ASD Begins Approving Recruiters To Schedule School Orientations

The first group of military recruiters has been approved by the Anchorage School District superintendent’s office to work with school principals to schedule school orientations.

This puts recruiters one step closer to being allowed back in area schools after the district banned them from campuses following allegations of misconduct by Alaska National Guard recruiters involving students.

ASD spokesperson Heidi Embley says each individual recruiter must complete an orientation with every school he or she plans to visit.

“So we’re just having them meet with the principal, just review expectations, get an orientation of the building, and what is and isn’t allowed based on the recruiter procedures,” she said.

Embley says the orientation process isn’t new, and was already in place in the ASD recruiter procedures.

Despite the circumstances that led to the ban on recruiters from Anchorage schools over two weeks ago, Embley says the process has opened a positive dialogue about student safety between the school district and military.

“They mutually agreed that student safety was the number one priority. And so they’re just moving forward from here in a very positive way,” Embley said. “And it’s a good opportunity to learn about the safety and training that the military already has in place and to review precautions and expectations when they interact with students on school campuses.”]

The superintendent’s office expects to have the remaining military branches approved by the end of the week to start scheduling school orientations.

No definitive timeline has been set for when official recruiting visits to Anchorage schools will restart.