Education

A classroom is seen at Kenai Middle School on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Can public funds be used for private school classes? Education department isn’t sure

‘Any effort to divert public funds to private schools is a blatantly unconstitutional act’ says opponent to the practice

A classroom is seen at Kenai Middle School on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Armands Veksejs, Hager Elserry, Dady Thitisakulwong, and Haewon Hong attend a farewell potluck barbecue in Nikiski on Monday, May 23, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

‘A life in a year’

Foreign exchange students receive send-off in Nikiski

Armands Veksejs, Hager Elserry, Dady Thitisakulwong, and Haewon Hong attend a farewell potluck barbecue in Nikiski on Monday, May 23, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
UAS The Alaska State Capitol seen on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. (Peter Segall/Juneau Empire)

House passes bill to protect higher education funding

Bills aims to exempt scholarships from annual ‘sweep’ debate

UAS The Alaska State Capitol seen on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. (Peter Segall/Juneau Empire)
University of Alaska President Pat Pitney stopped by the Empire offices in Juneau on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, to talk about the system’s future. Mostly recovered from budget cuts and the COVID-19 pandemic, Pitney said the university is ready to start building Alaska’s workforce. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Pitney: UA ready to train Alaska’s workforce

‘Getting people through the pipeline.’

University of Alaska President Pat Pitney stopped by the Empire offices in Juneau on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, to talk about the system’s future. Mostly recovered from budget cuts and the COVID-19 pandemic, Pitney said the university is ready to start building Alaska’s workforce. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Krista Schooley (left) testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Board of Education on Monday, June 7, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Screenshot)

A ‘groundswell’: Conservative coalition seeks to expand influence on school policy

The vision of KPCCC is to “restructure and build the foundation of the 7 Mountains of Influence in our society through conservative action.”

Krista Schooley (left) testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Board of Education on Monday, June 7, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Screenshot)
University officials are hoping that increased collaboration between the University of Alaska’s three schools of education will result in more Alaskans becoming teachers. The Univerity of Alaska Southeast, seen here in this October 2020 file photo, offers teacher training and retention programs. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

Help wanted: Alaskans to teach Alaska’s students

New consortium and marketing campaign aims to retain and recruit teachers

University officials are hoping that increased collaboration between the University of Alaska’s three schools of education will result in more Alaskans becoming teachers. The Univerity of Alaska Southeast, seen here in this October 2020 file photo, offers teacher training and retention programs. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
Connections Homeschool Principal Rich Bartolowits speaks to graduates during their graduation ceremony at Soldotna High School on Thursday, May 20, 2021. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Whatever you’re going to do, give it 1,250%’

Connections graduates 99

Connections Homeschool Principal Rich Bartolowits speaks to graduates during their graduation ceremony at Soldotna High School on Thursday, May 20, 2021. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
KPBSD Superintendent John O’Brien sits in his office in the George A. Navarre Administration Building, on Monday, May 24, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

A ‘second act’: O’Brien plans for life after KPBSD

Superintendent John O’Brien spoke with the Clarion about his 16 years of service in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District

KPBSD Superintendent John O’Brien sits in his office in the George A. Navarre Administration Building, on Monday, May 24, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Valedictorians Rosalie Anderson, Lillian Carstens and Samuel Smith give their commencement address at the Nikiski Middle/High School graduation on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 in the gymnasium. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

‘Ready for something new’

Nikiski honors graduates during commencement ceremony

Valedictorians Rosalie Anderson, Lillian Carstens and Samuel Smith give their commencement address at the Nikiski Middle/High School graduation on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 in the gymnasium. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna High School students celebrate their graduation on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at the high school football field. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

‘Trust your book is a good one’

SoHi honors graduates in outdoor ceremony

Soldotna High School students celebrate their graduation on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at the high school football field. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
Jullian Miller (left) and Alivia Howard speak during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Like having another family’

Kenai Alternative High School graduates 10

Jullian Miller (left) and Alivia Howard speak during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough Administration and Assembly meet for a joint work session with the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021.

