As we think back over the last several months, it’s difficult to remember what “normal” looks and feels like. It seems as if we’ve been in this “new world” for a lifetime. 

For most of us in education, the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality when we had to close the schoolhouse doors.

“Early Childhood Alaska: A Strategic Direction for 2020-2025” is on track to be completed in early June. Underway since October, this new statewide strategic plan offers concrete goals and actions to strengthen and improve Alaska’s complex, fragmented network of programs and services that make up the early childhood system. It points the way to long-desired collaboration between groups working independently in health, education and child care and a new design for a decision-making in the early governance structures.

Part seven of a series on Technology and the Law.

In the past months, Alaska schools have transitioned from our traditional educational model in brick and mortar classrooms to a 21st century model of students connecting with educators through online video platforms.

Resiliency and overcoming obstacles on the way to adulthood are common themes of commencement speeches. This year, those themes took on new meaning when addressed to the region’s 2020 high school graduates.

“You will forever be the class that stood in the space before the COVID-19 pandemic and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and there will be an after,” Kasigluk Akula Advisory School Board Chairman Arnold Bungy Brink Sr. told graduates.

The Unalaska City School District got creative with graduation this year, in order to make a festive day while following social distancing requirements. Diplomas were given out to students in groups of five, followed by a caravan of seniors, and finally a virtual graduation event on Channel 8 TV.

Watch the UCSD Virtual Graduation 2020

With a pandemic looming over the whole world, one of the biggest disappointments came as a blow to the graduating seniors of 2020. Due to social distancing mandates, the classes of 2020 were not able to celebrate their accomplishments with family, friends, and teachers.

KYUK wanted to give each senior the opportunity to hear their name publicy shared over the radio, and the chance to be recognized for their accomplishments. KYUK reached out to the Kuspuk School District to participate in the radio graduations. Congratulations to the Aniak Jr. Sr. High School's and George Morgan Sr. High School’s graduating classes of 2020!

Listen to Aniak Jr. Sr. High and George Morgan Sr. High graduations

This call-in show, to honor all those graduating from high school Western Alaska, was held in conjunction with the Nome-Beltz high school graduation procession on Wednesday, May 20th.

A big thank you goes to everyone who called in, as well as Nome-Beltz High School, Bering Strait School District and KICY. Thank you for partnering with KNOM to celebrate the region’s graduates.

Listen to KNOM Graduation Call-In Show

35 Nome-Beltz High School seniors are set to officially graduate and receive their diplomas. Special accommodations have been made for their graduation ceremony, and for other Class of 2020 graduates across Western Alaska, given the current coronavirus pandemic.

According to Dr. Bobby Bolen, the Superintendent for the Bering Strait School District, BSSD distributed their annual student certificates.

Since schools closed in March, streaming video has been used to make online classes run quickly and conveniently. On Saturday, May 16, it was also used to build a sense of ceremony and significance for Cordova Jr./Sr. High School’s 100th graduating class. Seniors were able to cross the stage and receive their diplomas in an event broadcast on YouTube, followed by a procession in vehicles down First Street and to the school.

From the Principal

School is out for the summer! I don’t know who is more excited, student, teachers, or parents?! I do know that I am grateful for the work and care that everyone has put into these past couple of months of school during distance learning.

I believe we have all learned much more than we had planned before Spring Break. And largely about different things than the curricula had laid out. And, in some cases, the curriculum became more real and personal.

When the coronavirus pandemic began and schools closed, many students at Nenana City School returned to their home villages. Students throughout the state come to Nenana and stay at the Student Living Center while attending high school.

When it came time to graduate, the accomplishment was celebrated in their own home towns. Graduates were asked to share a photo of themselves and staff members turned that into a graduation video.

Watch Graduation Video

State health mandates have limited gathering sizes and prevented high schools from holding traditional graduations this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, so the Anchorage School District had to come up with new ways to honor its 2020 graduates.

This week, Anchorage high schools are distributing memorabilia boxes containing a diploma cover, honor cords, certificates, awards, letters of congratulations from teachers and staff and other small gifts.

The Class of 2020 continues to find ways to celebrate as traditional graduation ceremonies have had to adapt to health guidelines.

In Anchorage, one local car club led by Julio Fonoti Jr. has started holding car parades for graduates around the city.

“Basically, you’re going to be looking at lowered trucks, lifted trucks with some cool lights, cool brands, cars with loud music, because that’s what we’re really into,” Fonoti said. “Customizing trucks and cars, and putting loud loud systems in it. And just basically, not your average everyday driver.”

