Free student breakfasts for all, donated playground equipment for Dzantik'i Heeni get go-ahead from school board

Revival of breakfasts scheduled for public comment and board vote Sept. 9; local Rotary providing DZ equipment now while work on proposed full-scale playground continues

The field at the Dzantik'i Heeni campus on Aug. 20, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

A free breakfast program for all local public school students appears set to return and a long-sought playground upgrade at the Dzantik'i Heeni campus is getting a boost using donated equipment after being approved by the Juneau Board of Education on Wednesday.

Both items are popular among board members — as well as many other school officials, parents and students — with financial constraints recently affecting both. Federal funding for the breakfast program started during the COVID-19 pandemic has lapsed and other revenue sources were sparse, while an initial $1.8 million projected cost for the playground prompted a call from a city-appointed committee for lower-cost designs.

Each situation has recently seen a reversal of fortune to some extent.

The district is expected to get about $1.5 million more in per-student state funding due to the Alaska Legislature on Aug. 2 overriding a veto by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to $200 of a $700 increase in the Base Student Allocation. Restoring free breakfasts for all students at a cost of $230,000 was part of an "add-backs" list considered by the school board during a special meeting Wednesday. The other top items on the list are various staff positions, although the district has struggled to fill the open positions that already exist.

Free breakfasts are already provided to local students who qualify for free or reduced-priced lunches. The board’s unanimous vote Wednesday advances restoration of the universal breakfast program to the final consideration stage at its next meeting scheduled Sept. 9, where public testimony will be allowed before a possible board vote.

Concerns were voiced by some board members about ensuring a proper review of priorities for the additional state funds available, and that easy access to free breakfasts may reduce applications for free and reduced-priced meals from eligible families (since the district gets federal reimbursement for those meals). However, Deedie Sorensen, the school board’s president, said she pushed for quick restoration of the breakfast program because of the widespread requests for it and the immediate benefits provided.

"There was the expressed concern about getting breakfast started (and) the timeliness of getting breakfast started," she said. "This in no way impedes the administration's ability to continue to find more information for us relative to other expenditures that we should consider."

Also noted were ongoing concerns about a proposal the state board of education is scheduled to consider in October that could significantly reduce funding the city is allowed to give the school district for "non-instructional" costs including food service, which could result in the district losing more than $8 million a year. State education officials have said the proposal, if adopted, would start with the 2027 fiscal year that begins July 1, 2026, but local school board officials have said they don’t trust that assurance.

The lack of playground space at Dzantik'i Heeni has emerged as a concern since a consolidation of schools a year ago resulted in the campus being converted from a middle school to one accepting students in all grade levels, including elementary-age youths at Montessori Borealis and Juneau Community Charter School. The campus currently has a dirt ballfield, covered court area and patch of grass.

Juneau Assembly members have given preliminary approval to spending $735,000 for design and construction work on a playground including safety surfaces, but excluding equipment. Public testimony and a possible final vote are scheduled at the Assembly’s Sept. 22 meeting, with site preparation beginning next summer if approved.

Accepting a donation that provides some equipment sooner at the campus was approved by the school board without discussion on Wednesday.

"Juneau Rotary Clubs have secured $30,000 in funding to purchase and supply some more immediate items for the Dzantik’i Heeni playground: musical elements and two gaga ball pits," a memo submitted to the board as part of the meeting’s agenda notes. "The location for these items has been determined to be in the space between the school and the covered area or the field beyond the future K-6 play structure and swings as not to interfere with future site preparations for the larger playground. Juneau Rotarians have volunteered to install this equipment as soon as possible this fall to make the items available to our students during the 2025-2026 school year."

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.