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Annette Island School District reports MAP gains, $900,000 technology grant and ongoing facilities work
Summary
District leaders reported notable MAP testing gains, progress toward converting a conditional pre‑K grant to full funding, arrival of classroom technology funded by a roughly $900,000 grant, and multiple facility repairs amid uncertainty over Secure Rural Schools federal funding.
Superintendent (speaking throughout the meeting) told the board the district’s buildings and programs are accredited and that staff are working through a series of state and federal compliance and funding issues.
Shannon Hudson, a district staff member, highlighted academic gains on fall MAP testing: “Two years ago our achievement level for reading was at 24%. We now started this fall at 42%,” she said, and reported math achievement up from about 32% to 40% this year. Hudson said DIBELS screening continues for younger grades and praised teachers and the reading team for implementation work tied to the Reads Act.
The superintendent said the district received a technology grant for new classroom equipment totaling “about a little over $900,000.” He said some equipment is arriving and being stored on campus but that long lead times mean installations will be staggered — the high‑school installation is targeted for spring break, with middle and elementary installations planned over the summer.
On pre‑K, staff reported the state showed positive review of the grant work but flagged a few communications and handbook items that the district must finish before moving from conditional to fully funded status. The superintendent said the state will provide a policy specialist to help draft required language and a webinar is scheduled Oct. 19 to walk through recommended handbook and board‑policy changes.
Officials noted a temporary waiver from the Department of Education on a Title I consultation requirement while the district completes an application, and discussed HB 57/the Alaska Reads Act. The superintendent said HB 57 will require the district to publish targeted class sizes per grade, adopt a board policy to back up its cell‑phone rules, and adopt procedures for charter‑school matters that reflect the new statute’s requirements.
The superintendent also described facilities work: multiple duplexes sustained water damage and require entry‑way replacement; additional equipment is being ordered to connect an older generator to the career/technical education building and a new facility because initial equipment did not match the campus electrical systems; and the district is preparing for a five‑year monitoring visit from the state maintenance program. He said an older fuel tank at the high school has been removed.
District staff said they have reached out to state and federal legislators and the superintendent’s legislative contacts about the Secure Rural Schools funding bill (HR 1383), which had not yet been finalized in federal appropriations; the district remains prepared in case the forest‑receipts funding does not arrive.
The meeting packet included multiple memoranda of agreement supporting maintenance work and procurement actions. The board approved the consent agenda, which included routine items and the facility‑related MOAs.
The next procedural steps the superintendent outlined were completion of policy language prompted by the pre‑K grant review and publication of targeted class‑size information required under state law.
