Tag: KPBSD

National Suicide Prevention Week #NSPW16

profile-nspw-2016
An open letter to the community from Sean Dusek, Superintendent  of Schools

September 5 – 11, 2016 is National Suicide Prevention Week #NSPW16. World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10, 2016.
Alaska has a high rate of suicide. In 2014, according to the CDC, our state was ranked second in the nation for death by suicide. In that same year, Alaska was rated the highest in the nation for youth ages 15-24, to die by suicide.
Experts believe that most suicidal individuals do not want to die, and they just want to end the pain they are experiencing. Experts also know that suicidal crises tend to be brief.
Our school district and communities are not immune to this public health issue. In several of our schools, staff and students are planning activities to provide support and educational opportunities for their peers, including the creation of a Wall of Hope. A Wall of Hope identifies positive aspects in the lives of students to highlight why living is important to them.
We work diligently to recognize the warning signs and provide as much support as we can to those in need. Our schools are staffed with caring adults who are there to help. Our teachers and staff receive training on suicide prevention and how to identify warning signs.
While prevention is our first priority, we know postvention is a critical component of a comprehensive wellness program when faced with the tragedy of suicide in a community. Postvention has the ability to ease distress, break the cycle of suicide, and be a preventative measure.
While KPBSD’s overall health and wellness curriculum is in place, a high priority need for our district is further education and supports for suicide prevention. Our goal is to create a network of community mental health providers collaborating to develop a purposeful and coordinated community support that responds quickly and effectively to provide safe havens in response to suicide.
This past spring, several high schools hosted You are Not Alone school assemblies. You are Not Alone is a peer-led youth suicide prevention campaign that includes elements of Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR)—an evidence-based training that helps people understand suicide warning signs and how to connect people in crisis to help.
Through a five-year Project AWARE grant, KPBSD will train 125 staff and community members every year on Youth Mental Health First Aid. We are in year two of these trainings. Additionally, KPBSD received the state’s competitive Suicide Awareness Prevention and Postvention Grant (SAPP) and the funds will be used to provide gatekeeper training to staff, students, and any interested community member or organization in the next several years. We will also be developing a suicide awareness toolkit as a community resource.
When suicidal behaviors are detected early, lives can be saved. Please join the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District in supporting suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. Together we can reduce the number of lives shaken by a needless and tragic death.

Links

Alaska’s Suicide Prevention and Someone to Talk To Line
Need  to talk ?

phone Call anytime, toll-free:
1-877-266-4357 (HELP)
love or text 4help to 839863
3-11 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

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KPBSD Annual Report #golden #iAmKPBSD #innovation

 Thirty two pages of stories and photos offer a glimpse into our diverse district. You’ve got options if you missed the print version:
flip through the online page turning version
view in a PDF format online
download it to your computer or device

FY16 KPBSD Annual Report (1)

 

page turning
Tip: When you see this icon, you can click it to read more story details online. #golden

The mission of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is to develop productive, responsible citizens who are prepared to be successful in a dynamic world.

 

Jayce Miller, Connections Homeschool #ClassOf2016

Class of 2016
Connections Homeschool
Jayce Miller [Connections Homeschool]

Jayce Miller [Connections Homeschool]
Jayce Miller [Connections Homeschool]
Jayce Miller was a valedictorian for Connections’ Class of 2016. His academic achievements, including a 4.069 GPA, graduating with 32.5 credits, and scoring a 35 on his ACT, only begin to describe Jayce’s successes. In addition to his academic accomplishments, Jayce has a passion for music. His passion and piano playing skills have led to his to providing accompaniment for community, church, and school choir practices and performances. He regularly accompanied the Homer High School choir, and performed as a soloist. He earned a “Superior” ranking at the State of Alaska School Activity Association’s competition for piano. Jayce enjoys tinkering with his collection of nearly 40 old computers. He and his friends like to take apart and fix the computers, create networks, and generally play with the devices. As an example of his diverse interests, Jayce names Les Miserable, Jane Eyre, and Pride and Prejudice as books he enjoyed reading.
Jayce is an enthusiastic, talented young man. In his Valedictorian address, Jayce offered a few tidbits of advice for his fellow graduates:

  1. Don’t beat yourself up about mistakes
  2. Stop dreaming and start doing
  3. Don’t let other people determine your definition of success

It is clear that Jayce follows his own advice. Next year, Jayce will pursue his dreams at the California Institute of Technology. Jayce is a fine example of what students can accomplish.
Connections Homeschool

