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In the last Wrangell School Board meeting, on May 18, several members of the public voiced concerns with how things were running in the school district. Among them were concerns that the technology department was being cut at a bad time, as well as wider concerns that the district has a hostile work environment. The Wrangell Sentinel reached out to Superintendent Debbe Lancaster to seek a response to these concerns. Lancaster said that, after discussing the matter with School Board President...
June 3, 1920 Charlie Olson made a trip to Woronofski Island on Monday, taking with him a party of young picnickers. They took their lunch and spent the afternoon, indulging in target practice on the beach and climbing the mountain. On their return in the evening they were invited to the Coulter home where the day was finished off properly with a dancing party. Those who made up the party were: Misses Margaret Bronson, Irene Coulter, Helen Hofstad, Lillian Kelly and June Elliot; Messrs. John Coulter, Colonel Mason, Harry McCormack, Leonard...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met this week to begin their workshopping of Wrangell's budget for FY 2021. This first round of workshops looked at various city departments that are funded through the Enterprise Funds which includes the harbor, light and power, sanitation, wastewater, and water departments. There were two workshops over the past week, on May 19 and May 21. According to the meeting's agenda packet for May 19, there were several things for the assembly to keep in mind when looking...
The Wrangell School Board met via web conference last Monday, May 18 and heard of several unethical and potentially illegal things happening in the district. Another person said the district had a hostile work environment. David Macri was one of the speakers that evening. Macri was the district's former secondary school principal, before his resignation and being put on administrative leave in March of this year. Macri spoke in the meeting to say that there were several problems in the school...
May 20, 1920 The Wrangell School Board has decided to increase the faculty to six teachers next year. Four of them have already been elected. They are as follows: Miss May Crosno, principal: Miss Ann O’Connor, Miss J. O’Connor, and Miss Jessica Don Carlos. The board has decided upon a ten month’s term. There will be 38 weeks of actual teaching, with one week of vacation at Christmas and another at Easter. It is reported that the committee appointed by the council to confer with the school board have decided to report favorably on the build...
May signals the end of the school year for the Wrangell School District. For 25 students, this May signals the end of their high school careers. The COVID-19 pandemic has created several challenges and changes this year. Three students of the class of 2020 shared their opinions on this closing chapter of their lives. In general, all three students agree that the pandemic is a disappointing way to end high school, but they are understanding of the situation and grateful to the community for...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a special meeting Thursday, April 16, to consider their local contribution to the Wrangell School District's budget. According to the meeting's agenda packet, the city can provide the district anywhere between $583,830 and about $1.6 million. The district's current budget for FY 2021, which was adopted on March 19, has revenues set at about $5.68 million and expenditures at about $6.08 million. The school district was requesting the same contribution as the...
The Wrangell School Board met last Monday evening, April 20, via web conference. The first item on the agenda was a temporary suspension of the policy requiring that the school board hold in-person meetings. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is safer to hold all meetings via phone or web conference. With this out of the way, the board got down to the business of accepting a contract for school psychology services. The contract is with SERRC, the Southeast Regional Resource Center. This contract...
With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, many events and traditions in the Wrangell community have been cancelled. The Wrangell School District has closed its doors for the remainder of the academic year, hosting classes virtually. While this rather unique school year is drawing to a close, school staff are working to make sure the graduating class has a memorable end to their high school careers. Jack Carney, interim principal for Wrangell's secondary schools, said that plans are in the works for a...
April 1, 1920 E.A. Rasmussen, president of the Bank of Alaska returned home from a business trip to the States having gone east as far as New York where he saw a number of the stockholders of his institution. Mr. Rasmussen had a rather exciting time on the steamer voyage. While his ship was in Wrangell he took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded of visiting the Bank of Alaska’s branch at the port, and while in the bank the Princess pulled out and left him. The Spokane being in port and Northbound he went aboard, and as the Mary was c...
March 18, 1920 A depredation was committed Sunday night when some miscreant tore down the Poodle Dog Cafe’s sign and also capsized the pails containing small trees in front of the building. If the depredator is apprehended he will learn that such acts committed on either public or private property is an expensive pastime in Wrangell. March 16, 1945 In line with the recently announced policy of planning a more efficient hospital, the board has authorized alterations at Bishop Rowe General hospital to make the institution more compact and e...
With the ongoing spread of COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, many communities across the nation are doing their best to be prepared. This is also true in Alaska. There are only a few confirmed cases of the virus in Anchorage and Fairbanks as of March 17. All across the state, however, communities are taking precautionary measures to keep the virus from spreading further. In Wrangell, many events and facilities have been postponed for the sake of caution. "As a preventative measure to...
The Wrangell School board held a somewhat unique meeting Monday evening, March 16. Due to concerns about the coronavirus, though there have been no confirmed cases in Southeast Alaska as of this date, the board limited attendance to the meeting to a maximum of 10 people. Others interested in attending could sit in nearby rooms and watch the proceedings via livestream. Other than the limitation on how many people could be in the room, the meeting went on much like any other. During this meeting,...
