December 2020
Aarigaa,
As we move into the winter and holiday season, I want to take a moment to wish everyone on the North Slope a safe and serene time with your families. Many of our staff will be returning home to their families for the winter break, and they will be spending quality time with their loved ones. We wish them safety as they travel and return. Upon their return from the break, we will resume school on January 6, 2021 with distance delivery at all sites, giving our staff an opportunity to quarantine. They will have already prepared their packets and lessons for the students before they leave. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year in 2021! We also thank all the whaling captains for sharing the bounty of the maktak and quaq; they have shared with all of us! May you continue to be blessed.
We wish the family of Luke Parker, our former M&O Director, our deepest condolences, as we too will miss him. We only had him as an employee a few months but in those short months, he proved to be a compassionate, caring individual whom we will all miss. We also wish our condolences to our students' family members whom passed as well during this time. Let’s hold our families a little closer during this time.
We are all hoping that with the introduction of a vaccine that we will be returning to some normalcy sooner than later. I want to thank all our stakeholders, principals, and staff for their magnificent responses to the Coronavirus pandemic. They have done a great job of working with each other in the COVID Response Teams that were formed. We also thank ASNA and PHN for their incredible assistance during this time also. We, as the rest of the nation, are looking forward with hope to a time when we can again gather and have sports, celebrations, and community events. Until then, we will continue to practice CDC requirements of social distancing, wearing masks, and washing our hands often.
I would like to congratulate Qaiyaan Harcharek for being voted on as Board President and Nancy Rock as the Board Clerk. We also welcome Freida Nageak and Robyn Burke to the board. We thank Nora Jane Burns, Madeline Hickman and Muriel Brower for their continued service to the district as board members. We look forward to doing great work together on behalf of all the students of the North Slope.
We are moving into the FY 21-22 budget season, and we will be holding meetings with each site principal and their respective School Advisory Councils (SAC) to discuss next year’s budget. We want to provide each site and each site SAC the opportunity to give input into the planning of their school priorities as it relates to the budget.
Finally, I would like to encourage everyone to show gratitude for all that we have been blessed with on the North Slope. Show gratitude and appreciation for one another and the value that each individual has as a member of our community. I am expressing gratitude for all of our hard-working staff that go above and beyond their call to duty to serve our students, our parents/guardians and communities. My wish is for everyone to have a safe and blessed holiday season.
“TOGETHER WE CAN”
Respectfully,
Pauline Siqupsiraq Harvey
North Slope Borough School District Superintendent