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Schools ready to help students in need Due to COVID-19, the level of depression and anxiety our teens are experiencing has skyrocketed. Hospitals across the country - including Juneau - are seeing huge increases in youth attempting suicide and other types of self-destructive behavior. Social services are being overwhelmed. For instance, the state Office of Children's Services supervisor for all of Southeast Alaska recently told me that the number of child-welfare referrals they are receiving...
With a growing number of COVID-19 cases in the community - 36 between Thursday and Wednesday morning - Petersburg officials have elevated the community risk level to red. The number of active cases are the most in Petersburg since the pandemic started a year ago. "The cumulative total of cases is growing larger by the day," the Petersburg emergency operation center said in a statement at 4 p.m. Tuesday. "Many of these cases are still under investigation and contract tracing is difficult." The...
For the second week in a row, poor weather last weekend forced the Wrangell High School boys and girls basketball teams to cancel their travel plans for games in Metlakatla. The contests were to have been the teams' first away games of the season. Travel should not be an issue for the Wrangell teams when they play at home this week against Haines on Friday and Saturday, assuming the Haines' squads can make it to town. Tip-off for the boys game is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday, with the girls game...
The Wrangell School District celebrated its 100th day of classes this school year on Feb. 11. Evergreen Elementary student Cameron Young (left) works on an art project to celebrate the day, and Sayler Haslip (right) shows off the "100 Days Smarter" crown she made for the special day....
Wrangell is one of four school districts in the state to remain open all year through the COVID-19 pandemic, according to school officials. On top of providing a quality education, Alaska's more than 50 school districts have been tasked with keeping their students healthy during the pandemic. Wrangell is one of the few to accomplish this without any pandemic-forced closures, said Special Education Teacher and Teacher's Association President Ryan Howe. "Just about all the other schools, they...
More than $6.5 billion in federal funding for pandemic relief has already been authorized for individuals, communities, school districts, businesses, health-safety programs, government agencies, the fishing industry and others in Alaska, with more probably headed this way. Legislators will likely want a say in how any new money coming to the state treasury will be used. The White House and Democrat-led Congress are pushing for additional federal assistance, as much as $1.9 trillion, including...
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...
The Wrangell Lady Wolves scored two victories in their season openers last Friday and Saturday. The girls basketball team hosted the Craig Lady Panthers for the first conference games of the season. While the Lady Wolves are facing a unique year, Coach Christy Good said playing basketball games, especially winning them, is a good way to provide a sense of normalcy for players and the public during these trying times. "Our chemistry really came together this weekend," Good said. "These two wins...
With one win and one loss, both narrow, the Wrangell Wolves had a hard-fought opening to their high school basketball season. Wrangell High School hosted the Petersburg Vikings last weekend to start the season. "They were definitely exciting for sure," Coach Cody Angerman said of the Friday and Saturday games. The first game, Jan. 29, went to the Vikings. They took the lead early in the first quarter, sinking a three-pointer. However, the Wolves were not deterred. They took the lead briefly, but...
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...
The Wrangell Wolves high school boys basketball team is tentatively scheduled to open the season in Metlakatla on Jan. 30, followed by their home opener against Craig on Feb. 6, according to the latest schedule provided by Activities Director Trisa Rooney. The schedule is still tentative, Rooney said in a Jan. 8 email, particularly the games against Metlakatla and later Haines. The district will announce when it has the final schedule. After two bye weeks for rest and practice, Wrangell will...
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,...
After two decades at the Wrangell court, Deputy Magistrate Leanna Nash will retire Jan. 30. Nash first accepted a position in the court back in 1999, she said. Twenty-two years later, she felt that it was finally time to step away, spend more time with family and enjoy life. "I have a grandchild I want to spend more time with," she said. "I'm going to be babysitting her part-time. I don't want to work until I'm ill or die. I want to be able to still enjoy life while I still have some life in...
January Jan. 2: Along with the lights, trees and carolers, the Salvation Army's red Christmas kettles are a common sight during the holiday season. Lt. Jon Tollerud, Wrangell's new corps officer, said the red kettles brought in $10,469. Jan. 9: The Nolan Center celebrated the new year Dec. 31 with a murder mystery party. As this new year marks a new decade, a return to the '20s, the party had a 1920s theme to it. With jazz music, themed costumes and masks, partygoers had the chance to return to...
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot when it comes to day-to-day life, especially at the Wrangell School District. Some things remain the same, however, even if they look different. Last Wednesday, Dec. 16, the district held its annual Christmas concert. The concert brought together students from Evergreen Elementary, Stikine Middle School, and Wrangell High School to perform songs and music for the holiday season. What was different this year was that the concert was not live, but instead...
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...
State Representative Dan Ortiz called into Wrangell's assembly meeting last week, Dec. 8. Recently re-elected to office, Ortiz called in to provide the assembly with a brief look at what the upcoming legislative session will bring, and some of his plans for it. Normally he tries to visit in-person for these updates, he said, but due to the pandemic he was providing his update virtually. "Normally before the start of the session I try to make it to every community that I represent, and to make it...
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...
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...