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Zoey Grace Clark has the honor of being the first baby born this year to a Wrangell couple. She was born Jan. 7 at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, weighing in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces and measuring 21.5 inches for the happy parents, Jason and Michelle Clark. The dad works as a station agent at Alaska Airlines. Mom is a kindergarten teacher and has been with the school district about 10 years. The family returned to Wrangell on Jan. 12, Jason Clark said. "We just beat the weather,"...
Juneau school administrators are facing a severe budget shortfall partly related to flat state funding and declining enrollment. But much of the crisis comes from accounting errors that “drastically” undercounted staffing costs. The city’s school board learned Jan. 9 that the district is projected to be $7.6 million in deficit for the current fiscal year and carrying over a $1.9 million shortfall from the prior fiscal year. The combined $9.5 million deficit equates to roughly 10% of the district’s total budget, and it’s expected to keep ball...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for the following positions: - Facilities and Maintenance Director. The primary function of the Facilities and Maintenance Director is to plan, organize, direct, and participate in the maintenance and operations of school district facilities and grounds. This position is also responsible for short- and long-range facilities planning to include major maintenance needs, capital construction, budgeting, and forecasting. The Maintenance Director approves all purchases at the division...
It’s been eight years since the state last increased its per-student funding formula for public schools — a 0.5% nudge that year — and years of stagnant funding have caught up with districts statewide, including Wrangell. “We have to count on funding this year,” Schools Superintendent Bill Burr said. An increase in the state formula “is essential to us.” The state’s K-12 foundation funding covers almost 60% of the Wrangell district’s $5.3 million operating budget for the 2023-2024 school year, with borough funds filling about 30% and mostly fe...
Wrangell is No. 16 on the statewide priority list and unlikely to receive any school repair money this year from the state’s Major Maintenance Grant Fund. The list, prepared each year by the Alaska Department of Education after reviewing engineering and condition reports on school buildings, determines which districts receive state funding for their priority repair and rebuilding projects. The Wrangell School District had requested $6.5 million in state money that it would use with $3.5 million approved by voters in 2022 to make $10 million o...
The school district is advancing funds to cover student travel to state competition this school year, with the account at an estimated $52,000 deficit. The district is looking to the community and the newly created Wrangell Athletic Club to repay the costs before the budget year closes out on June 30. “That is our hope,” Schools Superintendent Bill Burr said in late December. Student travel to state competition cost about $46,000 in the 2022-2023 school year, which the school board voted in November to cover on a one-time basis out of reserves...
The school board has offered a three-year contract extension to Schools Superintendent Bill Burr, effective July 1, 2024, pending further negotiations. “We just wanted him to know that we want him to stay,” said David Wilson, school board president, confirming that he and the rest of the board are very satisfied with Burr’s performance on the job. “He’s doing an amazing job, that’s why we offered it to him,” said school board member Liz Roundtree. The board voted at its Dec. 18 meeting to extend Burr’s contract. Burr said in an email on Dec. 2...
The primary election for the Alaska House of Representatives is more than nine months away and already five-term incumbent Rep. Dan Ortiz has at least two challengers for the District 1 seat that represents Ketchikan, Wrangell and Metlakatla. Robb Arnold, a chief purser aboard the state ferries who ran unsuccessfully for the Ketchikan city council and Ketchikan school board last year, has filed for the state House. Arnold is running as a Republican, as is fellow Republican Jeremy Bynum, who serves on the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly....
The school district has pulled money from reserves and other accounts to cover a $46,000 accumulated deficit in the account that pays for students to travel to state competition. Covering this school year’s state travel expenses and future years is still unresolved. As students already have traveled to several state competitions this school year, including volleyball, cross country and wrestling, the account for 2023-2024 is back in a deficit until a consistent funding stream is determined. The school board voted Nov. 20 to take money from r...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy said education is among his top priorities in the coming fiscal year but did not include an increase to the state’s per-student funding formula, known as the base student allocation, in his proposed budget. The budget includes about $1.11 billion to fund the formula that distributes money to school districts statewide, down almost 3% from this year due to declining enrollment. Dunleavy has proposed spending almost twice as much on next year’s Permanent Fund dividend. Lawmakers this past spring approved a one-time appropriatio...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for the following positions for the 2023-2024 school year: - Paraprofessional: This is a part-time position working with students in Grades 6 through 12, at 5.75 hours per day in the Special Education Program at Stikine Middle School and Wrangell High School. A high school diploma or equivalent is required. An associate degree, equivalent credits or the ability to pass the para pro assessment is also required. - Middle School Volleyball Head Coach: This is a part-time contracted posi...
Dec. 13, 1923 Red Campbell of the Mountain City Athletic Club has arranged with Mickey Prescot to train the latter, and believes that he will prove the best boxer in Alaska for his class. “The kid is game; he has brains and an almost perfect physical development. He is quick as a cat and at the same time well muscled. Once he is trained to put his whole weight behind his blows, it will require a first-class man to stand up against him. Take it from me, that kid is a wonder. All he needs is proper training and coaching.” Red said today. Dec...
Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor sent letters to libraries and school districts throughout the state in mid-November, warning that minors should not have access “indecent materials” at libraries and that parents must be given two weeks notice about any instruction related to “human reproduction and sexual matters.” The topic of gender identity, Taylor said, falls under this category. The letters align with a parental rights bill proposed this year by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, which would require parental approval for classes, textbooks, lessons an...
