Tuesday’s school board meeting brought a swath of summer activity to light. The big action items were a tour of the facilities, renewal of teacher contracts, and the approval of new policy.
Nome Public School District Superintendent Shawn Arnold held a tour of improvements of the schools before the meeting. Many projects have been started, and some have been finished from several years in the past. “We have an insulation and siding project at the main district office that we share with the department of transportation that’s being wrapped up and finished. That’s gonna help save on costs for the future.”
Other projects at the schools include the repainting of buildings, installation of new doors, renovating the entryway, and expanding the front office at Nome-Beltz.
During the first public comment portion of the meeting, community members Annie Conger and Maddy Alvanna-Stimpfle addressed the school board with an idea of an introductions project. Their proposal aims to increase the amount of the Inupiaq language students know. In a passionate speech, Conger said, “one of the big goals I have is for our students to introduce themselves in Inupiaq, because it’s part of our Inupiaq values. When you look at our values, you see knowledge of language, and it’s sad to say my generation are the last fluent speakers.”
After the board’s quick discussion, the idea was scheduled to be revisited at a future work session. It was also stated that Nome teachers now have access to the Inupiaq version of Rosetta Stone as well. The program is not new, but Nome Public Schools staff has only recently received the permissions needed to use the Inupiaq language version.
The rest of the meeting fell to approving policy. Policy regarding tobacco usage was approved first. Tobacco usage no longer results in an automatic suspension. The new language made way for students to be able to work with counselors to enter tobacco cessation and receive other help.
The next policy up for discussion was related to gang-like activity. Arnold says that Nome schools haven’t seen any gang-related activity yet, and the actions are purely preventative. To revise vague wording, the policy will be revisited at a future work session.
The next school board meeting will be August 16th from 5:30 to 7:30 in the Nome Elementary School library.
