Schools

Outgoing Juneau School District Superintendent Bridget Weiss smiles during a school board meeting in early December. Tuesday afternoon, the Board of Education approved a contract to search for her replacement. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

District moves forward with firm for superintendent search

The contract is set to begin on Jan. 1 and will run through June. 30

Outgoing Juneau School District Superintendent Bridget Weiss smiles during a school board meeting in early December. Tuesday afternoon, the Board of Education approved a contract to search for her replacement. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Courtesy Photo / JR Ancheta, UAF Matthew Wooller kneels in the mammoth tusk collection at the University of Alaska Museum of the North in 2021. Wooller is leading the museum’s Adopt a Mammoth program, which will date and identify specimens at the museum.

UAF partners with Alaska students for a mammoth of a project

“De-extinction” company adopts fossils for Alaska school districts.

Courtesy Photo / JR Ancheta, UAF Matthew Wooller kneels in the mammoth tusk collection at the University of Alaska Museum of the North in 2021. Wooller is leading the museum’s Adopt a Mammoth program, which will date and identify specimens at the museum.
Juneau School Board President Deedie Sorensen and Vice President Emil Mackey discuss ‘milk’ incident investigation bid and extending food vendor’s contract with board members Tuesday evening. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

District discusses ‘milk’ incident investigation bid, extends food vendor’s contract

Juneau School Board discusses third-party bid, allows NANA to serve food for six more months

Juneau School Board President Deedie Sorensen and Vice President Emil Mackey discuss ‘milk’ incident investigation bid and extending food vendor’s contract with board members Tuesday evening. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Surrounded by other supporters, Jess Cobley, Juneau Education Association middle school representative at large, speaks to the Juneau District School board about the current status of the contract negotiation cycle between the pair at the board’s Tuesday evening meeting at Thunder Mountain High School.(Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

‘How dare you?’: Teachers union rebuffs contract proposal during meeting

This follows an impasse declared by JEA a week earlier.

Surrounded by other supporters, Jess Cobley, Juneau Education Association middle school representative at large, speaks to the Juneau District School board about the current status of the contract negotiation cycle between the pair at the board’s Tuesday evening meeting at Thunder Mountain High School.(Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Teachers and school board members talk during the Juneau Board of Education and Juneau Education Association’s annual meet and greet in mid November. JEA contract negotiation team declared impasse last Friday and are in the process of filing for federal mediation.

Juneau teachers union declares impasse amid drawn-out negotiations

Still, the teachers union and district express optimism about working toward agreement.

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Teachers and school board members talk during the Juneau Board of Education and Juneau Education Association’s annual meet and greet in mid November. JEA contract negotiation team declared impasse last Friday and are in the process of filing for federal mediation.
An independent third-party audit found Juneau School District spent at a deficit of over $620,000, in the past fiscal year and failed to adhere to district policies that could have lessened the total. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

Audit shows ‘deeply concerning’ deficit for school district

Independent report says failure to follow policy contributed to negative balance.

An independent third-party audit found Juneau School District spent at a deficit of over $620,000, in the past fiscal year and failed to adhere to district policies that could have lessened the total. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
AK STAR testing results and materials are displayed on a table at the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District office on Monday in Soldotna.. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Statewide test scores ‘unacceptable’

Educators blame COVID and cash, not kids.

AK STAR testing results and materials are displayed on a table at the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District office on Monday in Soldotna.. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Juneau Education Association president Chris Heidemann talks during the Juneau Board of Education and JEA’s annual meet and greet Tuesday night. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

School board and teachers union confront ‘disconnect’ and district financial deadlock

“There’s no happiness anywhere in this.”

Juneau Education Association president Chris Heidemann talks during the Juneau Board of Education and JEA’s annual meet and greet Tuesday night. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Maxine Petersen, 8, stands with her parents Carl Petersen and Samantha Jenkins to accept the Alaska 529 annual $25K Giveaway at Kax̱dig̱oowu Héen Elementary on Thursday. Maxine is the first recipient to receive the scholarship within Southeast. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

Juneau third grader receives $25,000 scholarship

She’s the first Southeast Alaska recipient of the Alaska 529 scholarship

Maxine Petersen, 8, stands with her parents Carl Petersen and Samantha Jenkins to accept the Alaska 529 annual $25K Giveaway at Kax̱dig̱oowu Héen Elementary on Thursday. Maxine is the first recipient to receive the scholarship within Southeast. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
Tuesday night at the Juneau School District school board meeting Superintendent Bridgette Weiss presented her formal letter of retirement from her position, prompting the members to give the OK to start the process of finding someone to fill the position come July 1, 2023. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

Weiss is resigning as Juneau School District superintendent — what’s next?

District begins the process of filling the position by July.

Tuesday night at the Juneau School District school board meeting Superintendent Bridgette Weiss presented her formal letter of retirement from her position, prompting the members to give the OK to start the process of finding someone to fill the position come July 1, 2023. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
KinderReady Preschool students from Harborview Elementary frolic in a pile of dried leaves at Evergreen Cemetery on Tuesday. The leaf jump is an annual event organized by Linda Torgerson and has been happening in Juneau for around 25 years. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Piles of fun: Juneau students partake in annual leaf jump

Cannonball!

