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The latest Wrangell School District draft budget for the next school year includes an estimated $700,000 in additional federal relief aid, but board members expressed concern that the money, while welcome, may only stave off spending cuts to a later date. Several board members express skepticism at Monday evening's budget workshop that student enrollment would not pick up much as the pandemic subsides. State funding, the largest portion of school district revenues, is based almost entirely on...
Though the Wrangell School District now projects 259 students to enroll for the fall semester based on the belief that more families will send their children back to the classroom, enrollment would still be down 13% from pre-pandemic numbers and the latest draft budget shows a loss of five teaching positions from this year. School board members reviewed the latest draft budget at their March 18 meeting, with more work to come before adopting a spending plan for next school year. State funding...
March 24, 1921 The pupils of the public school were given a delightful surprise last Friday afternoon, when before being dismissed for the day they were told to go to the gymnasium. Arriving there, they were served with ice-cream and cake by ladies of the Parent-Teachers Association. In order to facilitate the work for those in charge of the party, the pupils, accompanied by their teachers, left the school in relays. Members of the school board also were invited to be present at the time. The party given Friday takes the place of the one given...
The Wrangell School Board has unanimously selected Bill Burr as schools superintendent. He will start in July, replacing Debbe Lancaster, who has been in the job since 2018. Lancaster resigned last year, effective in July. Burr is coming to Wrangell from the Delta/Greely School District, where he has worked as assistant superintendent since 2014. He has also served as director of technology and as fill-in principal at the district in Alaska's Interior, according to the Wrangell School District....
Sure, the Sentinel's main job is to report the news. But we also want to serve as the community bulletin board. Think of the newspaper as a weekly posting, delivered for everyone to see - even better, you don't need to stand in the wind and rain to read the sheet. The problem is, our bulletin board has empty space, and that doesn't do anyone any good. We need your events to fill up the board. We could hand out hundreds of pushpins to stick event notices to the pages of the Sentinel each week....
The Juneau candidate for the Wrangell schools superintendent job dropped out, leaving a field of three to meet the community in a Zoom event last week. The school board is scheduled to interview the finalists Friday. The three finalists are: Joseph Aldridge, superintendent of the Columbia Union School District, in Central California; Bill Burr, assistant superintendent of the Delta Junction/Greely School District, east of Fairbanks; and Ralph Watkins, superintendent and principal of Hoonah City...
The Wrangell School Board has narrowed down the list to four superintendent applicants to succeed Debbie Lancaster, who plans to leave the job June 30. Three of the four candidates work in Alaska, and one is from California. The board met in executive session Saturday to review applications, and announced in a Sunday press release the four finalists who will be interviewed: Joseph Aldridge, of California; Tim Bauer, of Juneau; Bill Burr, of Delta Junction; and Ralph Watkins, of Hoonah. A...
Feb. 24, 1921 The annual ball of the Wrangell Fire Department, an event always looked forward to as one of the big affairs of the year, was held Saturday night. The hall was decorated with flags, helmets, ladders and axes, and a three-piece orchestra furnished the music. There was a large attendance and Arnt Sorset, who was floor manager, kept the dances going in quick succession, assuring everyone a good time. The fireman’s dance is usually given on the 22nd of February, but it was decided to have it on the nearest Saturday to that date this y...
The 18 or so Wrangell middle school and high school students who belong to BASE - Building a Supportive Environment - are the role models I never paid attention to when I was their age long ago (1960s). They got together on their own because they saw their classmates dealing with stress, pressures, mental health issues, and even drab hallways, which senior Jade Balansag described as "boring corridors of nothingness." Senior Jacob Dow did his research and learned that surroundings can make a big...
It helps, but it doesn't solve the problem. The latest round of federal relief aid is equal to about half of this year's school budget deficit. The $900 billion relief bill passed by Congress and signed into law by the president at the end of December included $54 billion to be distributed nationwide to help K-12 schools reopen and assist with additional expenses and lost revenues due to the pandemic. Of that $54 billion, the Alaska Department of Education received almost $144 million that it ha...
Wrangell schools could receive at least a couple hundred thousand dollars less in state funding for the next school year, due to declining enrollment. The community has seen a sharp decline in enrollment this year, likely due to homeschooling and correspondence schooling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, about 200 students are enrolled in the district, according to a presentation at a school district town hall budget meeting Jan. 19. Historically, the district has counted about 300 st...
Acknowledging Alaska's shortage of money, the Wrangell Borough Assembly has put together a list of priority projects for state funding "should the fiscal climate change." Until then, "(the city) understands there is little to no availability of funding for local capital needs," said the backup material for the assembly workshop Jan. 12 to compile state and federal legislative priorities for 2021-2022. In putting together the list - just in case money becomes available -the assembly considered...
Wrangell schools were continuing to experience internet connection problems as of Tuesday afternoon, after first alerting the public to the trouble in a Facebook post last Friday. Internet and phone systems were affected, according to the post, as was Monday's school board meeting, which endured connection issues at several points through the meeting between board members. According to information on the district's website, a router died. "The primary router for Wrangell Public Schools died...