The Wrangell Wolves wrestling team took third overall at the Southeast Division II regional championship, with eight individuals coming home with first-place finishes in their weight classes. Wrangell Junior Della Churchill was voted Outstanding Female Wrestler of the tournament. Mt. Edgecumbe, with 202 points, won the Division II title in the Friday and Saturday, Dec. 8-9, competition at Juneau's Thunder Mountain High School. Haines came in second at 138, with Wrangell tallying 134.5 points,...
Jeanie Arnold, who started work as the new director at the Nolan Center on Nov. 27, said she wants to "provide an overall sense of joy to the community of Wrangell through artistic exposure and historical storytelling." She replaces Cyni Crary, who is moving out of state. Crary had been in the job since July 2018. Arnold said some of her goals include broadening the scope of the center with new exhibits and events targeted at a wide variety of interests. She also hopes to collaborate with the...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for the following positions: - Paraprofessional: This is a part-time, 9-month classified position, working 5.75 hours per day. Salary placement is in Column A of the Classified Salary Schedule. Job duties include but are not limited to working with students individually and in small group settings in Special Education. A High School Diploma or equivalent and an associate degree or the ability to pass the ParaPro Assessment is required. Start date: ASAP. - Middle School Volleyball...
The strong storm system that hit Wrangell on Nov. 20 struck across Southeast Alaska, dumping snow in the north, rain in the south and heavy winds throughout. A landslide closed parts of North Tongass Highway in Ketchikan on Nov. 20 and Alaska Power & Telephone reported that several slides and snapped poles took out power on Prince of Wales Island, including at Hydaburg, Thorne Bay, the Klawock-Hollis Highway and between Craig and Klawock. A road was also washed out in Coffman Cove. The Klawock School District opened up its gym for people stuck...
Tables and seats were organized for students and guests along the walls of the elementary school gym, with "Happy Friendsgiving 2023" coloring pages scattered on the tables, ready for crayons. The main serving area was in the center, with long tables placed end to end full of ham, meatballs, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, rolls, casseroles and other foods. As the time drew near for the second festive lunch of the day to begin, Angela Allen, who serves on the boards of the...
The Wrangell School District has a packed schedule of events as it heads into the holiday season. On Friday, Nov. 17, Evergreen Elementary School will hold its annual “Friendsgiving” lunch, where students can invite an adult friend to share a meal with. Food is prepared and served by members of the Parent Teacher Community Club. Schools will be closed on Nov. 23 and 24 so that teachers and students can enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. On Nov. 29, the elementary school will be transformed into an art gallery for the biannual “Art Walk,” where f...
Not only is Wrangell High School sending two vocalists to the state music festival in Anchorage for the first time in years, but they are brother and sister. It will be a repeat performance later this month for junior Ander Edens, who went to state last year. The vocalist will perform in a mixed choir as a Bass 2. His sister, sophomore Clara Edens, will perform at state for the first time, singing the Alto 2 part. "This is the first year that we're taking two kids to state," music teacher Tasha...
The borough collected a record amount of sales tax revenues in the fiscal year that ended June 30, passing the $4 million mark. A growing share of the borough’s tax collections is coming from online sales, just over $401,000, according to Finance Director Mason Villarma. That 10% share of total sales tax receipts in the past fiscal year is substantially higher than the roughly 6% share two years ago. “It’s bittersweet,” Mayor Patty Gilbert said of the increase in online shopping. The increased tax revenue is not entirely the result of residen...
Ten Alaska Native youth from the Wrangell School District learned about their heritage and made connections with the statewide Native community at the Elders & Youth Conference in Anchorage last month. The event, which featured cultural and educational workshops, speeches, healing circles, a talent show and more, is a chance for Native youth to learn about democratic processes and leadership skills. This year, its theme was Woosht Guganéixh, which translates from Tlingit to “let it be that we heal each other.” Tlingit teacher Virginia Oliv...
After considering 11 projects submitted by community members and borough staff for Wrangell’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application, the assembly selected the Stikine Middle School roof replacement as its top priority at the Oct. 24 meeting. Most of the middle school roof hasn’t been replaced since 1995, and the roof’s substrate has begun to warp after 28 years of water absorption. The estimated cost is $1.475 million. The CDBG is a federal program that provides financial assistance for low- to moderate-income communities seeki...
Jackie Hanson, high school and middle school principal, is attempting to make improvements in student attendance before it becomes an issue this school year. According to the most recent Alaska Department of Education’s Report Card to the Public, school attendance in the Wrangell School District has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, remaining at 86.72% for the 2021-2022 school year, almost 9% below its attendance rate of 95.54% during the 2019-2020 school year. “Given the transitions associated in how educational services were del...
Normally, I would use this space to share my opinions with readers. That’s what newspaper columnists do: They give their opinions, the facts behind those views, and hope to educate, enlighten or at least entertain readers. But this week is different. I want to hear readers’ opinions. Actually, I need to hear from the Sentinel’s non-readers, which makes this column particularly difficult. I am writing this for people who won’t see it. Their choice, of course, but I want to understand why many people don’t read newspapers, the Sentinel in particu...
