School board adopts K–12 art and world language curriculum; district hears proposals for music, PE, health, CTE and elementary science

The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District school board on April 1 approved adoption of the proposed K–12 art and world language curriculum and received presentations and committee recommendations on several other curricular packages, including music, physical education, health, career‑technical education (CTE) pathways in education and agriculture, and an elementary science program under consideration.

The vote: The administration recommended adoption of the art and world language package and the board approved the motion after the public‑testimony period closed. The motion was moved and seconded on the record and passed by the board.

What was presented: Curriculum staff and committee members described substantial format updates and new course proposals across disciplines:

- CTE (education and agriculture): Andrea Wade, the district CTE presenter, said the proposed education pathway would use the Educators Rising curriculum to provide middle‑school and high‑school coursework, leadership and dual‑credit options and encourage internships. The agriculture pathway would use the CASE (Agricultural Science Education) materials, include a middle‑school plants-and‑animals course and five high‑school course options (intro to agriculture; animal health and veterinary science; production and management; plant science; food science, safety and marketing). Wade also said pilot courses have run at West Valley and North Pole high schools.

- Music: The music draft consolidates repeated standards, creates an “elementary ensemble” to cover multiple prior elementary classes, and adds clearer level names at middle and high school (beginning/intermediate/advanced) and two new courses at the high school level (mariachi and modern band). Committee members said the rewrite reduced the adopted document’s length and clarified scheduling and level vocabulary for counselors.

- Physical education and health: The district reported a major reformatting. Notable changes included separate, grade‑specific integrated health/PE courses for grades 6, 7 and 8 or an option to offer a mixed “middle school PE” course while ensuring health topics are delivered at each grade. The health curriculum added human growth and development and expanded units on mental health, healthy screen time and, at high school, a new identity unit. Board members and committee members also praised a student recommendation to add naloxone training; administrators confirmed the district maintains naloxone kits in schools as required by state policy.

- Elementary science (Twig): District staff said Twig Science rose to the top of a multi‑year review. The district paused purchasing earlier because of funding constraints; committee members recommended adoption so materials are ready when funds become available.

Why it matters: The presentations reflect several years of committee work, teacher review and public comment. Staff said the work addresses changes since earlier adoptions (for example, sixth grade’s move to middle school), aligns with standards (including SHAPE standards for PE) and adds middle‑school course structure to support scheduling and student placement.

What’s next: The board adopted the art and world language curriculum at the meeting; the other packages were presented, discussed at length and will move forward through the curriculum process and to future board action as required by policy and the curriculum calendar.

Ending: Board members thanked curriculum writers and committee members for extensive public outreach and review; several members noted the volume of public comment and asked the administration to ensure archived course lists remain easy for principals and teachers to reactivate if local interest and staffing allow.