UNALASKA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

KUCB’s Sofia Stuart-Rasi spoke with Event Coordinator Russel Laforteza about Multicultural Day’s origins and highlights from this year’s event.

The Unalaska Native Youth Olympics team took third place at the state games in Anchorage this weekend, and one student athlete made NYO history with his gold medal.

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 Unalaska City School District has approved its budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, and is asking the city for about $6.14 million. The school board unanimously approved the budget draft at its meeting earlier this month. The proposal has gone through various revisions and discussions, including a town hall and committee meetings. Now, it will head to City Hall where council members will decide how much funding they can spare for the island’s schools.

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.

In this episode of "Island Interviews," Superintendent Kim Hanisch talks about a new union group in the district, staffing updates – including a new high school principal – as well as a potential increase in student meal prices.