Before taking public testimony on non-agenda items at a Juneau Board of Education meeting Tuesday, Deedie Sorenson, president of the board, said, “everything that we hear or read on social media is not necessarily factual and it is important to really always, always remember that.”
“Pictures aren’t rumors,” Shannan Greene, a parent of a high schooler attending HomeBridge, responded when it was her turn to offer testimony.
The exchange was part of a discussion about an increase in fights this school year in the recently consolidated middle and high schools. Some fights between students have been posted on social media in what officials have called a concerning national trend, although the frequency of local high school fights has declined the past few months, according to the district’s superintendent.
Greene said her son was attending Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé until October when he transitioned to HomeBRIDGE, which Greene said she is happy about due to recent violence at JDHS.
“My recommendation that I’m just going to put out there is what I would call a safety stand-down,” she said.
Greene said there is a need for transparency from the school board and an opportunity for leadership. She said she has a military background; a safety stand-down is a temporary pause in normal activities to address a specific issue or concern. She said recent violence in the Juneau School District needs to be publicly addressed.
JSD Superintendent Frank Hauser said one fight is one fight too many.
A report in November showed high school fights have increased in the past two years. On Tuesday, Hauser said they are on the decline with six in September, two in October, zero in November, two in December and one so far in January. Statistics on fights at Thunder Mountain Middle School were not available at the time of the meeting.
He said no weapons were involved in a January incident at JDHS and it did not cause disruptions throughout the school day. However, he said, “I want to be very clear that this does not minimize the incident between two students that occurred.”
The Juneau Police Department has school resource officers who work with the district to address incidents such as fights. Inventory of security cameras at all JSD facilities was recently completed through the Facilities Committee. Currently, JDHS has 22 security cameras, two of which are offline, according to Kristy Germain, the operations director. A security assessment is ongoing. Most cameras around schools are at the front door, certain areas around the school, and around the perimeter.
“We want actions to see improvement,” Elizabeth Siddon, a school board member, said. She suggested a specialized task force on violence that could potentially bring in behavioral specialists to the school.
Amber Frommherz, another member of the board, said she believes an assembly held at JDHS could be helpful to remind students of the community they co-create.
Like Greene, she referenced her military background, calling the school board the “captain” the responsibility falls upon. She said credit should be given to the students continuing to attend and study in an environment where fights are occurring.
Frommherz also requested to know what happens “behind the scenes” after a fight takes place.
Hauser said while limited information can be released on the incidents due to privacy of individual students, a standard process of how fights are responded to and investigated can be provided to the board.
In an interview, he said along with the school district investigating footage that’s recorded on school grounds, community members can report fight videos and pictures to social media platforms.
“Any time that videos get posted of violent acts or really any act that takes place at school, I mean, it’s of concern because it has an impact on the school climate,” he said. “Anytime school officials are made aware of that, we try to go through and investigate to find out who is posting the videos and work to have those videos removed. If they’re posted on a social media site, you can report those to social media sites to request — especially if it’s a violent act against kids — if something gets posted like that, social media sites will usually review those and pull those down.”
David Noon, who is the chair of the board’s Policy Committee, said in an interview after the meeting that a cellphone policy for the district is being reviewed. The topic will be discussed next in a meeting on Jan. 30.
“A number of school districts like the LA Unified School District have implemented blanket prohibitions on cellphones on campuses and there’s a lot of dialogue about the degree to which students are just constantly distracted by their phones,” he said.
Noon said although the policy review stems from a national conversation around cellphone use in schools, the ease at which students can post videos online and create cyberbullying accounts is a factor to be considered. During the meeting, he noted it is the second time this school year violence was discussed during a board meeting, and that is “completely unacceptable.”
The Alaska Legislature and state department of education are also considering cellphone restrictions.
In October 2024, a resolution asked the State School Board to charge the Department of Education and Early Development with the task of drafting a model policy to adopt and enforce the restriction of student cell phone usage during school hours. Bill Wielechowski, an Anchorage Democrat, prefiled Senate Bill 18 on Jan. 10. SB18 would ban cellphones and other “wireless telecommunications devices” not issued by a school during regular school hours, including lunches and passing periods, although exceptions would be permitted for emergencies.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.