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Despite delays from the COVID-19 pandemic, 29-year-old Angelina Porden has earned her General Education Development (GED) from the Adult Education Program (AEP) of the Literacy Council of Alaska. During the process, she also gave birth to a son.

Porden said having a baby on the way helped motivate her in her studies. “If I am not at my best, and I am not at my top of my game, then my son doesn’t have what he needs.”

The coronavirus pandemic and school closures across the nation have exposed deep inequities within education: technology access, challenges with communication, lack of support for special education students, to name just a few.

Transcend is a national nonprofit organization focused on innovation in school design. We support communities in creating and spreading extraordinary, equitable learning environments.

In the coming weeks and months, school communities will face consequential decisions that will reverberate for decades. We will collectively forge solutions in the interests of expanding opportunity for ALL young people to thrive. School communities will be faced with three core jobs: Responding, Recovering, and Reinventing.

This resource guide is offered to support schools in taking on this work, with particular attention to the task of recovering in ways that orient towards reinventing.

Resource Guide

With tens of millions of children out of school, educators around the country are looking for answers about the best way to ensure that students don’t lose months — or even years — of learning.

Alaska’s domestic violence crisis lines are seeing a spike in calls during the COVID-19 pandemic and advocates are concerned about the impacts of isolation.

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Federal coronavirus relief funds for schools likely won’t make up for the $30 million in education funding vetoed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. That means school districts across the state are trying to figure out how to plug the gaps.

The Alaska House and Senate passed bills Tuesday ratifying plans for using more than $1 billion in federal coronavirus relief aid, one day after reconvening to take up the issue. The measure passed the Senate 19-1, with Sen. Lora Reinbold, an Eagle River Republican, dissenting. It passed the House 38-1, with Republican Rep. David Eastman of Wasilla voting no.

The House promptly adjourned.

The State of Alaska has announced the AK CARES grant program in support of small businesses. In response to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s Public Health Disaster Emergency Declaration on March 11, the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority have partnered with Credit Union 1 to support small Alaskan businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, through the newly established AK CARES Grant Program.

The state of Alaska has released its guidance on the next phases of reopening. Starting Friday, May 22, most health mandates become advisories instead, with a few notable exceptions. Below is the full text of the state’s detailed guidance for phases 3 and 4 of its Reopen Alaska Responsibly plan.

5 Minute Read

2 Page Plan Summary

During a recent daily press briefing, Governor Dunleavy was joined by DEED Commissioner Michael Johnson and University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen to discuss plans to reopen the state’s K-12 and higher education system for Fall 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Watch Press Conference

Alaska’s Smart Start 2020 Press Release

Alaska’s Smart Start 2020 Framework Graphic

The House State Affairs Committee held a hearing earlier this week on vote-by-mail elections in response to a provision included in Senate Bill 241 – an Alaska COVID-19 Emergency Relief Bill – that allows the lieutenant governor to conduct elections by mail during the pandemic.

The Anchorage School Board is considering pushing back the start date for school this fall, not because of COVID-19, but for the primary election. 

"Our original calendar was supposed to have kids return back to school on Aug. 18," recently named School Board President Elisa Vakalis said. "We are looking at moving that to the 19th because Aug. 18 is primary voting day where everybody will be coming into the schools."

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Anchorage property tax bills are out and are higher than last year, in large part due to the transfer of a school bond debt reimbursement burden from the state to local taxpayers.

The bills, sent out on May 15 and arriving in mailboxes late last week, vary based on the service area each taxpayer’s property resides in. The average bill is $1,675 per $100,000 of property.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that the Canadian border will remain closed to non-essential travel for at least another month.

On March 20th the U.S. and Canada mutually agreed to close their border to non-essential traffic for 30 days. That closure was extended in April for another 30 days. During a press conference, Trudeau told reporters that it’s too soon to say if the border closure could extend past June 21st.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today announced the 56th class of U.S. Presidential Scholars, recognizing 161 high school seniors for their accomplishments in academics, the arts, and career and technical education fields.

The National Federation of State High School Associations offered a 16-page guide to help states with the possible reopening of athletics, Here are state-by-state thumbnail updates moving into the coming months.

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As Gov. Mike Dunleavy rolls out a plan to reopen the state almost completely, University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen said the state's only university system will be taking a "more conservative approach" to reopening.