Public invited to Title VII Indian Education Advisory Committee Meeting

Kenai Peninsula Borough School DistrictKPBSD logo 4c no tag SMALL
Contact: Pegge Erkeneff, 907.714.8888

News Release
Title VII Indian Education Advisory Committee Meeting

Soldotna, February 24, 2016—The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Title VII Advisory Committee will hold a meeting on Wednesday, March 2, 2016, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Borough Assembly Chambers, Soldotna, Alaska.
The Title VII Advisory Committee is comprised of parents and guardians of Title VII students who have been appointed by school site councils. Interested tribal elders, community members, students and parents are encouraged to participate.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Borough Assembly Chambers
Borough Administration Building
144 North Binkley Street, Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Agenda:

  • Update on students who are served in Title VII
  • Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program (ANSEP) update
  • Partnership updates
  • Set priorities for the 2016-2017 school year
  • Draft Title VII Advisory Committee By-Laws

 
The KPBSD Title VII, Indian Education Program, supports Alaska Native and American Indian students for a successful experience throughout their K-12 schooling years. The Title VII Program is designed to assist and support students’ academic achievements, social and emotional development, and cultural awareness in the classroom.
Please RSVP to Maribeth Snell, MSnell@KPBSD.k12.ak.us
Direct further questions to: Conrad Woodhead, KPBSD Native Education Program Coordinator, CWoodhead@KPBSD.K12.ak.us, 907.235.8671 or Tim Vlasak, Director of Federal Programs and Assessments, TVlasak@KPBSD.k12.ak.us, 907.714.8829
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LINK
KPBSD Federal Programs webpage

News Release: Collective bargaining impasse continues

Kenai Peninsula Borough School DistrictKPBSD logo 4c no tag SMALL
Contact: Pegge Erkeneff, 907.714.8888

NEWS RELEASE
Collective Bargaining Impasse Continues

Soldotna, January 21, 2016— Negotiations between the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District (KPBSD), and the Kenai Peninsula Education Association (KPEA) and the Kenai Peninsula Education Support Association (KPESA) remain at impasse. The January 13, 2016, KPBSD health insurance counter proposal to the KPEA and KPESA was not accepted by the Associations.
After an extended caucus on January 13, 2016, the KPEA and KPESA bargaining team comments—in response to the KPBSD proposal—made it clear that they will not accept any upper limit, or cap, on the amount of the District’s contribution to the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) that they proposed in October 2015. That proposal requires the District to pay 100% of the costs of the HDHP. In January, the Associations’ comment that it wants the District to pay the first $1,700 per employee per month, plus 100% of an annual cost escalator, and then 85% of any additional cost, is not a cap on the District’s contribution to health insurance costs. It regresses from the current 85%-15% cost sharing for the existing health plan. As such, the Associations’ comments were non-responsive, and displayed no reasonable, economically feasible, or realistic effort to break the current impasse in bargaining.*
The Associations have not presented a written counter proposal to the District. As a result, another negotiating session has not been scheduled.
A two day advisory arbitration hearing before Arbitrator Gary Axon has been scheduled for June 1 and 2, 2016. He was jointly selected by KPBSD, KPEA and KPESA.
Links
*January 20, 2016: KPBSD Response to KPEA and KPESA January 13, 2016 comments
KPBSD webpage: School District Collective Bargaining
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News Release: KPBSD Board of Education seeks applicants

News ReleaseKPBSD logo 4c no tag SMALL
KPBSD Board of Education seeks applicants


Soldotna, December 8, 2015—Board member Sunni Hilts (District 9) retired in December 2015, thus, KPBSD seeks applicants to fill this vacant school board position through October 2016.

A nine member board serves the diverse Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, which spans 25,600 square miles, educates nearly 8,700 students, and has more than forty schools. This vacant school board position requires residency in Assembly District 9, located in the southern Kenai Peninsula. This geographical area includes schools in the Homer area off the east end road, and across Kachemak Bay in Nanwalek, Port Graham, and Seldovia.
Responsibilities
For information on the role and responsibilities of board members, review the Bylaws of the Board on the KPBSD website. http://bit.ly/SchoolBoardBylaws
Qualifications
Applicants must be at least 18 years of age, a qualified voter of the State of Alaska and a resident of the Kenai Peninsula and District 9 for 180 days.
Term of Office
Appointment will begin January 11, 2016.  Appointee will stand for re-election at the regular election in October 2016.
To Apply
Applications are available through the KPBSD website, or at the District office. Application period closes Tuesday, December 29, 2015, 12:00 noon, (AKST)
Interviews
Qualified applicant interviews will be Monday, January 11, 2016, and the selected candidate will be sworn in during the Board of Education meeting January 11, 2016, in the Borough Assembly Chambers.
Questions?
Contact Debbie Tressler, 907-714-8836, dtressler@kpbsd.k12.ak.us
Links

High accolades for speech, language, and hearing contributions

High accolades for three KPBSD employees who receive praise and recognition during the Alaska Speech–Language-Hearing Association (AKSHA) conference, October 16-17, 2015, in Anchorage, Alaska!

