Site Logo
AK STAR testing results and materials are displayed on a table at the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District office on Monday in Soldotna.. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Statewide test scores ‘unacceptable’

Educators blame COVID and cash, not kids.

An independent third-party audit found Juneau School District spent at a deficit of over $620,000, in the past fiscal year and failed to adhere to district policies that could have lessened the total. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

News

Audit shows ‘deeply concerning’ deficit for school district

Independent report says failure to follow policy contributed to negative balance.

Maxine Petersen, 8, stands with her parents Carl Petersen and Samantha Jenkins to accept the Alaska 529 annual $25K Giveaway at Kax̱dig̱oowu Héen Elementary on Thursday. Maxine is the first recipient to receive the scholarship within Southeast. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau third grader receives $25,000 scholarship

She’s the first Southeast Alaska recipient of the Alaska 529 scholarship

Tuesday night at the Juneau School District school board meeting Superintendent Bridgette Weiss presented her formal letter of retirement from her position, prompting the members to give the OK to start the process of finding someone to fill the position come July 1, 2023. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

News

Weiss is resigning as Juneau School District superintendent — what’s next?

District begins the process of filling the position by July.

KinderReady Preschool students from Harborview Elementary frolic in a pile of dried leaves at Evergreen Cemetery on Tuesday. The leaf jump is an annual event organized by Linda Torgerson and has been happening in Juneau for around 25 years. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

News

Piles of fun: Juneau students partake in annual leaf jump

Cannonball!

Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire Floyd Dryden Middle School teacher James White poses with seventh graders with mustaches as a way of recognizing Movember, a movement raising awareness of men’s health issues throughout the month of November.

News

Mo’ money, men’s problems: Movember is more than lip service for a good cause

Movember is more than lip service for a good cause.

In this Sept. 27 2021, photo Bridget Weiss, superintendent of Juneau Public Schools, stands outside the classroom of former math teacher and basketball coach Bill Szepanski, who inspired her to pursue a degree in education and a teaching and coaching career. Weiss recently informed district staff she will be stepping away from her position at the end of June. (Dana Zigmund / Juneau Empire File)

News

Weiss departing as Juneau School District superintendent

Announcement comes after intense few years, and she is stepping away at the end of June.

Juneau School District Bridget Weiss, shown in this September 2021 photo, shows an art project she completed as a kindergarten student at Harborview Elementary School. Weiss, superintendent since 2018, received a one-year extension of her contract until June of 2025 on Tuesday. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire File)

News

Superintendent gets contract extension, raise

Bridget Weiss, Alaska’s 2022 Superintendent of the Year, to preside over Juneau schools until 2025.

Students show off their new backpacks at Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s annual backpack distribution at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on July 23, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

News

Back to school: Tlingit and Haida holds annual backpack distribution

Hundreds of backpacks were distributed, with hundreds still to go out.

This June 14 photo shows Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary School. Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

News

District OKs ‘milk’ incident investigation, extension of food vendor’s contract

Juneau School Board approves third-party probe, allowing NANA to serve food for six more months

This photo shows Sít' Eetí Shaanáx - Glacier Valley School the evening of Tuesday, June 14. The school is one of three sites of the Juneau School District's RALLY program. On Tuesday, children were served floor sealant instead of milk during breakfast at the school's RALLY site. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

News

Board takes steps toward probe of ‘milk’ incident

There is debate about whether local or national experts are preferred for investigation.

This photo shows Sít' Eetí Shaanáx - Glacier Valley School the evening of Tuesday, June 14. On Wednesday the Juneau Police Department shared the findings of its investigation into an incident in which a dozen children drank floor sealant when it was served instead of milk during a summer program breakfast at the school. There was nothing to obviously suggest criminal charges are appropriate, but the findings have been sent to the district attorney for review, according to JPD. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

News

Police: No obvious basis for charges in ‘milk’ incident

Investigation of floor sealant being served at summer youth program being reviewed by prosecutors

This June 14 photo shows Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary School. School district officials are considering procuring a third-party investigator to look into how a dozen children and two adults were served floor sealant instead of milk during a summer youth program. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

News

‘Sip before serve’ policy violated in milk mishap

Food company admits missteps; school board seeks 3rd-party investigator.

A special meeting of the school board will begin with a “discussion with NANA Management Services regarding (the) food services incident,” according to an agenda published by the Juneau School District. Twelve kids and two adults ingested floor sealant when it was served Tuesday morning by the company during breakfast at the RALLY program Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx - Glacier Valley School, shown in this June 14 photo. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

News

Contractor faces public questioning Friday about ‘milk’ incident

Company that served chemical sealant to children to face Juneau’s school board at special meeting

This photo shows Sít' Eetí Shaanáx - Glacier Valley School the evening of Tuesday, June 14. The school is one of three sites of the Juneau School District's RALLY program. On Tuesday, children were served floor sealant instead of milk during breakfast at the school's RALLY site. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

News

Superintendent: Pouches of milk, chemicals delivered side-by-side

“That’s when the beginning of this mismatch began,” she said.

Learning bundles await pickup at what is now known as Kax̱digoowú Héen Elementary School on Friday, Sept. 4, 2020. The school’s name was officially changed Tuesday night after much debate. It was previously named Riverbend Elementary School. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

News

Goodbye Riverbend, hello Kax̱digoowú Héen

Renaming elementary school approved by Juneau Board of Education after a long debate.

This photo shows

News

12 kids ingested floor sealant served as milk during summer program, according to school district

Investigation is underway.

Sophia Pugh, left, Eden Denton, center, and Rileyanne Payne, right, seniors from Juneau's three high schools are about to graduate as their time in high school comes to a close. (Courtesy Photos)

News

Ahead of graduation, seniors look back on high school

Sitting astride a pandemic, these seniors have had an interesting four years.

Students at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé go through the hallways mostly without face masks during a break between classes in April shortly after the Juneau Board of Education ended a mask mandate. The decision was controversial due to concerns by some people that events such as proms and graduation ceremonies could become spreader events for COVID-19. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Officials hope for healthy graduation ceremonies

199% increase in COVID-19 cases the past two weeks has some concerned about lack of mandates.

A magnet promoting the Alaska Reads Act released sits atop a stack of Alaskan-authored and Alaska-centric books. Lawmakers passed the Alaska Reads Act on the last day of the legislative session, but several members of the House of Representatives were upset with the bill, and the way it was passed. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

News

In last-minute move, Legislature passes early reading overhaul

Underlying inequities.