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Reelected school board members seek to carry out campaign promises, express upcoming budget woes
Overall mood, vacancy rate improving early this school year, but questions remain about future funds
By Jasz Garrett
Juneau Independent
Britteny Cioni-Haywood and David Noon are expressing more optimism at the start of their second terms than they did the first, but acknowledge budget limitations mean their positions are never comfortable.
Both were sworn in to the Juneau Board of Education on Tuesday evening after being reelected on Oct. 20.
Cioni-Haywood, who retained her position as board president during a regular meeting at Thunder Mountain Middle School, said she looks forward to pursuing projects discussed during her campaign.
“Really diving into the strategic plan,” she said in an interview. “I feel like we’re seeing lots of progress, and the new cabinet and administration getting on board, but I mean they're all brand new. We’re just going into the budget process, so I think that we're going to start seeing some bumps when we start hitting that because currently I do believe that we have a deficit. I think that’s when some of the harder conversations come through and trying to navigate that.”
The board’s budget process begins in January. Noon said he thinks the Juneau School District is in a good overall position.
“We’re seeing early on in the school year a lot of positive feedback about the transitions. I think people are feeling pretty good right now,” he said. “I think there’s a recognition that the cabinet changeover has gone pretty smoothly.”
Public testimony at the start of the meeting by Juneau Education Association President Jeannette Sleppy, a 32-year educator with JSD, echoed that thought.
“I just wanted to take a moment to report to the board and to express my gratitude for the collaborative relationship that JEA and JSD have begun to grow,” Sleppy said. “So far this year, from Superintendent Arnold to Assistant Superintendent Armstrong and each of the directors, we’ve had many conversations that we have worked together to find solutions for different challenges that have come up just in the short few months of the year so far.”
She said she hopes the relationship between JSD administration and the union leadership will continue to strengthen.
Both Noon and Cioni-Haywood spoke about ensuring a smooth transition of the new JSD positions during their campaigns. More than half of the district’s leadership team changed over the summer.
Noon said next week’s midterm elections for statewide offices will shape the district’s funding. During the meeting, Superintendent Shawn Arnold said he is waiting with bated breath to see if there is an “education-friendly” governor.
Cioni-Haywood added while the district’s human resources director announced during Tuesday’s meeting that teacher vacancies are mostly filled, a grant ending in June next year could change that.
“The HR director called it game-changing, and so I wasn’t aware that was in the works and that we had been turned down,” Cioni-Haywood said. “So I think that some of those pieces are kind of new and will need some guidance from the board if we want to try and continue this. And it sounds like we do. How do we make that happen with basically a shoestring budget?”
The Department of Labor Supporting Effective Educator Development grant currently supports an apprenticeship program for 11 special education teacher apprentices, with two of them highlighted during the meeting. Benjamin Douglas was also recognized for being an outstanding apprentice by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.
“This program really has been a game changer for our district. It has allowed us to fill positions unlike we have been able to fill in the past few years,” said Sybil Van Derhoff, the district’s HR director.
JSD faced hiring challenges ahead of this school year. Van Derhoff said there are currently five teacher vacancies across JSD — slightly lower than vacancies posted online.
“We do have to continue posting third-party contractors and cert pending and different teachers that we have in positions,” Van Derhoff said to explain why the published vacancies look different.
She said although funding to continue the apprenticeship program was denied, other sources are being pursued.
“We had hoped and planned to also start recruiting soon for our third cohort, and just keep this going. At this point we’re at a standstill,” Van Derhoff said. “We’re not sure if we can do that without having secured funding.”
Other alternative pathways include three international special education teachers from the Philippines, 18 emergency certified teachers, two retired teachers and 18 third-party contractors.
Juneau’s Oct. 6 municipal election results were certified on Oct. 20. Cioni-Haywood and Noon were elected to three-year terms with 5,233 and 5,783 votes, respectively. Their challenger, Christine Johnson, lost after receiving 3,405 votes.
Cioni-Haywood accepted Amber Frommherz’s nomination to continue as board president, a role she began last year. Elizabeth Siddon remained vice president, and Frommherz was reassigned to board clerk. All three were unanimously elected.
Nathaniel “Nano” Brooks, who last year served as the Juneau Assembly’s school board liaison, was replaced by newly elected Assembly member Joyce Niven.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or 907-723-9356.
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