Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD), or Bethel Public Schools, is a school district headquartered in Bethel, Alaska. As of 2017[update] it is the largest rural school district in the state, with 4,300 students.[2]
Employment and teacher demographics
In 2017 it had about 300 certified teachers, with about 20% being Alaska Natives, the highest percentage of any Alaskan school district.[2]
The district, as of 2017, pays for the education of prospective teachers, sending them to University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF);[2] the district pays all of a student's costs if they go to UAF; the LKSD board also offers scholarships for students attending other universities. The stipulation is that students who get the scholarships are obligated to teach at LKSD, with one year of teaching per year of scholarship.[3] In 2013 LKSD began requiring teachers without university degrees to work towards getting them, and in 2017 it set a ten-year deadline for doing so. Most of its non-certified teachers taught in rural schools. According to Alaska state law a person without a university degree may still become a full-time teacher if he/she has fluency in a native language of Alaska. The district prioritizes hiring teachers with Yupik language skills and has a preference for local teachers.[2]
In the period 2007-2012 it had an annual teacher turnover rate of 15%,[2] or 60-70 teaching jobs,[3] lower than many rural school districts though higher than urban ones.[2]
Jung, previously known as the Kilbuck School, serves grades 3–6. As of 2018[update] its enrollment is about 345.[4]
Mekelnguut Elitnauriviat School
Nicknamed the "M.E. School," it serves grades Kindergarten through 2. As of 2018[update] it has 260 students and 18 teachers.[5]
Ayaprun Elitnaurvik School
It is a K-6 Yup’ik-English bilingual program that originated from a total immersion language program established in 1995. As of 2002[update] the school had 197 students. The school occupies space in Mekelnguut Elitnauriviat and Gladys Jung schools; As of 2002[update] grades Kindergarten through 1 are in the former and the remainder are in the latter.[6]
"Chaputnguak," an old name for Chefornak, is a Yup'ik word referring to an object or thing obstructing a pathway, while the latter is named after the first inhabitant of Chefornak, Alexie Amaqigciq.[8]
Zacharias John Williams Memorial School - Napaskiak
As of 2018[update] it has 155 students, with 90% classified as learners of English as a second language, 85% are on free or reduced lunch programs, and the majority are of Central Yupik Eskimo origins; that year only two students were not Yupik. That year the school had 34 employees, with four of them being native Alaskans; the employees included 16 teachers. The current building opened in October 2016, and the original building opened in 1982.[19]
As of 2018[update] the school has 128 students, 12 teachers, and 27 other employees.[20] Mertarvik Pioneer School is the continuation,[21] as people from Newtok are moving to Mertarvik due to erosion of the former.[22] As of 2020 it uses temporary facilities in the Mertarvik Education Center (MEC) before a permanent school is to be constructed. The school has teachers using English and Yugtun as mediums of instruction.[23] The Mertarvik school's initial enrollment was 10 and it began operations on October 14, 2019.[24] It initially had four teachers with half using each language as a medium.[23]
As of 2018[update] the school had 203 students, 15 certified teachers, and 16 classified employees. English is the sole language of instruction at Tobeluk.[25]
It is a bilingual English-Yugtun school. As of 2018[update] there are about 108 students at the school, all Alaska Natives.[29] In 2003 it was the building of the largest size in Tununak. Kimberly C. Price, who formerly taught at the school, stated that students are in mainly Yupik speaking houses and generally retain fluency of the language.[30]