KPBSD recruiting new staff at most schools

The district is looking to hire more than 50 new staff members for schools across the borough.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Administration and Assembly meet for a joint work session with the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021.
From left to right: Landon Vyhmeister, Jared Vyhmeister, Jamie Hyatt, Emily Warix, Jacob Topp and Isaac Johnson are photographed before their graduation ceremony at Cook Inlet Academy in Soldotna, Alaska on Sunday, May 9, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

Cook Inlet graduates 6

“I’m just looking forward to new adventures and just a new chapter in my life.”

From left to right: Landon Vyhmeister, Jared Vyhmeister, Jamie Hyatt, Emily Warix, Jacob Topp and Isaac Johnson are photographed before their graduation ceremony at Cook Inlet Academy in Soldotna, Alaska on Sunday, May 9, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
The Juneau School District, it's headquarters seen here in this Juneau Empire file photo, will receive a portion of Alaska's more than $358 million in federal relief money for schools. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

Alaska to receive over $358 million to reopen schools

Reopen “quickly and safely.”

The Juneau School District, it's headquarters seen here in this Juneau Empire file photo, will receive a portion of Alaska's more than $358 million in federal relief money for schools. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
A magnet promoting the Alaska Reads Act released by the state last year sits atop a stack of Alaskan-authored and Alaska-centric books. A shortened session last year meant the bill, announced by Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, D-Anchorage, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy, didn’t make it through the last Legislature. But there’s a new bill, nearly the same as the old bill, working its way through the Senate. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)

Reworked reading bill gets 2nd act in Legislature

Still a ways to go.

A magnet promoting the Alaska Reads Act released by the state last year sits atop a stack of Alaskan-authored and Alaska-centric books. A shortened session last year meant the bill, announced by Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, D-Anchorage, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy, didn’t make it through the last Legislature. But there’s a new bill, nearly the same as the old bill, working its way through the Senate. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)
Mike Barnhill, deputy commisioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue, speaks following the drawing of names during the second annual PFD Education Raffle. During the event, state officials and lawmakers wore masks with an education raffle logo. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Roll out the barrel: 2nd annual PFD education raffle held

Four Alaskans win thousands.

Mike Barnhill, deputy commisioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue, speaks following the drawing of names during the second annual PFD Education Raffle. During the event, state officials and lawmakers wore masks with an education raffle logo. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Gary Turner, who recently announced his plans to retire as director of Kenai Peninsula College, addresses the crowd during KPC’s 50th anniversary celebration at the Kenai River Campus on Aug. 25, 2014. (Photo courtesy Gary Turner/KPC)

Kenai Peninsula College head announces retirement

Director Gary Turner will exit at the end of the 2021 academic year

Gary Turner, who recently announced his plans to retire as director of Kenai Peninsula College, addresses the crowd during KPC’s 50th anniversary celebration at the Kenai River Campus on Aug. 25, 2014. (Photo courtesy Gary Turner/KPC)
Lockers and hallways remain empty with schools closed across Alaska to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that has prompted a global pandemic, on Monday, April 6, 2020 in Soldotna, Alaska. (photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

District finalizes school restart plan

The plan gives parents the option to keep children home this fall or send them to classrooms.

Lockers and hallways remain empty with schools closed across Alaska to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that has prompted a global pandemic, on Monday, April 6, 2020 in Soldotna, Alaska. (photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
A sign announcing the closure of Kenai Peninsula Borough School District schools at K-Beach Elementary can be seen on March 26, 2020, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

School board to vote on 1st day for students

Smart Start plan for KPBSD will be sent to Department of Education by the end of this month

A sign announcing the closure of Kenai Peninsula Borough School District schools at K-Beach Elementary can be seen on March 26, 2020, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
In this July 30, 2019, file photo, University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen speaks at a meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. Johnsen, the embattled University of Alaska president, has resigned, the university announced Monday, June 22, 2020. The change in leadership was a mutual decision made after Johnsen consulted with the Board of Regents, according to a statement. His biography was immediately removed from the university’s web page. (AP Photo/Dan Joling, File)

Embattled Johnsen resigns as UA president

Johnsen’s resignation announcement came a week after the faculty union demanded he quit.

In this July 30, 2019, file photo, University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen speaks at a meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. Johnsen, the embattled University of Alaska president, has resigned, the university announced Monday, June 22, 2020. The change in leadership was a mutual decision made after Johnsen consulted with the Board of Regents, according to a statement. His biography was immediately removed from the university’s web page. (AP Photo/Dan Joling, File)