The Wrangell Lady Wolves are preparing for a truly unique basketball season this year. Not only has COVID-19 required the high school to create mitigation plans to keep players safe, but the team has had to get creative to find enough players to even form a team. However, after decisions by the state school sports association and the school board to ease the eligibility rules, the season will move forward for the girls' team. Christy Good is head coach for the Lady Wolves this year, her first...
July July 2: With recent national attention on racial bias and police brutality, the community met via web conference June 29 for an evening town hall meeting to discuss policing practices in Wrangell. The meeting provided an opportunity for residents to ask questions of Chief Tom Radke and to share their opinions on the Wrangell Police Department. Those who spoke in the meeting, by and large, expressed support for the police and their current practices. July 9: The cities of Wrangell,...
The Wrangell School Board met Monday night, Dec. 14. Two main topics of discussion in the meeting were revisions to the current budget, and a look at the upcoming budget season for next year. The revisions to the current budget, FY 2021, were largely cuts in expenses. Staff travel was reduced from a $3,000 allocation to $65, according to the meeting's agenda packet. Student travel was cut in half from $5,000 to $2,500. Funding for supplies, materials, and media was also reduced from $125,000 to...
December 17 Jamie Roberts, with the Wrangell EOC, reported that there are currently no active cases of COVID-19 in the community. Statewide, Alaska’s case count is 41,859 as of yesterday. This is an increase of 3,151 from last week. Wrangell received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 16. According to SEARHC, following guidance from the Alaska Vaccine Advisory Council, vaccinations will be given to frontline health workers first, along with first responders, and l...
It was a short meeting for the Wrangell School Board last Monday evening, only about 10 minutes. There was a single item on their agenda that evening: A proposal from the Association of Alaska School Boards to conduct Wrangell School District's search for a new superintendent, for the amount of $10,500. This was discussed in a previous school board meeting, on Nov. 16, but the board decided to defer action until Nov. 30. This was partially because board members wanted more time to consider the...
The Wrangell School Board met Monday night, Nov. 16, for a regularly scheduled meeting. During the meeting, the board approved expenses to the City and Borough of Wrangell for new doors for Evergreen Elementary School. According to attachments to the meeting's agenda, the new doors and hardware procurement will cost $32,250. Additionally, there is another $10,125 for key scanning software. This money will come from an NRA School Shield grant, according to Board Member David Wilson. The motion...
Margaret Jane ("Tiny") Hall, 101, died in her home in Kodiak, Alaska on October 30, 2020. She was born on June 15, 1919, in Minneapolis Minnesota, to Phyllis and Raymond Gray, and had two older sisters – Mary (Bamby) and Ann. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1941, and taught school until 1945, when she married Hugh F. Hall, an Episcopal priest. In 1948, the couple moved to Wrangell, Alaska. They continued to reside in Alaska, living first in Wrangell (1948-1958), followed by Sew...
The Wrangell School Board held a workshop Monday evening, Nov. 16, with Alaska Public Entity Insurance. APEI is the nonprofit administrator of a joint insurance arrangement between a pool of Alaskan entities that self-insure each other. They provide property, liability, and other forms of coverage for 38 school districts and charter school members, as well as 33 municipalities and other related organizations. The City and Borough of Wrangell also receives coverage from APEI. The workshop was...
The Wrangell School Board met Monday night for a special work session and meeting regarding the district's FY 2020 financial audit. According to the audit, the school district has approximately $3.57 million in total assets across different funds: $2.07 million in assets in its general fund, $1.07 million in its capital improvement projects fund, and $437,786 in other governmental funds. Meanwhile, there are approximately $1.65 million in total liabilities. An income statement of the district's...
October 28, 1920 The new Victrola which was purchased with the entertainment funds has arrived. It was ordered by Mr. Patterson who let the school have it at cost. We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Mr. Patterson. We also wish to thank Mrs. Watson for presenting the school with four valuable Victrola records. The school has received several free industrial exhibits from prominent manufacturing companies. October 26, 1945 Johnnie Simpson, of Telegraph Creek, and his river boat Butterfly caused a flurry of anxiety in the U.S....
Wrangell's school board met Monday evening, Oct. 12. Among other business they discussed during the meeting, they accepted a letter of resignation from Superintendent Debbe Lancaster. "There are several reasons for my resignation with one being that I would like to pursue a position in education in another district to be with my spouse," Lancaster wrote in her letter, dated Oct. 1. "I will work until the end of my contract and help the Wrangell Public School Board and staff transition another...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a special meeting last Thursday, Oct. 8, to certify the final election results from Oct. 6. Following a Canvass board meeting to review preliminary election results, it was found that a total of 483 ballots were cast and counted this election cycle, 419 on election day and 64 absentee. Steve Prysunka was re-elected to mayor for another two-year term. Anne Morrison and Ryan Howe were re-elected to the assembly for three-year terms. Terry Courson was elected to...