Our Mission: To advocate for children and youth by assisting school boards in providing

Leadership in democratic governance is not easy. In fact, it is often messy and very hard. Sometimes it is incredibly frustrating. Not all decisions turn out the way you may want, but for the most part, it works. However, it only works when leaders come together with the expectation that the goal is to accomplish something for the benefit of the whole, a servant leadership approach. As a leader participating in this process, you may need to put perfection aside and settle for “pretty good” because that is often far better than nothing. Unfortunately, in today’s political reality, many have taken an “all or nothing” approach to democracy which is not democratic at all.

At our recent AASB Legislative Fly-in, we had the privilege and opportunity to have Senator Tom Begich, a member of the Senate Education Committee, speak to school board members about the democratic process, using the Alaska Reads Act as an example, SB 111. And while the Senator spoke to us about the bill itself and its evolution, he was giving us the opportunity to see how a coming to “pretty good” could create a path forward that has a far greater impact when considering other legislation that could benefit public education, say for instance an increase in the Base Student Allocation.

We have often spoken about the Art of Compromise. Even in today’s political environment, which is highly polarized, trying to get something done, means that we often have to compromise. We have to find a way to a solution, a way to get to “yes”. As local school board members, when you go to your school board meetings and have to make hard decisions, it’s not always a unanimous decision. I recall as a school board member, we often had a vigorous debate on an issue, and the vote was split. At times I was on the winning end, and sometimes I was not. However, I always felt like we usually made the best decision because we had a debate and civil discourse. Senator Begich’s example of working with the governor, a political opponent for him, on an issue that could have a profound impact on the lives of children couldn’t be a more appropriate example of that. The persistence of moving an issue forward in the best interest of the students of the state of Alaska is exemplary.

Tiffany Jackson, AASB Director of Membership Services

Every day the Association of Alaska School Boards receives phone calls from school board members, superintendents, executive admins, and even the public asking questions about school board operations. Usually, the first thing we do when identifying if we can help answer the question is say, “Let’s pull up the district’s policies.” The vast majority of questions we receive can indeed be answered by referring to the district’s policy manual. This is why it’s so critical for your district’s policy manual to be easily accessible to everyone, including the public.

“Tiffany,” you may be saying, “our policy manual is already on our website.” AWESOME! My next question for you is, how easy is it to find on your website? Do you have a bright button on your homepage that takes you directly to your policy manual? Or, do you have to know that school district policies are a function of the school board, and therefore you have to navigate to the school board section of the website first to locate your policies? I work with districts all over the state, pulling up many of your policy manuals daily, and I can tell you, some of you have policy manuals that aren’t very easy to find. If a policy expert has difficulty finding your policy manual, what chances will a community member with limited policy knowledge know where to find them?

Now that you’ve got your policies easily findable on your district’s homepage, you may be wondering what your next step as a school board member may be when it comes to policies.

Building on its longstanding support for family engagement and home-school partnerships, Carnegie Corporation of New York has awarded ten grants to nonprofit organizations serving communities in nine states. Each will receive $100,000 over a period of 12 months to focus on family engagement, one of the most influential factors in educational outcomes. 

“These nonprofits are meeting the distinct needs of their communities. They are overcoming barriers and enabling educators and parents to be true partners in helping students thrive,” said Ambika Kapur, program officer for the Corporation’s Public Understanding portfolio of grants. “As we emerge from the pandemic, these collaborations will remain essential to student learning and to the nation’s recovery.”

The Carnegie grant will allow the Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB) to work with families in three school districts—Juneau, St. Marys, and Lower Kuskokwim—to co-create age-appropriate and place-based learning materials and opportunities that supplement AASB’s Stronger Together family/school partnership framework. In addition to resources, participating educators will be supported to use family-designed resources and strategies that can benefit student transitions and learning in 3rd grade, 6th grade, and 8th grade.

As researchers and experts in the parent/school partnership movement, AASB offers ongoing tailored professional learning in relationship building with families, building confidence for partnerships, and linking families to learning. Culturally responsive family partnership work is an essential predictor for student outcomes, educational equity, and achieving AAAB’s mission to advocate for youth.

To support this work, AASB created Stronger Together: The Power of School and Family Partnership in Alaska, a roadmap and key milestones for family, student, and school partnerships. The Stronger Together framework was developed in collaboration with school staff, school board members, community partners, parents, grandparents, and other contributors from across Alaska. It is actively being used by thousands of families and educators to build trust and institute partnership within the family/school dynamic.

