UCSD

Unalaska’s school superintendent submitted her resignation Tuesday. Kim Hanisch joined the Unalaska City School District in 2023 and will be leaving her position in June.

Unalaska middle and high school principal Mark Alston submitted his resignation letter Wednesday, citing complications with his mental health as reasons for stepping down. He originally planned to stay with the district for 30 days after submitting his resignation, but Superintendent Kim Hanisch said Alston updated his departure date Monday morning.

For this episode of “Island Interviews,” KUCB’s Sofia Stuart-Rasi talks with UCSD Activities Director Kent Russell about everything happening in sports and activities for students this fall.

Summer vacation is over for Unalaska students. Teachers and some staff returned at the beginning of the week and students joined them Wednesday.

Eighth-grader Natnicha “Michelle” Lord and sophomore Crina Bivol each created websites that earned first place in their age groups at the state contest, where judges selected 20 projects out of 60 to advance to nationals.

In this episode of “Island Interviews,” Superintendent Kim Hanisch talks about staffing updates, plans to potentially extend the third-grade school day and a new parent-teacher organization for the elementary school.

School had just ended for the week in Unalaska, but not all students were celebrating. More than 30 students proceeded to march to Unalaska City Hall to show support for House Bill 69. The state bill would increase the base student allocation (BSA), the basic per-student state funding that goes to schools each year.

The Alaska House of Representatives voted to boost education spending last week, bringing a balanced budget one step closer to reality for the Unalaska City School District. But school officials are keeping the district’s belt tight until a permanent increase in the base student allocation, or BSA, becomes law.

At least a dozen teachers, staff and school board members showed up for a town hall hosted by the Unalaska City School District on March 6 to discuss an impending $1.2 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year.

It’s not unheard of for Alaska schools to build their budgets without knowing for sure how much the state will provide. In recent years, that contribution hasn’t been much, especially when compared to the growing rates of inflation. But many school districts across the state are facing deficits this year, forcing them to make hard decisions. The Unalaska City School District is no exception.