Parents & Guardians:

Bus registration Deadline is August 10, 2024 at 4pm to ride the first week of school. The Bus Barn is open daily for walk-ins from 8am - 4pm. Registration forms must be completed annually, we do not use the forms from prior years. We will be open daily 8am-4pm at the Bus Barn and setup in Samuel Simmonds Lobby the next two Saturdays.

Forms can also be requested and submitted via email to BUSBARN@NSBSD.ORG If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email or call the Bus Barn @ 852-8987.

Quyanaqpak!

Student/Parent Portal

https://nsbsd.powerschool.com/public/home.html

Online Enrollment Guide

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_lVE1y8ojkufUoVVLI-n0hfwckkDXV9r/view

Dear Families, students and community of the North Slope

There has been a lot of activity over summer at the Federal and State level regarding education and funding. Some of you may have heard about cuts and reductions and impacts on school funding and we want to provide a brief update to share where we currently stand.

The changes that are taking place will put more pressure on school districts and their funding. But importantly, I want to reassure you that our District administration have been working throughout the summer, following these developments closely and meeting regularly to discuss how to absorb any revenue reductions this year to ensure there will be NO impact on services offered to our NSBSD students in this coming school year.

The ability of our school district to absorb these cuts highlights the critical importance of the funding we receive from the North Slope Borough through the Mayor’s office and the Assembly, and further highlights the strong collaborative relationship we have. It also demonstrates the clear and stable guidance of our Board and the tireless work that our staff have done over the past three years to stabilize our finances and maintain our focus on student growth and development.

To summarize the current situation, earlier this month we were advised that the Federal Government intends to withhold around $6.88 billion in K–12 education funding that Congress had already approved for the 2025–26 school year. As part of those cuts, on July 3, the U.S. Department of Education froze nearly $46 million in federal education grants for Alaska.

Around the same time at the state level, the Governor twice vetoed a bipartisan Bill to increase the Base Student Allocation (BSA) for Alaskan students for this year. A special legislative session is now scheduled in August to give lawmakers a chance to override that veto.

Understandably there are lots of questions and concern about how these events will affect students on the North Slope and more broadly in our State.

Based on a preliminary assessment of our Federal grant entitlements we are anticipating these changes will impact the NSBSD as follows:

Title II-A – $174,062

For effective instruction and educator development

• Partial salaries of some staff.

• Professional Development for culturally responsive teaching

• Paraprofessional training

• Principal Professional Development

IV-A – $91,945

For student support and academic achievement

• Partial salaries of some staff

• Wayfinder - student Social Emotional Learning program

• Culturally responsive Professional Development

• Safe & Civil Schools (CHAMPS)

• Site Tech Virtual Professional Development

• Counselor conference registration & travel

• SEL Supplies, trauma-informed practices

I-C – $30,152

For migrant education

• Partial salary of some staff

• Village based recruiter stipends – recruiting for migrant ed funding

• Supplies for migrant students – books and things

III-A – $16,770

For English Language Acquisition

• Partial salary of some staff

• EL supplies – reading materials for ELL, parent night supplies, take-home materials

With regard to Title I-A and IDEA (SPED) funding, we have heard no further news on this and funding has not been cut or put on hold by the Federal administration. As far as we understand, funding was sent to the state on July 1st. We are told there is a proposal to allow states and school districts more flexibility with the funding. We do not know what “more flexibility” means at this stage but we will keep the Board of Education and our community advised as we hear more.

Once again I want to stress that the NSBSD will not be cutting services to students in this school year and will be working with the Mayor and the Assembly to ensure current services remain fully funded in the following school year in SY26-27.

Students and community members in Kaktovik sign the final beam which is then placed into the Phase 1 vertical construction of the new Harold Kaveolook School gymnasium.

Meade River School Principal named Region I Principal of The Year

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Meade River School Principal Brian Schaffer has been named Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals (AASSP) Region I Principal of the Year. Meade River School is in the North Slope Borough School District, where he has served for 3 years. 

AASSP sponsors regional and statewide Principal of The Year recognition awards to honor the educational leaders who play such a pivotal role in student success. They may be nominated by anyone – students, staff, parents, district office staff or principal peers - with awards finalized by AASSP members in their region. Regional Principals of The Year are eligible to be in the running for the statewide Alaska Principal of The Year.

David Vadiveloo, Superintendent of the North Slope Borough School District, said, "Principal Schaffer is a vocal advocate for the culturally responsive pedagogy and mission of our District and leads the Meade River School in Atqasuk with authentic community engagement." Superintendent Vadiveloo added, "Mr. Schaffer's inclusive leadership style is also demonstrated by the involvement of certified and classified staff in the development of systems of support to address the needs of the whole child.

Zina Robinson, colleague and Principal of Trapper School, shared that Principal Schaffer is a collaborative leader. "Mr. Schaffer has created a supportive, innovative and inviting environment for the entire Meade River community."

Superintendent Vadiveloo shared that the whole community is celebrating Mr. Schaffer's honor saying, "The North Slope Borough School District is proud to congratulate Principal Brian Schaffer as Region I Principal of the Year.

Rick Dormer, AASSP President, said, "Our Alaska Regional Principals of the Year are hard-working leaders who have made purposeful, positive impacts on the lives of students, staff and the communities in which they work." 

Dormer congratulates the 2025 AASSP Regional Principals of the Year saying, "I'm proud to be colleagues with these exceptional leaders. Thank you for serving our schools in such an excellent manner."