University administrators, joint governance members and leadership officials have crafted a five-step plan for reopening the university with the institution currently sitting in phase A. Onsite operations will increase gradually with each phase, Johnsen explained.

The difficulty remains in the fact that the university system presents all four risk factors that contribute to higher likelihood of virus spread. These include group housing, mass gatherings and groupings in classrooms, travel by students and employees and a younger population that is scientifically more likely to be asymptomatic while having the virus.

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This is the last week of school for students in the Anchorage School District but classes will still be in session online this summer.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is asking students, parents and teachers to complete a survey assessing the last few weeks of the spring semester, when all 42 school on the peninsula switched to emergency remote learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Kodiak Island Borough School District amended spring 2020 grading policies for all grade levels after the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to shut down in March. 



According to school administrators who spoke at the board of education meeting on Monday, the transition to online learning has benefitted some students, particularly those with highly involved parents, while causing difficulties for many others.

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Since the Mat-Su Borough School Board’s 5-2 vote on April 22 to amend high school English elective curriculum that removed five books and the New York Times Learning Network from the approved reading list, tensions have run high during emotional discussions about the action. On Wednesday, before the school board voted 6-1 to rescind its action, emotions reached a fever pitch.

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The Alaska Association of Elementary School Principals is proud to announce our National Distinguished Principal for 2020 is Eric Pederson, Principal of Paul Banks Elementary School in Homer, Alaska. The 2020 National Distinguished Principal Celebration marks the 36th year that the National Association of Elementary School Principals has presented this prestigious award.

Eric Pederson was nominated and selected by his fellow principals through a statewide search process conducted by the Alaska Association of Elementary School Principals.

Eston Jennings, Director of School Climate and Culture at Dillingham City Schools, has been selected as the new principal at Juneau Community Charter School. Jennings has 15 years of experience as a teacher.

She previously worked as an instructional coach, administrator in special education, a special education teacher and coordinator, and an elementary and middle school gifted teacher in Georgia. Jennings replaces Caron Smith who is retiring this year.

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A plan to reposition three of Sitka’s school principals has been scaled back after intense public pressure. Sitka High School’s principal, however, will be returning to her former job as assistant principal at the middle school. And in the district office, the co-assistant superintendents are leaving their jobs.

Note: Read detailed responses to public concerns over the repositioning of Sitka’s school principals from Superintendent Mary Wegner and School Board President Elias Erickson.

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There are at least four changes in the Lower Kuskokwim School District’s top administrative positions in Bethel for the next school year, but they’re all familiar faces. Current Assistant Superintendent Kimberly Hankins’ promotion to superintendent caused a ripple effect going all the way to the Bethel Regional High School.

The City and Borough of Juneau approved next year’s budget for the district on Monday.

But while city leaders ultimately voted to put more local funding into the school district than they did last year, it’s still getting less money overall.

“The story of education funding in the state of Alaska over the last few years has been one of kicking the can down the road and playing hot potato with the economic bottom line,” said Chris Cairns.

The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly voted to reduce the Kodiak Island Borough School District’s funding request by more than $1 million at a regular meeting on Thursday. 



The school district requested $10,455,244, but an amendment was submitted by Assembly Member Julie Kavanaugh to decrease the amount to $9,390,089.

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A reinvention of the Juneau School District’s school year meal program will end on Friday as the United States Department of Agriculture’s Summer Meal Service Program begins on Monday, May 25.

“We feel like it’s pretty seamless,” said Adrianne Schwartz, the JSD’s food service manager. “I want to make sure the needs of the children in our community are met in terms of meals. Typically the school district has provided meals for the summer programs that are operating but this year that’s looking a little different.”

While the school year program provides both breakfast and lunch, the summer program operates under different parameters, Schwartz said.

Kodiak Island Borough Superintendent Larry LeDoux announced during a Board of Education meeting on Monday that he will convene a task force to examine possible school reopening plans for the fall.

Just one week after the school year officially ended, Anchorage School District Superintendent Deena Bishop shared how the district is creating a plan for restarting school in the fall. Bishop said she hopes to provide the school board with official recommendations by mid-July, during the Tuesday school board meeting.

What will school look like for Alaska kids in the fall? It depends on how the coronavirus is impacting the state.

Outgoing Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District Superintendent Monica Goyette, Ph.D., gave an update to school board members at last week’s meeting.

Practice Safe Zooming!

These Zoom Security Protocols for setup and hosting will help keep your meetings safe and protect student privacy.

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