Members of the Wrangell Borough Assembly and the Wrangell School District met Tuesday evening, March 10, to hold a work session on the district's newest budget. Both the borough and school district are going through their budget season. As the district is part of the borough, the borough regularly makes a contribution to the budget, and said budget comes before the borough for approval before being sent up to the state; both parties regularly collaborate on the project. This upcoming budget for...
Wrangell School District's policy committee met last Thursday afternoon, March 5, to review policies regarding the district's budget practices and disposal procedures. On the budget policy, many of the items reviewed in the workshop were in regards to simple formatting of the policy. The policy outlines, in short, that the superintendent is expected to prepare a budget plan for the school board in a timely manner during budget season, and that school staff and the public shall have...
The Wrangell School Board held a work session Monday night to discuss next year's budget. The district is currently undergoing its budget season, looking at the financial year for 2021. The current draft of the FY 2021 budget has the school district operating at a loss. Total revenues are estimated at a little less than $5.7 million, while expenses are around $6.5 million. The largest costs for the district include $2.7 million for "instruction,'' about $831,000 for "operations and maintenance...
The shutdown of ferry service in Southeast Alaska has impacted many aspects of day-to-day life in communities across the region. In previous reporting by the Wrangell Sentinel and Petersburg Pilot, peoples' travel plans have been disrupted, businesses have been impacted, and cultural events like Celebration 2020 could potentially see decreased turnout. Another aspect of Southeast communities that is facing disruption from the lack of ferries are school districts. The schools of Wrangell and...
The Wrangell School Board adopted some revisions to the FY 2020 budget at their Monday night meeting. The district's budget, originally, set revenues at a little less than $5.5 million, and expenditures at around $6.1 million. With the revisions however, revenues have been bumped up to around $5.7 million. The first revision to the budget adds the Wrangell borough's contribution. The revised budget takes into account a contribution of $610,329 from the City and Borough of Wrangell....
February 26, 1920 The Willson & Sylvester Mill company have built an addition to their wharf in order to have room for the construction of a box shed 150 feet long by 40 feet wide. A considerable supply of boxes will be kept in this shed at all times, thereby making it possible to bring the barge in and load quickly and get out again in the least possible time. The mill will be a busy place during the next few months, as four million feet of lumber will be required for the manufacture of the boxes now booked for delivery. The box orders are fro...
With the M/V Matanuska going out of service last week, ferry service via the Alaska Marine Highway has completely shut down. According to a press release from the Alaska Department of Transportation, new issues have been found with the ferry's reduction gear system. The Matanuska, at the time of writing, is being towed to Ketchikan for repairs. "AMHS is aware of travel needs for upcoming school and community tournaments in March and is exploring options for alternative service in the event...
School officials held a community meeting Monday to learn more about what the public feels is important for the Wrangell School District. The district is currently undergoing its budgeting process for the new school year. The first draft of the FY 2021 budget has revenues set at about $5.5 million and expenditures of slightly under $6.3 million. About 75 percent of the budget comes from the state of Alaska, according to Superintendent Debbe Lancaster. In a school board meeting on Jan. 20, it...
As high school draws to a close for senior students, many of them start putting serious thoughts towards the future. For some, pursuing postsecondary education will be their next step. However, there is the question of how to pay for it. As many people know, higher education is expensive. To help students, and parents, better understand the ins and outs of financial aid, the University of Alaska Southeast hosted a workshop at Wrangell High School last week. "I want you to walk away, even if you'...
January 22, 1920 Lester D. Henderson, Commissioner of Education for Alaska, arrived on the City of Seattle Saturday. He had expected to reach Wrangell Friday morning and spend the day visiting the local school, but bad weather caused the boat to be a day late. However, it was possible for Mr. Henderson to visit the school Monday morning before leaving on the Jefferson. On Saturday night Mr. Henderson attended a meeting of the school board. He expressed himself to the Sentinel reporter as pleased over the organization of a Parent-Teachers’ assoc...
While not originally on the agenda for the night, the Wrangell School Board discussed the potential future of their contract with Etolin Bus Company during their meeting Monday, Jan. 20. The item was brought up by School Board Member Patty Gilbert, who requested an amendment to the agenda. Etolin Bus Company is contracted by the school district to deliver Wrangell's children to school in the mornings, and take them home again in the evenings. They had a three-year contract with the district,...
January 15, 1920 At the regular monthly meeting of the town council held last Thursday evening an ordinance providing for a municipal magistrate for the town of Wrangell was proposed. After some discussion of the subject the council decided to submit the matter to the voters of Wrangell at the annual municipal election which will be held the first Tuesday in April. January 19, 1945 George Coplen, regional representative of the national housing agency, was in Wrangell earlier this week making a survey of Alaska towns to discover the need for...