By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Sitka School Board spoke out strongly at Wednesday night’s regular meeting in opposition to a bill in the Legislature that would give parents control over the names and pronouns by which their child is addressed in school, as well as other measures that would restrict participation in school programs and activities by transgender students.
Regarding House Bill 105, which is still in committee, board members voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to provide students and staff with “equal access to all programs and facilities, including access to bathroom and locker room facilities as needed for all students and staff that align with the students’ and staff members’ gender expression, and provide at least one gender-neutral bathroom; respect the privacy of all staff and students who are in transition; and allow students to participate in all physical education, athletics, and other extracurricular activities according to their gender identity.”
HB 105 would allow parents to opt their kids out of classes and activities.
The board’s resolution urges the Legislature to reject HB 105, which the board described as a bill “that strips school districts of their ability to educate, affirm, and protect transgender and gender non-conforming youth who cannot safely share their identity with their families.”
As amended, the bill now before the House would require that “before any activity, class, or program is provided to a child, the child’s parent receive notification not less than two weeks before the activity, class, or program; provide written permission for the child to participate in the activity, class, or program.”
The bill would also require parents to submit a list of names and pronouns to be used for their child.
School districts would be made to “address and refer to the child in person, on school identification, and in school records by the names and pronouns provided (by parents).”
Board member Tristan Guevin, who introduced the resolution, said it is intended to protect civil rights within the Sitka School District.
“The rights of LGBTQ students are under threat from things like House Bill 105, and others,” Guevin said at the meeting. “And for me, we’re talking about fundamental human and civil rights here. And beyond basic decency and caring… LGBTQ students are more likely to be bullied, to experience physical assault, to report feelings of isolation, attempts at suicide much, much higher rates than their peers. And we see that here and throughout the nation.”
Other education-related organizations in Alaska are dealing with the topic, with conflicting results.
The state Board of Education recently passed a non-binding resolution calling for a ban on trans girls in Alaska sports. The Alaska School Activities Association board considered a similar proposal this week, but voted it down.
Sitka High’s student representative on the school board, Felix Myers, said the board’s resolution is a step in the right direction.
“The adults in the room are against this (HB 105); the students are against this, because we care for all of our students, no matter who they are, and to have this support from all different directions is, I think, amazing for our students,” said Myers. He has testified against the proposed legislation in person before the House Education Committee.
Board member Melonie Boord said, “I want our schools to be welcoming and safe for all students… I fully support this (resolution).”
Board president Blossom Teal-Olson said HB 105 “just affirms that we still need to stand up and speak out for basic human rights for everyone. For our LGBTQ+ individuals within Sitka, and throughout our nation.”
The motion passed without opposition.
Other Business
Superintendent Frank Hauser had good news about the budget for the upcoming year. He said a technology reimbursement will return $215,000 to the city general fund, and passed on to the district, which has approved a FY24 budget that will draw reserves down to $10,900.
The superintendent said the committee that will propose new names for Baranof Elementary is nearly formed, and should be finalized by the end of the month.
In a unanimous vote the board approved Mindy Barry as the new principal of Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary. She will take up the job in the fall when current principal Casey Demmert retires.
Rising Meal Costs
The board also voted in favor of a new food service contract with NANA Management Services. Under the contract, the price of lunch will go up 11.5 percent to $7.49 and breakfasts will increase by 24 percent to $4.50 for FY24, and NANA will have the “first right of refusal for providing food for school functions that take place during the school day.”
The contract includes optional annual renewals through June 2027.
“NANA Management Services was the only company that provided a bid to the Sitka School District… One of the big pieces is just the increased cost of food and services not only in Sitka but also in the costs for getting the food to Sitka,” Hauser told the board. “We were dealing with some higher prices, which were impacting the costs.”
The food service company is owned by the northwest Alaska regional Native corporation NANA.
Along with higher meal prices, Hauser said, meal numbers were down, especially at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary. The rising cost of school meals, he said, could be a factor in that decline.
“Another piece that is important that came into play was that we are seeing lower meal numbers,” he continued. “So the number of students that are actually participating in our free and reduced, as well as (paid) meal service program has been going down. And there’s a number of factors why that could be. One potential factor – and I use the term potential factor – is the cost of the meal service. They have gone up. As you know, during the pandemic, food, student lunch and breakfast were provided free for all students. This year is the first year that there was an increase in annual price.”
Early in the school year, the board voted to reduce meal costs and later made breakfasts free for all students.
Meal costs were higher in NANA’s original proposal, but the district negotiated prices down, Hauser said.
The board passed the resolution unanimously, though Teal-Olsen abstained citing personal conflict of interest.
Non-Tenured Contracts
Speaking as members of the public, some teachers urged the board to approve contracts for non-tenured teachers as soon as possible. While the board adopted an FY24 budget last month and avoided larger cuts to teaching staff by tapping reserve funds, the school district placed non-tenured teacher contracts on hold for now in order to assure solvency.
When the board adopted the FY24 budget it acknowledged the risk of depleting the reserves while pinning its hopes on an increase in per-pupil funding by the Legislature this year.
The district currently has 26 non-tenured, certified staff, each one costing about $110,000 to employ for a year. A Sitka teacher earns the job security of tenure after three years and one day on the job.
Baranof Elementary physical education teacher Joe Montagna said some non-tenured teachers are “biting their fingernails off.”
“We’re all talking about who’s going to be where,” he said. “We want to plan next year, and so many people will be planning their lives, and sticking around in Sitka. Some people are, you know, looking elsewhere. They just don’t know; we don’t know.”
Blatchley music teacher Drew Larson spoke to the board about the stress on the affected teachers. “It’s really important that we get contracts out to non-tenured teachers. Speaking as one who didn’t get a contract until school was in session for the second day (in 2019) my first year here, I know how awful that can be.” Larson told the board.
One of those non-tenured teachers with her job on the line is Blatchley Middle School social studies teacher Ashley Nessler.
Sitka School District Superintendent Frank Hauser shakes hands with Sitka High student school board liaison Felix Meyers, who received an Alaska Spirit of Youth Award during Wednesday’s School Board meeting at Centennial Hall. Meyer’s parents, Ryan Meyers and Frederique Charbonneau, stand at right. (Sentinel Photo)
“I just ask the board to also just think of the students and not only myself but the two other educators – Meghan Devine and counselor Sydney Carter,” Nessler said at the meeting. “The work that they do, it’s absolutely incredible.”
Also speaking to the board, seventh-grade science teacher Meghan Devine said the lack of a contract makes planning difficult.
“It’s really hard not knowing, especially when housing is really hard to come by and you have to plan really far in advance to be able to have housing,” she said.
The board meets again Wednesday, June 7 in Centennial Hall.
