2020 Juneau Municipal Elections
Access to resources
How can the district improve access for students of different economic backgrounds to academic resources during the pandemic?
How can the district improve access for students of different economic backgrounds to academic resources during the pandemic?
School Board
Martin Stepetin Sr.
Candidate for School Board
Well, I think the school district is already doing a great job in this. They’ve kind of partnered with GCI, a lot of community partners, to make sure that everybody has equal access to internet, equal access to devices. A lot of this work didn’t even exist just a just a couple of months ago. And so it’s been a humongous effort on the school district’s part to make sure everybody has devices, has internet. And so I think they’re doing a great job so far. I don’t know if everybody has equal access. I know it’s an ongoing issue. So, community partners like Tlingit & Haida, they’ve handed out over 2,000 laptops in this community and throughout the region. So, I think for the most part, everybody has what they need as far as internet.
Brian Holst
Candidate for School Board
I believe our district is doing an adequate job. It’s an important consideration so that there are equitable opportunities for all of our students. We have, in collaboration with Tlingit Haida Central Council, we have been able to have them provide devices for their members and we have been able to complement devices for our members. Food is an important part, especially for many of our lower income families and we’ve been able to make that accessible to everyone at no cost, or low cost. Our campuses aren’t closed and we are also able to accommodate families with internet access issues, in their perhaps in their geography. We’ve also been reaching out to families that don’t have the capacity to connect online, finding them economical ways to be able to do that. So, there are multiple strategies that are in place to address those students that have economic constraints.