KinderReady Preschool students from Harborview Elementary frolic in a pile of dried leaves at Evergreen Cemetery on Tuesday. The leaf jump is an annual event organized by Linda Torgerson and has been happening in Juneau for around 25 years. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire Floyd Dryden Middle School teacher James White poses with seventh graders with mustaches as a way of recognizing Movember, a movement raising awareness of men’s health issues throughout the month of November.

Mo’ money, men’s problems: Movember is more than lip service for a good cause

Movember is more than lip service for a good cause.

Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire Floyd Dryden Middle School teacher James White poses with seventh graders with mustaches as a way of recognizing Movember, a movement raising awareness of men’s health issues throughout the month of November.
In this Sept. 27 2021, photo Bridget Weiss, superintendent of Juneau Public Schools, stands outside the classroom of former math teacher and basketball coach Bill Szepanski, who inspired her to pursue a degree in education and a teaching and coaching career. Weiss recently informed district staff she will be stepping away from her position at the end of June. (Dana Zigmund / Juneau Empire File)

Weiss departing as Juneau School District superintendent

Announcement comes after intense few years, and she is stepping away at the end of June.

In this Sept. 27 2021, photo Bridget Weiss, superintendent of Juneau Public Schools, stands outside the classroom of former math teacher and basketball coach Bill Szepanski, who inspired her to pursue a degree in education and a teaching and coaching career. Weiss recently informed district staff she will be stepping away from her position at the end of June. (Dana Zigmund / Juneau Empire File)
Juneau School District Bridget Weiss, shown in this September 2021 photo, shows an art project she completed as a kindergarten student at Harborview Elementary School. Weiss, superintendent since 2018, received a one-year extension of her contract until June of 2025 on Tuesday. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire File)

Superintendent gets contract extension, raise

Bridget Weiss, Alaska’s 2022 Superintendent of the Year, to preside over Juneau schools until 2025.

Juneau School District Bridget Weiss, shown in this September 2021 photo, shows an art project she completed as a kindergarten student at Harborview Elementary School. Weiss, superintendent since 2018, received a one-year extension of her contract until June of 2025 on Tuesday. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire File)
Students show off their new backpacks at Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s annual backpack distribution at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on July 23, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Back to school: Tlingit and Haida holds annual backpack distribution

Hundreds of backpacks were distributed, with hundreds still to go out.

Students show off their new backpacks at Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s annual backpack distribution at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on July 23, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
This June 14 photo shows Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary School. Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

District OKs ‘milk’ incident investigation, extension of food vendor’s contract

Juneau School Board approves third-party probe, allowing NANA to serve food for six more months

This June 14 photo shows Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary School. Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
This photo shows Sít' Eetí Shaanáx - Glacier Valley School the evening of Tuesday, June 14. The school is one of three sites of the Juneau School District's RALLY program. On Tuesday, children were served floor sealant instead of milk during breakfast at the school's RALLY site. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Board takes steps toward probe of ‘milk’ incident

There is debate about whether local or national experts are preferred for investigation.

This photo shows Sít' Eetí Shaanáx - Glacier Valley School the evening of Tuesday, June 14. The school is one of three sites of the Juneau School District's RALLY program. On Tuesday, children were served floor sealant instead of milk during breakfast at the school's RALLY site. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
This photo shows Sít' Eetí Shaanáx - Glacier Valley School the evening of Tuesday, June 14. On Wednesday the Juneau Police Department shared the findings of its investigation into an incident in which a dozen children drank floor sealant when it was served instead of milk during a summer program breakfast at the school. There was nothing to obviously suggest criminal charges are appropriate, but the findings have been sent to the district attorney for review, according to JPD. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Police: No obvious basis for charges in ‘milk’ incident

Investigation of floor sealant being served at summer youth program being reviewed by prosecutors

This photo shows Sít' Eetí Shaanáx - Glacier Valley School the evening of Tuesday, June 14. On Wednesday the Juneau Police Department shared the findings of its investigation into an incident in which a dozen children drank floor sealant when it was served instead of milk during a summer program breakfast at the school. There was nothing to obviously suggest criminal charges are appropriate, but the findings have been sent to the district attorney for review, according to JPD. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
This June 14 photo shows Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary School. School district officials are considering procuring a third-party investigator to look into how a dozen children and two adults were served floor sealant instead of milk during a summer youth program. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

‘Sip before serve’ policy violated in milk mishap

Food company admits missteps; school board seeks 3rd-party investigator.

This June 14 photo shows Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary School. School district officials are considering procuring a third-party investigator to look into how a dozen children and two adults were served floor sealant instead of milk during a summer youth program. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
A special meeting of the school board will begin with a “discussion with NANA Management Services regarding (the) food services incident,” according to an agenda published by the Juneau School District. Twelve kids and two adults ingested floor sealant when it was served Tuesday morning by the company during breakfast at the RALLY program Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx - Glacier Valley School, shown in this June 14 photo. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Contractor faces public questioning Friday about ‘milk’ incident

Company that served chemical sealant to children to face Juneau’s school board at special meeting

A special meeting of the school board will begin with a “discussion with NANA Management Services regarding (the) food services incident,” according to an agenda published by the Juneau School District. Twelve kids and two adults ingested floor sealant when it was served Tuesday morning by the company during breakfast at the RALLY program Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx - Glacier Valley School, shown in this June 14 photo. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)