And in his own frequently used self-introduction, “Hi, I’m Don Young, Congressman for All Alaska,” he reminded you that he stood alone in the U.S. House of Representatives and only through his seniority could he effectively represent the state. He had no fear of standing up as 1 against 434 colleagues - if it would help Alaska.

Seated in a special election in 1973, 49 years ago, he was the only Congressman that many Alaskans have ever had. As the longest serving Republican in history, Young served in the House 49 years and had already announced his candidacy for a 26^th term. As the longest serving sitting member of the House, he carried the honorary title of Dean of the House, with the banner in his office to remind visitors of his staying power. 

 

Congressman Young was outspoken, brash, and sometimes overbearing – but he was “all Alaskan” and was unapologetic in his defense of Alaska. He frequently reminded others of how Alaska, as the 49^th state, lagged behind every other state in infrastructure. It was in his DNA makeup to correct that situation and secure as much funding as possible to allow Alaska to stand as an equal with all other states. 

 

He began his House career by shepherding the permit process through the House for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline to transport Alaska’s oil to market and ended his career by breaking ranks with his party to pass the infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Both of those actions have significant positive impacts on Alaska. Congressman Young was the prime sponsor of 123 bills that were enacted over his career. His office contained photos of him with ten different presidents signing legislation sponsored by Young. He had no reluctance in reaching across the aisle if it would serve Alaska and Alaskans. 

 

Of significance to AASB, Congressman Young was a former BIA school teacher in Fort Yukon and could talk education issues with an understanding of the importance of a quality education for every Alaskan student. He was the recipient of a Congressional award from the National School Boards Association for his support to increase IDEA funding. 

 

AASB offers its gratitude to Congressman Young for always being on the front line for Alaska. There will never be another Don Young. He truly was “one of a kind” and left an indelible mark on the lives of Alaskans.

School Law & Policy Day attendees will receive:

Following Law & Policy Day, the Alaska Science of Reading Symposium co-hosted by DEED and the Region 16 Comprehensive Center (R16CC) will feature national literacy experts presenting on current best practices and theories of change focused on understanding the science of reading.

The Association of Alaska School Boards is proud to announce its 31st Annual Scholarship Award Competition! The June Nelson Memorial Scholarship is named in honor of the late June Nelson, a longtime school board member from Kotzebue. June contributed much to the cause of education and is remembered for her outstanding service on behalf of Alaska’s children.

This 2021-2022 school year, AASB will award fifteen graduating seniors each with a $1,500 scholarship to apply toward their post-secondary education. The scholarship may be applied toward the student’s choice of a business, trade, or college institution.

Application Deadline: Friday, April 1, 2022 at 11:59 pm

Click title for information and registration.

Apr 5 - Holding Your Meeting Remotely

Missed a session? Slides, video recordings, and other resources for completed webinars in the 2022 First-term Board Members series are available. (Member password required to access video content).

Mar 29 - Working with your Community Slides | Video

Mar 15 - Working with your Board Slides | Video

Mar 8 - Board Policy: Development and Governance Slides | Video

Mar 1 - The Board and the Budget Slides | Video

Feb 22 - School Finance with an Expert! Slides | Video

Feb 8 - The Superintendent – Building a Relationship Slides | Video

Feb 1 - Conducting Effective Meetings & Roberts Rules of Order Basics Slides | Video

Jan 25 - School Law Basics Video

Jan 18 - Welcome to the Board and AASB Board Standard Slides | Video

Please Note: Member password is required to access videos. Contact Tiffany Jackson.

Spring Boardsmanship Academy

Attendees were given a copy of the framework, and it is available here.

The afternoon ended with Jenni Lefing and Tiffany Jackson leading a session on The Board’s Role in Engaging Your School Communities. The session began with a review of the four key roles of school boards; hire and evaluate the superintendent, set and approve the district budget, review and adopt curriculum and develop and adopt policies to govern the district, as well as the five AASB Board Standards- Vision, Structure, Accountability, Advocacy and Conduct-Ethics.

The next opportunity to spend a day working on boardsmanship skills will be April 28- 29 for AASB's School Law & Policy Day and DEED's Alaska Science of Reading Symposium in Anchorage.

He emphasized the portion of the oath that says, I will honestly, faithfully, and impartially discharge my duties as a school board member to the best of my ability.

"Your responsibilities are numerous, and sometimes onerous," Wooten said, reciting a lengthy list of complex tasks and compliance responsibilities school board members must undertake to run a school district. 

