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Teacher, parent concerns raised following shuffle of elementary school staff and students
Juneau School District, board say elementary schools adjusted to their 10-day enrollment count
By Jasz Garrett
Juneau Independent
Last week, the Juneau Board of Education learned the district has 94 fewer students than anticipated. In order to balance its budget, the Juneau School District “aligned staffing to actual enrollment” based on its pupil-teacher ratio — but the outcome has raised some parent and teacher concerns.
“This alignment affected a total of four positions across four elementary schools. We can confirm that no staff were laid off,” wrote Superintendent Shawn Arnold in an email Thursday.
Of the four affected positions, one classroom teacher was displaced and reassigned to an existing vacant classroom position at another school within JSD. The three positions were previously vacant due to a lack of applicants, according to Arnold. The open positions were filled by specialists temporarily.
He said because these positions are now aligned with the actual enrollment of 3,673 students — which Arnold last week said is a historic low — the three specialists are returning full-time to their dedicated specialist roles.
“The single teacher reassignment and the return of the three specialists to their dedicated support roles began this week and will take place over the next week to ensure a smooth transition for students, classrooms, and school staff,” Arnold wrote in Thursday’s email.
While four staff positions were affected, a much larger number of students were impacted due to merging classes, according to teachers and parents.
“While no staff were laid off and these teachers were reassigned to existing vacant district-wide roles, the district's approach to balancing the budget has created a massive mess for our schools,” said Mandi Canady, a parent of a third- and fourth-grade student at Auke Bay Elementary.
Canady wrote a letter on Monday expressing her opposition, which was addressed to the superintendent, school board and media.
She asked for an immediate pause on changes made to Auke Bay staffing due to increased class sizes and the impacts of merging students into multi-age classrooms a month into the school year.
“While parents recognize that the enrollment drop impacts the district’s funding, balancing the budget by dismantling stable classrooms mid-September is unacceptable,” Canady wrote. “Our children spent the last three weeks bonding with their teachers and building essential routines. Reassigning them now severely disrupts their emotional well-being and academic development — forcing them to essentially start the school year over.”
Canady urged the board to stop student reassignments and multi-age classroom mergers. She also requested they schedule an emergency meeting for impacted elementary communities to review alternative budget mitigation plans and allow families to voice their concerns.
On Thursday, the district went forward with shifting fourth- and fifth-grade students at Auke Bay, according to Canady. She said there is roughly a 25% increase, with her child’s class size projected to peak at more than 30 students due to a dissolved fifth-grade class.
Elementary school teachers who reached out to the Juneau Independent about similar concerns across JSD declined to comment on the record due to fear of retaliation from district leadership.
Board President Britteny Cioni-Haywood said the board decided last week to hold to its pupil-teacher ratio adopted in the budget earlier this year.
“The board had already adopted those standards,” Cioni-Haywood said during an interview. “There was no change within that PTR. It's what was approved in the last budget cycle, so there was really no action that was needed because we were not making a change. Because it was already approved in the last budget cycle, it now becomes an operational decision. That lies outside the board.”
Cioni-Haywood said operational decisions are up to the superintendent and his cabinet. She said there was a voluntary transfer that occurred between teaching staff.
“We understand that any shift in classroom staffing during the school year can cause uncertainty for students, families, and staff. This decision was strictly about aligning our staffing with actual student numbers according to our class size targets,” wrote Arnold. “We deeply appreciate the flexibility, professionalism, and dedication of our educators and school communities as we work to support every student.”
Canady called larger, multi-age classes “an undue burden on both teachers and students.” She said students will “inevitably fall behind” due to educators being unable to provide individualized support.
She added that making structural changes of this magnitude without notifying parents or accepting community input beforehand broke trust between JSD leadership and families.
“Public education should never be an excuse for settling for low standards or chaotic transitions. Our children and educators deserve better,” she wrote.
She said communication from teachers and principals is positive, but parents were unclear on the timeline for when changes would occur.
Cioni-Haywood said there is always room for improvement, and in hindsight, perhaps parents should have been notified sooner than Monday.
“Also, there are those behind-the-scenes operational things that must take place,” she said. “We have contracts that we must follow. Many of those transfers and those pieces are outlined in that collective bargaining agreement.”
JSD leadership communicated with principals early on who asked for the 10-day enrollment count to be completed before making changes, Arnold said.
“Formal consultation occurred once initial attendance data confirmed where PTR adjustments were required,” he said. “We communicated the specific enrollment counts, explained the necessity of aligning staff to actual PTR numbers, and detailed the plan to return specialists to their core roles while reassigning the single affected classroom teacher.”
He added that, in accordance with district policy and the Juneau Education Association collective bargaining agreement, voluntary reassignment options were explored first.
“In the case of the single displaced classroom teacher, district leadership worked directly with the employee and JEA representatives to facilitate a placement into an open position aligned with their certification,” he wrote.
He said building principals at impacted elementary schools are available to connect with parents, answer questions and explain classroom structures. Arnold stated formal districtwide public forums are reserved for school board policy and budget adoption processes.
“Additionally, parents and community members are always welcome to voice their perspectives during the public comment period at regularly scheduled Board of Education meetings or reach out directly to district administrative leadership,” Arnold said.
He added routine staffing alignments based on post-enrollment counts are standard operational procedures carried out by administrative leadership, rather than legislative policy decisions requiring open public votes or dedicated policy forums.
Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, reported Tuesday that school districts across the country are considering whether to close or merge schools as a result of declining student enrollment.
Factors in the decline include declining birth rates, but are also driven by the expiration of one-time federal pandemic relief funding that has worsened the financial pressure on school districts, according to the article. Schools nationwide are considering consolidation or closing schools as a result.
Juneau is facing a significant and long-term enrollment decline, with a peak enrollment of 5,701 students in 1999 declining to about 3,900 students last year.
A report published in 2022 forecasts the district’s enrollment could drop to about 3,000 students by 2032, and a study published in 2024 forecasts a 17% decline in Southeast Alaska’s population by 2050, by far the most statewide.
A bill that fell short this year in the Alaska Legislature sought to stabilize education funding by making it easier to adjust to constantly shifting numbers.
Arnold said JSD continuously monitors enrollment and financial trends, with official enrollment reporting —such as the state Office of Assessments and Student Information (OASIS) count in late October — determining the final state funding allocation.
“Should further adjustments be required, our priority remains preserving high-quality instruction, core academic offerings, and student support services,” he wrote. “Any potential broader budget measures would be presented transparently for Board review and public discussion.”
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.
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