Board OKs district plan for Next Generation
The Juneau School District's plan to retool high school education was approved by the Juneau School Board on Tuesday night.
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The School Board voted 6-1 in favor of the Next Generation plan. One of the plan's major components is to eventually include theme-based learning academies at Juneau-Douglas High School and Thunder Mountain High School, which is due to open next school year. Supporters of the plan have said it will help curb the district's high dropout rate.
The only hiccup came when School Board Member Margo Waring suggested approving the budgets for opening the new high school and for implementing the Next Generation plan separately. She supported the Next Generation plan, but said it was premature to consider its budget because the board had yet to consider the rest of the district's budget, and all budgets should be considered together.
"I think that is the responsible way as elected officials we should act," Waring said.
School Board member Mark Choate jumped in and said the budget proposal relied too much on how much school funding it would get from the state government. He also took issue with the fact that the School Board lacked a systematic review of the district's entire budget.
"I don't think that's a good way for us to operate," Choate said.
But School Board member Sean O'Brien countered that the budget for opening Thunder Mountain and implementing the Next Generation plan was not "business as usual." He said the plan was the product of the process and both budgets should be considered together.
"I feel like it's a packaged deal," O'Brien said.
The district won't finalize its budgets until it knows what money it will receive from the state Legislature.
Lynn Meyers, a French teacher at Juneau-Douglas High School, asked why the School Board had not discussed its budgetary concerns earlier. She said the board should trust those who put "hundred, if not thousands" of hours into drawing up the Next Generation plan and resist the urge to "micro manage."
"I think some trust is called for," she said.
The majority of the School Board ultimately agreed and approved both budgets, with Waring casting the lone opposing vote.
The School Board also voted unanimously to revamp the district's food service plan to include more hot lunch options district wide.