“The speech-language pathologists working in the KPBSD are incredible,” said Clayton Holland, director of pupil services. “It is wonderful that Cynthia Detrow, Judy Gonsalves, and Amy Hogue were recognized for their outstanding contribution to their profession in Alaska. They each bring so much to the table in the terms of expertise, hard work, collaboration, and service to students. I consider it an honor to work with them individually and with the entire group of speech and language pathologists in our district.”

KPBSD October 2015 AK Speech award (1)
Judy Gonsalves, Cynthia Detrow, and Amy Hogue receive high accolades for contributions that make a difference!

Judy Gonsalves, West Homer Elementary
AKSHA Sourdough: Long-Term Dedication and Outstanding Contributions in Speech Language Pathology and, or Audiology—Judy Gonsalves

This award recognizes an Audiologist and, or SLP who demonstrates long-term dedication to issues in the state, advocacy, leadership, or outstanding clinical practice.
Judy Gonsalves is the Speech-Language Pathologist for grades third through sixth at West Homer Elementary School and has been for the past 12 years. Ms. Gonsalves began 30 years ago as an itinerant SLP in Bristol Bay, flying out to 11 different villages to give services to Alaskan students. Recalling her experience, she said, “I always packed an apple, granola bars and a book for when I got weathered in, and worked hard to keep the audiometer warm in the bush planes on cold winter days!” After filling in for an SLP on maternity leave, she found herself in need of a job and returned to school for her Type A certification, then taught third grade for 15 years. Keeping up her Type C certification, she was able to apply for her current SLP position in Homer. Besides working in the school, she is also active in the community through the Homer Council on the Arts, Homer Friends of the Library, and the KBBI public radio station.

Cynthia Detrow
Red Lantern: Outstanding Contributions in Rural Alaska by an Audiologist and, or a SLP—Cynthia Detrow (Kenai Peninsula Borough School District)

This award recognizes the unique challenges many AKSHA members work under to provide services to those in our rural areas.
Cynthia Detrow took the initiative to pursue providing a distance delivery speech program to the remote sites in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. “By providing telespeech services from another location in the district, Ms. Detrow is able to offer more consistent, efficient, and effective services to students living in hard-to-reach rural areas of the district,” noted Clayton Holland, Director of Pupil Services with KPBSD. “We no longer need to worry about the weather preventing the delivery of services to students.” Cindy, also, travels to the peninsula’s village schools on a rotating basis to provide on-site assessment, collaboration with school staff and parents, and direct services to students. Cindy’s blended approach of distance delivery combined with on-site work has led to therapy that is mutually beneficial to all involved, creating cost benefits for the district while also maximizing the effectiveness of services. Cindy’s work has also inspired other district specialists to use distance technology to provide services, attend meetings when otherwise weathered-out, and link students in remotes sites with students in other locations in the district for educational purposes.  Detrow highly deserves recognition with AkSHA’s Red Lantern Award for her outstanding contribution to speech-language service delivery in rural Alaska.

Amy Hogue, President’s Award

Amy Russell, president of the Alaska Speech-Language Hearing Association, selected Amy Hogue for her President’s Award. She said the following: “Amy has made many contributions to our association. Many therapists in the Kenai area have joined our association at the encouragement of Amy. She has also been a great AKSHA ambassador to her employers at the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. Amy has served on our ASKHA board for many years. Currently, she is our Communication Chair and has been for almost four years. She has been a key contributor to our current website and has become our Wild Apricot specialist, as we navigate and figure out all that the company has to offer our association’s website. If you ask her to do something, it’s done without a second reminder and done quicker than you even thought possible. If you’ve ever received an email from AKSHA, Amy was probably the one who hit the ‘send’ button.”
Links

#GoldenStory
KPBSD October 2015 AK Speech award (2)

How-to invest millions in public education on the Kenai

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District News ReleasePrint
Contact: Pegge Erkeneff, 907.714.8888
Does a quality education and the future success for every young person living on the Kenai Peninsula matter to you? 
Yes? ... please participate in the budget development meeting which takes place at 23 KPBSD school sites on Thursday, October 15, 2015, at 6:00 p.m. Here are three reasons why:

