. And I think it's really fantastic. Um, the Campbell anniversary, I did show up, but then I had a graduation ceremony to go to. But I will give— Rachel and Paul were there too, so there was 3 board members there. I just couldn't stay.

I, I couldn't say that the, um, uh, students couldn't graduate because they didn't want to show up. I thought that would really get me in a lot of trouble, so I didn't want to press that. I was asked recently to do a presentation, something on the school board, and I agreed to do it, and I think I think it covered a lot of material. Campbell still is tremendously troublesome to me. I've been very upfront about it, and I've made reference in regards to the meetings taking place before the action and what took place.

I think we need full disclosure. I like the idea of transparency and trust, and you do it with transparency by sharing everything. That's what it's all about. And I don't know everything that took place, um, in meetings with the superintendent, school board. I wasn't one of those in those meetings, but I want to know everything that was discussed.

But, but it just frustrates me. The, the assembly hit up the question about what about all these other schools that weren't selected in the earlier thing? They make more sense than Campbell, but they weren't selected. I still don't understand the reason for it because They weren't under consideration, as I understand it, for right-sizing at that time. It just doesn't add up and the numbers don't add up.

And the fact that we're not looking at trying to resolve that, it cost us, I believe, $90 million in the ballot with the bonds and the additional money. And yet we're still like, you know, we've won. We haven't won anything. We've got to win back the public trust. We need transparency, we need trust, and we need to go forward.

But what I talked about a great deal was just the difference in the school board from 2008 to now. Um, you know, when I first got on, I was assigned departments to go learn what they did. We weren't discouraged from doing it. We were required. Every board member had different departments so that we would know how the budget's being done.

Makes sense. We spent 3 days, full days, budget reviews, different departments coming in saying what they would like to do, what they could do. We got to learn what was going on, not just, this is what we decided we want you to do. We are so far away from that. Um, regular meetings to review budget operations and how these departments functioning and what the issues were.

We had immediate access to staff. We weren't discouraged from talking to staff. We were really welcomed a lot, and we were expected to do that. Um, regular operational audits by ASD— we haven't done one since I've been on in 5 years where we've done a true audit. No more.

We've got, I believe, hundreds of thousands of dollars, even more, in, in, in opportunity for savings. Nothing's been done. So we do a cutting of some areas. We're trying to save money, per se, and in 5 years it won't be saving money. We're going to be losing money with some of these closures.

And there's no other way to look at it. When you've expanded your optional programs, your different charter schools, when they get more money, it's going to weigh against it. I mean, in 5 years, when you talk about $153,000 for all 3 schools is we're going to be losing money on that. So if we're looking ahead, that's not going to work. Um, presentations were really comprehensive.

I haven't seen that at all. Um, public input was not invited and considered, it was sought after. Uh, Carol would be on the radio, Carol Como, superintendent, to answer questions and get into discussions and debates. We don't do anything like that. We're, we're We get you to come in, talk for 2 to 3 minutes, and then that would be it.

Go ahead and leave. And, and we are not having discussions. We are not responding to questions. We are not doing anything to earn the public trust. That's what I want.

I want transparency. I want communications to exist again like it used to, but it doesn't exist today. And I'll mention one thing. All, all staff and all students are doing tremendous things. I just saw one painting that was just gorgeous that was selected.

It's off to DC. It was selected for some big award. We would always, at the beginning of every school board member meeting, recognize students and staff for some of the things that they were accomplishing, and it meant a lot to them. 5 Years now, nothing. We did the Denali Awards.

We do something But this is something that was every school board meeting. Why aren't we recognizing and thanking the people who's really getting the job done? It's the teachers and it's the students, and giving them some model of success out there, some recognition. But we're not doing that. So, um, my problem right now is that I don't see the board changing.

I don't see the administration with transparency and trust being established. I don't see this year changing, but I closed my meeting at the end and said, what's going to be the, the solution? Well, the legislature is not giving us what we need, but all legislators are not in one boat. You need to know what legislators are supporting funding and which ones are not. And if you don't know who your legislator is, you're not able to contribute to that discussion.

School board members, the assembly, the mayor. All these things are decided by the public. You want to know— you want them to do certain things, hold them accountable. And I hope that Campbell parents do not lose their voice over this issue. You shouldn't.

I don't think it was right. It was not appropriate selection. There was a— going forward, there just wasn't any discussion. I want to know what those meetings did, why they would— what the discussions were, because it was inappropriate. And we're not going to rebuild our trust, and we're not going to find a better way to do it if we don't analyze what took place, why, and what we should be doing differently.

We haven't done that. We need to do that, because right now I am not convinced it's going to be different next time. When there were issues and hot issues, we're not getting into discussions with the public, and I don't see a solution right now to that unless we're honest about it and admit the issues and that we're willing to do it in public. And you need a complete answer on all of that. Thank you.

It's, um, I'll close our comments out tonight. Congratulations to all the, the families, uh, and students who got to experience a graduation ceremony this year. I attended a few ceremonies myself. I admit I probably had a favorite, which I probably shouldn't, but Save and the MC of the program who we saw as part of Dr. Bryant's presentation really did an amazing job of making their program stand out and highlighting the the awesome work that those counselors and staff did. As a therapeutic foster parent, I've had a number of youth attend SAVE.

McLaughlin also holds a special place in my heart as a program that is changing lives. I think that's something I walk away with every time we— every time I have a chance to attend a ceremony, which is we are impacting students' lives, and it's a— every graduate is a testament to their family, and to the hard work involved, and to an educator who cared to make a difference. And we've got a really great team here at the district. Um, with that said, um, since it was brought to remember comments, um, I will note, Member McDonough, I'm happy to talk offline and correct, I think, a misunderstanding you have. You can respond to any emails you'd like, and you've done that since you joined the board, but we can talk through any misunderstandings.

And then as a, as a group, as a, as a board at our next retreat, we can decide how we would like to handle that process going forward. Um, our current process of email recipients and choice of who, how we, who and how we respond, um, hasn't changed for some time. And I for one am anxious to have that reconsidered with this new group of 7. Um, I think that's all I've got for tonight. With that said, we completed our business.

I would entertain a motion to adjourn.

Move to adjourn. Second. Motion made by Member Bellamy, seconded by Member Wilson. We are adjourned at 9:35 PM. Thank you.