Don’t ever forget that oath of office you took as a newly elected or reelected school board member that says, I will honestly, faithfully, and impartially discharge my duties as a school board member to the best of my ability.

He closed his presentation with a quote from Thomas Jefferson: "We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate."

Senator Begich provided a detailed analysis of this session's political landscape, and the history and importance of reading bills SB 111 and its companion bill HB 164, both now being considered by legislative committees.

If both reading bills are passed, they will be combined into a single bill. Any needed adjustments to the legislation can be made in following years, Begich said.

To express support for the reading bills, he urged school boards to contact all members of the Senate Finance Committee to request that SB 111 be passed, and all members of House Education Committee to request passage of HB 164.

To provide a better understanding of what's in the reading bills, and the importance of their passage this session, links to a text transcript and video of Senator Begich's remarks are provided below.

Senator Begich's Remarks: Text Transcript | Video

Please Note: Member password is required to access videos. Contact Jenni Lefing.

Slides | Video

Please Note: Member password is required to access videos. Contact Jenni Lefing.

Ann Macfarlane, Professional Parliamentarian

Weldon L. Merritt, PRP, CPP, has graciously authorized Jurassic Parliament to publish this listing of the rights and responsibilities of ordinary members of an organization. All citations are taken from Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, 12^th edition (RONR).

Read more answers to frequently asked questions at Ask AASB

Got a question? Email Timi Tullis or Tiffany Jackson.

Check out the STEPS Resources page for past newsletters

#parentingtips #rainorshinelearningallthetime

The School Health ECHO is a virtual learning network intended for professionals in the education setting (administrators, school-based nurses, etc.) to interface with a team of medical and education experts in Alaska. This series is focused on health considerations, answering questions related to Educational & School settings, and establishing a safe school environment during this critical time.

Weekly sessions will continue to include Covid-19 updates, but have now expanded to include other topics impacting school health, including mental health, chronic illness, violence prevention, substance misuse, and environmental health.

Please Note - Some news outlets may require registration or a paid subscription for link access. Others may grant free access to a limited number of articles before requiring a paid subscription.

"I secured continued funding for public safety and to tackle the ongoing crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked indigenous women and girls. And, to create a healthier, safer Alaska, we provide crucial resources to help prevent suicide, substance misuse, and alcohol abuse,” said Senator Murkowski. “As we rebuild and strengthen our economy, the programmatic and congressionally directed funding I’ve secured in this measure will provide greater certainty, hope, and support for Alaskans as we work together to realize our state’s unrivaled promise.”

Nome Democratic Rep. Neal Foster, a committee co-chair, said education is a priority for the House majority. “Stability is an issue when the school districts need to build their budgets,” he said. “We felt it’s important that with the amount of money that’s coming into the coffers, now is a good time to provide that stability to school districts.”

House Bill 272 proposes raising the allocation from $5,930 to $6,153 in 2022 and then to $6,208 in 2023. HB 273 would require the state to annually increase the allocation by an amount tied to the Consumer Price Index for Anchorage.

It pays for Alaska Performance Scholarships, Alaska Education Grants and the state’s medical education program, WWAMI, named after the initials of the states that participate, Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.

The sweep grew the Constitutional Budget Reserve from roughly $1 billion to $1.5 billion. Bethel Democratic Sen. Lyman Hoffman said at a committee meeting that Alaskans who rely on the scholarships and the ferries want more certainty.

The program launched 15 years ago, but the Biden administration made changes to it in October. Among the changes, for a limited time, borrowers may receive credit for past periods of repayment on loans that would otherwise not qualify for the program.

Some borrowers have until October to apply for the forgiveness.

For more information on student loan debt cancellation, visit the Department of Education website.

Alaska ranks among the bottom states for graduation rates. And within the state, Alaska Native students drop out of secondary school at higher rates than their peers. According to data from the past three decades, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta schools consistently have the highest dropout rates in the state. Proponents of a new bill think that they can change poor outcomes for Alaska Native students by putting education directly in the hands of Tribes.

Jill and I send our prayers to his wife Anne, to his daughters and the entire Young family, and to the people of Alaska.

May God bless Don Young.

Please Note - Some news outlets may require registration or a paid subscription for link access. Others may grant free access to a limited number of articles before requiring a paid subscription.

Please Note - Some news outlets may require registration or a paid subscription for link access. Others may grant free access to a limited number of articles before requiring a paid subscription.

- For More Information -

Email Timi Tullis or call 907-463-1660

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If you would like AASB to conduct a superintendent search for your district, or have questions, Contact Us