  1. Up front learning about how KPBSD is crafting a multi-million dollar budget in response to the fiscal reality impacting all aspects of state government and funding for public education
  2. Give your feedback about areas of the budget that can be reduced or should be expanded, and suggestions for legislators about solutions to our funding shortfalls. What matters, what doesn’t?
  3. Q & R: question and response opportunity

“The district is facing a fiscal gap for our 2016-2017 budget,” said Sean Dusek, superintendent. “We are prioritizing the programs and services we will be able to offer in our schools. The district may need to make difficult decisions depending upon the level of funding we receive from the state and borough. I encourage the public to use this meeting as an opportunity to learn about this fiscal reality, and to think in terms of what we can do differently to produce a balanced budget.”

Parents, staff, students, business partners, community members, and elected officials are invited to attend the budget development meeting on Thursday, October 15, 2015, 6:00 p.m., via MS Lync, at any of these KPBSD school sites:

Cooper Landing – Room 4; Homer Middle School – Library; Hope School – Sandra Barron’s classroom; Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science – Library; K-Beach Elementary – Room 18; Kenai Alternative School- Front office; Kenai Central High School – Library; Moose Pass School – Katie Abraham’s class; Mountain View Elementary – Library; Nikiski Middle – High School – Library; Nikolaevsk School – Library; Ninilchik School – Library; Port Graham School – Secondary classroom; Seward Elementary School – Library; Skyview Middle School – Library; Soldotna Elementary – Library; Soldotna High School – Library; Soldotna Montessori School – Office; Soldotna Prep School – Library; Sterling Elementary – Mrs. Van Slyke’s room; Susan B. English School – Commons; Tebughna School – Room 6; and Tustumena School – Library.
money“Our annual budget is one of the most important things we do each year,” said Dave Jones, assistant superintendent of instructional support. “We want to give our parents, staff, students, and community members a chance to learn about our budget, participate in the process, and offer input. The meeting on October 15 will be an important step in the process to develop the FY17 budget. We hope to see a large turnout at all our schools across the district.”
Participant input will be synthesized and presented to the KPBSD school board during November and December board meetings and worksessions.
Links

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Budget cuts

Battle of Binkley – School District vs Borough at Tsalteshi Trails

KPBSD employees, Let’s win the Battle of Binkley!

This fun series promotes play, wellness, and a dash of fierce competition! Walkers and runners are welcome, every Wednesday, beginning July 8th

Details…

Battle of Binkley flyer
About the Salmon Run Series
The Salmon Run Series is a series of 5 races hosted at the Tsalteshi Trails.  Each race is 5K and utilizes a variety of trails in the Tsalteshi Trails system.  The Salmon Runs are perfect for any type of runner or walker. Individual races are $10 for Tsalteshi members, $15 for non-members.  All 5 race discount pricing is $45 for members, $70 for non-members.  All the money raised will be used to fund the Kenai Watershed Forum’s summer camps! Register here:  http://www.tsalteshi.org/events/?ee=169 Details: BAttle of Ninklet rules

Borough funds Kenai Peninsula education with maximum allowable contribution

Kenai Peninsula Borough School DistrictKPBSD 50 years logo Smallest version
Contact: Pegge Erkeneff, 907.714.8888

News Release
KPBSD is grateful our Borough funds public education

Soldotna, June 5, 2015—The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District will receive the maximum amount of funding for K-12 public education from the Kenai Peninsula Borough (KPB) in 2015-2016 (FY16). At the KPB assembly meeting on June 2, 2015, assembly members voted to fund the KPBSD FY16 budget with the maximum allowable contribution that Alaska state law permits.

“We are grateful the Borough recognizes that with the fiscal unknowns in the state budget, and by funding the school district with the maximum amount possible, this action will help soften any potential reductions in service that we will likely need to make,” said Sean Dusek, superintendent. “The local funding will minimize negative consequences students will experience with any future reductions in services and educational funding.”

“I am especially thankful for the strong support we received from the Borough administration, assembly, and Mayor Navarre,” said Sean Dusek, superintendent.

The Alaska State Legislature has not yet passed a FY16 budget, so KPBSD remains uncertain about the amount of educational funding that will be designated to the district through the Foundation Formula and One-Time Funding.

The KPBSD $165 million dollar FY16 budget is a deficit budget, and requires use of General Fund reserves. The actions of the Borough will allow KPBSD to extend its General Fund reserves into the upcoming years of fiscal uncertainty.

Links

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