Why don't we go ahead and get started?

Um, so this is our last work session of the day.

Today is Friday, August 21st.

Um, I will note we we have been noticed from one to uh 2 p.m.

We we had a couple meetings uh run long for various reasons.

So um we're gonna aim for 1:30 to 2:30 because I know um it is the end of the day.

Um, and so thanks for your patience, everybody who is here to present.

Um, so we will do introductions and then we'll get into our topic.

Uh so starting with uh Mr.

Presbirdia.

Cameron Purz redeo, Janice Park, sure.

Sydney Scout, Hannah Brawley.

We are silver.

And I don't do we have any members on the phone right now.

No.

Okay, and I'll note if anybody else shows up.

Um, and we are also joined in the room by uh clerk staff, uh, a couple members of the administration, a couple of school board members, and um uh members of uh Anchorage School District leadership.

So uh with that, we are here today to discuss the ASD listens campaign and hear from our superintendent Dr.

Bryant.

So I will turn it to Dr.

Bryant and Mr.

Tim.

Thank you, Chair Brawley.

Uh, can everybody hear me all right with the microphone?

All right, appreciate it.

Well, first of all, I want to thank you, Chair Brawley, for the opportunity to give the assembly one of the first previews of this really important initiative for the Anchorage School District.

Really, the purpose of this initiative is to really engage the community in different ways, new ways, robust ways.

And this initiative is what I would call ASD listens.

And as many of us know, uh the outcomes of the most recent 2026 bond and levy propositions were disappointing for the Anchorage School District community.

And it was certainly an opportunity for introspection and growth.

So over the summer, I took the opportunity to partner with Alaska Survey Research to conduct a pretty robust poll and survey that provided some initial themes and data points that I've been reflecting upon personally for a number of months now.

Um, the participants of that particular poll are about over a thousand Anchorage residents, most of whom voted in that um bond proposition.

And I read every single one of their open comments and started compiling their feedback into different themes, and that was truly the genesis for the work that I'm going to talk about this afternoon.

But at a high level, um, what did I learn?

Really, I learned that this is the time to ask questions and to listen.

And some of the questions that I've been asking myself are is ASD listening early enough on some of the biggest decisions that face us, and are we explaining the difficult trade-offs clearly enough?

I do recognize that many of the topics that I'm trying to gather feedback on are very complex, and we need to meet people where they're at to make this content accessible and those dialogues authentic.

And then lastly, are there even enough opportunities for the community to meaningfully engage on these topics?

And I think that's an opportunity where this initiative can take ASD to a much better level of where we aspire to be when it comes to engaging the community on the issues that matter the most.

And I want to be a part of that success.

So with all that said, uh, I'm gonna talk a little bit about the initiative, but first I know the elephant in the room, or at least one of them, is uh we did open school this week.

So I did just want to acknowledge that.

So if we can just go to the next slide.

Uh we had a number of challenges these past 12 months, but I know for me personally, going into schools was really just uh a heartwarming experience.

Our educators and families have gone through so much, but when it came to the opening the first day of schools, there was just so much joy and positive energy, and our educators and our leaders were just very excited to welcome our kids back.

So I would say it was a strong start.

We have a lot of work to do.

Um, but the the joy was visceral.

And for that, I'm very thankful.

And then some of you may be wondering how was school opening, despite the fact that ASD is operating with much fewer resources than we have had in the past.

As this group is very familiar with ASD had to reduce its operating expenses by about 90 million dollars this year.

And that's the equivalent of a $700 per student cut.

So there was no way to completely shield the student experience from a deficit of that magnitude.

But I do have a lot of gratitude for our legislators as well as our school board members because we did have uh a very unique opportunity this summer.

A couple of bills were passed that meant more resources for schools.

And I'm just thankful for the leadership of our school board members, a couple of them who are in the room today that sprung quickly in the action and created a strong plan to add resources for students when they really needed them to the most.

So since July, we actually added uh close to 100 educator positions back to our schools.

There's certainly more need beyond that.

Um, but this wouldn't have been possible without the leadership of our legislators and our board.

So I thank them for that.