Early release on Mondays at Juneau’s elementary schools nixed after three years

School board halts policy for coming year, with goal of finding ‘better model’ following concerns about student instructional time, teacher professional development

The Auke Bay Elementary School Ocean Guardians Program presents at a Juneau Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, April 12, 2026. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Independent)

By Jasz Garrett

Juneau Independent

The Juneau Board of Education voted 5-2 Tuesday to end a three-year-old policy of releasing elementary school students early once a week to allow educators more preparation time.

Tara Kulbeth, a teacher at Auke Bay Elementary School, testified in support of retaining the 30-minute early release on Mondays shortly before it was voted down.

“We have many, many new teachers, and we are hiring teachers with e-certs, so very little classroom experience,” she said. “During these professional learning community times, mentor teachers are able to truly support and lesson plan, talk about management skills, instructional support — just really building strong partnerships with our younger teachers.”

Kulbeth said the time is used for reviewing student progress, needs and goals. She called the extra time “invaluable” for teachers and staff. 

Britteny Cioni-Haywood, school board president, said the board could pursue a new approach for professional development through its teaching and learning committee. She voted against early release for elementary and optional programs.

“I have concerns about the loss of instructional time for students as well as the hardships on families for having that early release time and having to have a different time to make sure they pick up the kid or have childcare,” she said in an interview. “I do think that the professional development is highly important, but I would like to find another route in order to make that happen.”

She added that during Tuesday’s decision-making it would have been helpful to have a survey of all site councils or district families. Cioni-Haywood said she previously supported early release during the implementation of the Alaska Reads Act and through consolidation. 

“I’ve always held the concern about that loss of instructional time,” she said. 

Eric Filardi, principal of Mendenhall River Community School, and Kristin Garot, the district’s director of teaching and learning support, presented why it was important to continue early release.

Garot said Juneau School District’s early release allowed teachers to meet across grade levels multiple times a year, acknowledging “not every school has the capacity” with staffing to build in weekly professional learning community meetings.

She said it also allowed for collaboration across the district for special education teams and support staff to meet about what they don’t have time for during the school day. It also allowed schools to meet standards and develop plans for the Alaska Reads Act. 

Outside of professional development, Filardi provided a family perspective.

“At our recent site council meetings at MRCS, we have polled parents in regard to their thoughts and opinions,” Filardi said. “It was a resounding, overwhelming positive to keep early release time on Monday and for some very simple reasons that it has become habit for many families. They already have childcare baked in for early release Mondays. Their children expect to come home those 30 minutes early.”

He said it would be a huge disruption to change that, especially if the board decides at a later point to reimplement early release. Filardi said, “Across the board, we had 100% support for early release time on Monday.” 

Board member Steve Whitney challenged that statement. He said he was not willing to support a motion that “made it just a little bit harder for families.” He said it pained him to vote no, but he had to think about working families whose voices may not be heard. 

“It’s hard for me to imagine that site councils are a representative sample of the parents,” he said. “The people who are struggling the most are probably the least likely ones to show up for the site council.” 

Filardi said he should have used the word unanimous instead of 100%.

“What I will say, though, is I believe that we do have a very good — definitely not perfect — connection with many of our families at MRCS, and because we are a Title I school, I feel like we have a fairly decent representation of our parent population in the Valley,” he replied. 

“I know that it is not an easy thing for every family,” Filardi added.

Whitney and other board members expressed concern about parents being able to find childcare on Mondays. Elizabeth Siddon said she is the site liaison for Sayéik: Gastineau Community School and families have discussed the inconvenience with her.

“I am supportive of professional development,” Siddon said. “But I don’t think this is the model to get us there.”

She said she would like the board to develop a more effective use of time for professional development that supports students, adding she has not seen the benefit of early release reflected in data. 

“That isn’t going to happen if we keep approving 30 minutes on Monday,” Siddon said. 

Board member Melissa Cullum, who voted in support, said she understood the board’s need to be data-driven, but she also knows decisions teachers make evaluating student needs aren’t always tangible. 

“The kids who need it the most, who need the most support, are also those same kids whose parents are probably not coming to the meetings to speak up,” she said, asking the board if supporting students with an “academic foundation” or “childcare” was the goal.

The early release for JSD began three years ago with the implementation of the Alaska Reads Act. 

“In trying to meet that new directive, that’s how we dealt with it,” board member Amber Frommherz told the Independent. “There was some benefits that we also found out. I think for me, it was a matter of having the schools that I represent, or I’m a liaison with — hearing their voices is really the reason why I voted the way I did.” 

Frommherz is a liaison with MRCS and the Tlingit Culture, Language, and Literacy program. She voted to keep the early release for the next school year.

“I think there's no doubt that we all agree and believe in the benefits of professional development, but I think because of our current fiscal situation we don't have more money to build in more days for the district, like calendar for those things to happen,” she said. “Unfortunately, we are at a point where we have to get creative in order to build that collaboration time and with partnerships of parents — that's how it's happening at the lower levels.”

Whitney said he knows the district needs professional development, “but it can’t be at the expense of families trying to get by.”

• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.