David Boyle: Anchorage superintendent’s contract may be extended again

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Jarrett Bryantt

By DAVID BOYLE

The Anchorage School Board majority wants to extend Superintendent Jarrett Bryantt’s contract for the second time in less than a year.

The first one-year contract extension was done in February — just eight months ago. That extended Bryantt’s contract through 2026. Only board member Dave Donley voted against that extension.

Now the board wants to add another year, extending the contract through 2027—more than three years from now.

Why is the board pushing for this contract extension, twice in less than a year?

The board must be pleased with the implementation of diversity-equity-inclusion (DEI) goals and Critical Race Theory in both the curriculum and hiring practices.

The board has even put DEI into its superintendent guardrails: “Superintendent will not operate without a plan to develop a qualified, diverse, and culturally responsive workforce.”

And remember the superintendent has implemented the “Transgender Guidelines,” in which it can hide from parents the gender identity and pronoun usage for students.

This is the same superintendent who removed the charter from the Family Partnership Charter School. As a result, parents removed more than 600 students from the Anchorage School District.

The district has also failed in its attempt to close excess schools, resulting in wasting money maintaining them. Parents pushed back against closing the six proposed schools and the district was not prepared for this opposition. Now it has too many schools and not enough students.

Former board president Margo Bellamy aligns with the superintendent and believes that social-emotional learning and “restorative justice” are vital to student achievement.  

But what about actual student achievement? Shouldn’t the superintendent be responsible for setting valid goals?

Here are the reading (3rd grade), math (8th grade) and graduation rates that Superintendent Bryantt will be held accountable for: 

So, by the end of the superintendent’s second contract extension, fewer than half of 3rd grade students should be able to read at grade level. That’s the reading goal.

And a little more than 41% of 8th grade students should be proficient in math. That’s the math goal.

These are very low goal that should be achievable.

The Anchorage School Board will vote on this one-year additional extension to the superintendent’s contract, as the matter is on the agenda for Oct. 15.

You can speak up here.

David Boyle is an education writer for Must Read Alaska.

15 COMMENTS

  1. The ASD has a budget of approximately $630million, and they not only want a kid who looks to be about 16 years old managing it, but they do NOT want the children to actually be educated.
    Instead they are focusing on indoctrinating the children in Marxist social engineering.
    This will not end well for the children when they leave school and enter the real world.

  2. Margo Bellamy is ignorant what needs to be accomplished is teaching the kids the basic fundamentals that are lacking in todays American education system . We are putting the future at jeopardy if this continues. Thank God that my days on this planet are numbered so I won’t be around to watch our country falter. God help my children and grandchildren as this madness takes hold.

  3. Did Bryantt ever actually meet the position requirements of superintendent, or did the Board give him another Participation Pass?

  4. Time for this failure at Superintendent of Schools to go back to Texas and wreak havoc in their state and school districts. He sure is not wanted here and should not be kept due to his poor performance.

    • Texas won’t/wouldn’t have him. They’ve got one of the best school systems in the US.. Yes, He “WAS” from Houson, but he was on his way out from the Houston, Houston was basically”kicking” him out, because they didn’t like his “antics” with the education. Houston and the STATE of TEXAS doesn’t put up with the trash he passed onto Anchorage schools. Texas has one of the best school/education system. (Yeah, there are exceptions in some places.)

  5. I’ve seen ridiculous measures put in such as late start Monday with zero way for parents to give any input. The DEI Director makes at least $160,000 a year and from she doesn’t respond to Jewish parents whose kids are being targeted. What a joke.

  6. Margo’s puppet showed his true colors when he tried to block Dr Ben Carson from meeting any children in HIS school.
    My children nor any grandchildren will ever see the interior of the public funded abortion clinic they call a school.

  7. Imagine that! His goal is that half our 3rd graders will be able to read! And that 40% of our 8th graders will be able to do math. WTH??

    What are we supposed to do about that other half? It’s time for a fundamental change, Anchorage!

  8. Jarret has done a good job, voters can elect different school board members if they don’t agree with the Board’s decisions.

    • Please lay out your parameters for “done a good job” Frank.

      For me that would include at least 90% of kids proficient in math and reading across all grades. The curriculum focused on classic essential learning of math, language, history and fact based science (not the feelings based ideology). Dump the ENTIRE social-emotional learning tract. Funnel the vast majority of funds directly to the classroom, pay teachers better and reduce administrative/project staff. Refocus schools on the core mission instead of the current trend to branch out to other areas like health care, psychological issues, family external drama or social engineering. Consistently deal with students who disrupt learning for others or threaten/bully in groups.
      So Frank, since none of what I mentioned is taking place, please tell us how you see Mr. Superintendent doing a “good job” in your opinion.

  9. This idiot should have never been hired in the first place because he didn’t meet the minimum qualifications for the job. He has cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands in extra costs incurred due to the requirement to hire a qualified individual to work with him until he met the minimums. Additionally, he has made decision after decision that runs counter to the needs and desires of the parents. And this staggered school starting BS has been extremely disruptive and costly to parents.

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