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Anchorage School District highlights freshmen university visits, CTE growth and School Links rollout amid staffing cuts
Summary
District staff reported that roughly 3,000 freshmen attended university visits this year, described growth and equipment purchases for career and technical education programs, and defended using FDS grant funds to preserve CTE courses amid projected FTE reductions.
District staff told the communications committee on March 27 that most of the district’s roughly 3,155 ninth graders took part in university visits this year and that career and technical education programs are expanding with new equipment and course preparation.
Sean Prince, senior director of teaching and learning, described the freshman university visits as a "guaranteed experience" for ninth graders and said the visits were tailored to each school’s academy growth plans. West High School coach David Dobler was quoted in the meeting materials saying, "I see myself here now in this space, and I can see what my life would look like if I was a student here at UAA," describing how the campus visit made college feel attainable to some freshmen.
Staff said 3,155 is the total number of ninth graders districtwide and that attendance at the visits meant roughly 3,000 freshmen participated across eight separate university visit days. Committee materials and staff presentations emphasized hands-on experiences: students toured engineering and medical facilities, attended a long (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) campus program, and in some cases practiced CPR chest compressions.
The committee received an update on CTE growth plans and equipment purchases for King Tech that were funded through a federal or state grant referenced as the FDS grant. Staff said the district reallocated funding previously used for Freshman Academy principal positions to create FTE for new CTE programs and to buy capital equipment such as welding units, a frame straightener and aviation equipment.
Board member Lisonbee raised a question after a finance-committee review showed the district’s eight large high schools face a net reduction of 60.3 FTE next year. Lisonbee asked whether CTE classes would be held harmless. Staff responded that the FDS grant is intended to "support and not supplant" district-funded positions and that shifting FTE from Freshman Academy principals allowed the district to preserve roughly 24 class sections that otherwise might have been cut. "For a 0.2 [FTE], you can have one section of a class that's being offered," a staff member explained to the committee.
Devin Armes described School Links, a career and college exploration platform the district is adopting, as a program-management tool to scale work-based learning, internships, mentorships, scholarship tracking and event scheduling on a central platform. Staff said School Links and other tools will roll out methodically over the next year.
Cindy Shappu and staff highlighted upcoming recognitions tied to the academies, including two awards focused on the Academies of Anchorage at the Spirit of Tomorrow awards on April 14; tickets were listed at $35 per seat and $230 per table. Staff also described ongoing course development for personal finance (formerly FACE) and a project-management CTE pathway being piloted by a teacher at Service High School.
No formal votes were taken on program funding or staffing during the communications meeting; staff said the FDS grant changes are intended to preserve CTE offerings despite districtwide FTE reductions.
