LEADERSHIP & ADVOCACY

Public School Choice, the Constitution,

and Local Governance

Lon Garrison, AASB Executive Director

AASB '24 Legislative Priorities

On behalf of our member school districts statewide, the AASB Board of Directors has adopted three legislative priorities for 2024:

• Sufficient and Sustainable Public Education Funding - an increase to the BSA for FY2025 of not less than $1,413 to account for inflation (Alaska-Urban CPI) 
• Retention and Recruitment of Teachers, Administrators & Staff 
• Student Wellness and School Safety

In addition to the three top priorities, AASB will continue to advocate for any issue which may be addressed by the resolutions of the membership approved on November 12, 2023. Those resolutions can be found at the following links: 

Where We Stand 2024 – Online version

Where We Stand 2024 – PDF version

In Memoriam:

Joseph William Reeves

1953-2024

AASB is sad to announce the passing of our longtime colleague, Joseph Reeves, 70, on April 17, 2024, at his home in Port Townsend, Washington, surrounded by his loving wife Eve and friends. Joseph was born on June 14, 1953, in Fairbanks, Alaska, and led a life marked by dedication to education and adventure.

After earning his Bachelor of Science in Education from Salisbury University in Maryland in 1975, Joseph began teaching and serving as a principal at a one-room schoolhouse in Nikolski, Umnak Island, in the Aleutians from 1976-1978. His journey continued in Sierra Leone from 1978-1980, where he made meaningful contributions as a Peace Corps volunteer. Joseph also dedicated 13 years to the New York State School Boards Association as the Director of Superintendent Search Services and Convention Planning.

In 1998, Joseph joined the Association of Alaska School Boards, initially serving as the Membership Services Director. His exceptional commitment to policy-making and boardmanship led to his promotion to Associate Executive Director. In 2013, following the passing of Carl Rose, Joseph assumed the role of Executive Director until his retirement in 2015.

Joseph was an avid outdoorsman and traveler. As a respected Coastal Kayak Instructor with the American Canoe Association, he also guided kayaking tours in the High Arctic. His adventurous spirit led him to meet Eve Fieldhouse, whom he married on July 22, 2001, on a beach in Auke Bay, Juneau, Alaska. Together, they enjoyed numerous sea kayaking and backpacking trips across Alaska, Southern California, Spain, and England. After retiring from AASB, Joseph and Eve embarked on a three-year road trip, traveling extensively through Canada and crisscrossing the United States six times.

Joseph was deeply committed to community service. He generously contributed his skills to various organizations, including the Zach Gordon Teenage Club, Juneau Kayak Club, Cleveland County Arts Council, Farmington Museum, Riverside Nature Center, and the Port Townsend School District.

During his tenure at AASB, Joseph's contributions enhanced educational opportunities for students throughout Alaska. His efforts to strengthen the public education system and his service to school boards and communities across the state are lasting legacies.

Eve and the family look forward to reading stories people remember about Joseph, and encourage folks to share their memories and photos, and sign the online guestbook at Joseph's memorial page.

BOARD DEVELOPMENT

Serving on the School Board, Your Part Time Job

Tiffany Jackson, Director of Membership Services

I’m betting when you first ran for the school board, you had NO IDEA how much time would be involved with your service. 

I say this as an individual who served on the school board and constantly was surprised at how much time I had to budget out of my day/week/month to dedicate to my school board service. 

It’s important to think about your service on the school board as a part-time job. You have preparation time, you have work time, and you have follow-up time that’s associated with your roles on the board.

NAESP National Distinguished Principal Award

The National Association of Elementary School Principals’ NDP Program was established in 1984 to recognize elementary and middle level principals who set high standards for instruction, student achievement, character and climate for the students, families, and staff in their learning communities. More information at www.naesp.org.

AASSP 2024 Principals of the Year

The Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals (AASSP) sponsors regional and statewide Principal of The Year recognition awards to honor the educational leaders who play such a pivotal role in student success.

Principals of The Year may be nominated by anyone – students, staff, parents, district office staff or principal peers - with awards finalized by AASSP members in their region. Regional Principals of The Year are eligible to be in the running for the statewide Alaska Principal of The Year. Here are the 2023 honorees.

The Supreme Court to “Clear Up the Mud” on Student Allotments

Clinton Campion, Sedor, Wendlandt, Evans & Filippi, LLC

Part 9 of the series “The Last Frontier facing the New Frontier.”

Here in the Last Frontier, we have a long history of home schooling. Alaska’s first correspondence program was established in 1939 to meet the needs of students in remote areas of the territory. Over the decades, home school or correspondence study programs offered incentives to parents to enroll their students. These perks developed into the statutory student allotment funds found in Alaska Statutes. AS 14.03.300-.310.

AS 14.03.300-.310 included language which raised concerns of a potential violation with Alaska Constitution Article VII, Section 1 which prohibits the payment of public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution. Alaska’s Constitution

In July 2022, the Attorney General’s Office issue an opinion regarding the constitutionality of Student Allotments. Use of Correspondence School Allotments (alaska.gov)

In September 2022, we brought you a commentary on the Attorney General’s Opinion, “Student Allotments to Private School Remain as ‘Clear as Mud.’” Student Allotments to Private Schools Remain as “Clear as Mud” – Association of Alaska School Boards (aasb.org) In that commentary, we identified low, medium, and high risk uses of student allotment funds for school districts. In this commentary, we noted that the Alaska Supreme Court had not yet defined the boundaries for student allotments. Based on recent litigation in Anchorage, the Supreme Court will now have the opportunity to provide clarification.

Can we amend land acknowledgement motion to include national anthem and state song?

Ann Macfarlane, Professional Parliamentarian

Our school board will be passing a resolution to institute a protocol for a Native Land Acknowledgement at school events. A board member plans to move to amend the motion to have it apply to our national anthem and state song. Can they do this?

Can the Superintendent meet with each Board member in succession (i.e. 15 minutes slots consecutively), or is this a violation of the open meetings act?

Answer: If the Superintendent and Board Members are simply meeting to meet and talk through things and get to know one another, it should be fine. The concern about ’serial meetings’ and the open meetings act is geared for communication between elected officials. 

That said, the Superintendent should take care not to try to ask for support from one board member to another, and build on this by saying “Board member Jones said they would support this, will you?”. This would be edging on the side of the board deciding business outside of a dually convened board meeting. 

Got a question? Email Timi Tullis, Tiffany Jackson, Jenni Lefing, or Katie Oliver

Looking for a New Superintendent?

The Association of Alaska School Boards has been conducting successful and economical superintendent searches for over twenty years. Our Superintendent Search Service provides expert facilitation of the entire search process, including identifying the needs of the district, recruiting candidates, conducting background searches, facilitating interviews, and all the steps to help with the hiring process.

If you would like AASB to conduct a superintendent search for your district, or have questions, Learn More or Contact Us