Education

The Alaska Department of Education finished its headcount for school districts across the state last month. The village of Old Harbor listed ten more students this year than last year according to the Kodiak Island Borough School District.  Dr. Cyndy Mika in her office, June 1, 2023. (Brian Venua/KMXT) “Last year we had about 29 students out there and this …

The decision to close the Karluk school was unanimous at an emergency school board meeting on Oct. 24.  “It’s a sad day when you have to close a school,” said Cyndy Mika, the Kodiak Island Borough School District superintendent. “And it’s not anything that I ever wanted to do in my tenure – it’s nothing that I want to ever …

Chadwick Watters works for Leader Creek Fisheries in Naknek – near Bristol Bay – and is at the end of an in-person ammonia refrigeration training.  “This class was advertised to us through our facility manager and he kind of told us that this would be a good opportunity to learn more, get more hands on experience and really go into …

On this week’s Talk of the Rock, host Jared Griffin talks about juvenile justice with members of Kodiak Teen Court: Fernando Escobar, President of Kodiak Teen Court’s Board of Directors Payton Callahan, Vice-president and judge Tessa Davis, Secretary and attorney Andrew Ott, legal advisor and KTC instructor Listen here:

Kodiak Harvest Food Co-op, a locally owned grocery store, raised $770 for the Kodiak Middle School’s agriculture program, according to a press release from their board of directors. The co-op raised the money through a silent dessert auction held during the co-op’s annual meeting.  KHFC project director Rob Stauffer presents KMS STEAM teacher Amanda Johnson with the donation. (Courtesy of …

Karluk, a remote village of just 24 residents, will have a school for the first time in five years starting next month.  The village, then, had 24 year-round residents – just two of whom are kids. But schools need at least 10 students to qualify for state funding. In an effort to reopen the school, the Karluk Tribal Council posted …

Kids are back to school in Kodiak. Middle and high school students had their first day on Monday, with elementary kids back Tuesday this week. But, budget cuts over the summer mean school — and parent spending — look a little different this year. The district’s main office is located near Kodiak High School’s campus, August 15, 2023. (Brian Venua/KMXT) …

Fishing, camping, kayaking, and a year of all expenses paid living; that’s off a poster from the Karluk Tribal Council that went viral last week. They’re looking to pay two families with four children each to move to the village in an effort to get state funding and re-establish a school.  Within a week, between four and five thousand people …

Kodiak’s school board approved a new budget on Monday, after taking a hit of about $1.8 million after Gov. Mike Dunleavy slashed the one-time funding approved by the state legislature in half.  No staff positions are being cut this year and the district is instead reducing their budget for supplies by about $600,000. Another $500,000 will come out of the …

The Kodiak Island Borough School District is figuring out how to cut about $2 million from its budget. That’s after the one-time education funding boost approved by the Alaska Legislature was slashed in half. Gov. Mike Dunleavy reduced the funding in his line-item vetoes on June 19.  Cyndy Mika is the school district’s superintendent. She was on vacation in Texas …