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While Alaska legislators await federal rules for how the state can spend the almost $1.2 billion in federal pandemic relief funds headed this way, communities are waiting to see their allocations from a separate pot of federal aid - and ready to push the state to share some of its money. In addition to the general relief funding going to the state, Alaska communities will receive a share of a separate $231 million municipal allocation under the American Rescue Plan signed into law last month....
With the announcement of three new cases Thursday evening, and one new case Friday morning, Wrangell now has six active cases of COVID-19. One of the new cases was someone at Evergreen Elementary School. “Based upon the information we have at this time, there will be no building closure,” the school district posted to Facebook on Thursday evening. The first COVID-19 case was reported by the city about 3:45 p.m. Thursday. The city said the individual was a local resident, and a close contact of a previous case. The individual has been in qua...
A new COVID-19 case was announced in Wrangell on Thursday. According to the city, the newest case is a Wrangell resident, showing symptoms of the virus. The person is in isolation, according to the city’s prepared statement. In a Facebook post on Friday, the Wrangell Public School District announced that the case was found in Wrangell High School. Given that the schools closed for spring break on Thursday, the district reports that there will be no building closures. Another case was announced by city officials Friday afternoon. The patient, a...
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...
Students at Stikine Middle School and Wrangell High School will attend class remotely at least through Friday after a staff member at the secondary schools tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. Remote learning started the next day, as both schools closed. The shutdown has not affected classes at Evergreen Elementary School, the school district reported Monday. "This individual ... is asymptomatic and is now in isolation," the city announced Monday afternoon. It was Wrangell's second reported...
Though moving to Alaska in 1997 was an unexpected turn in Bill Burr's life when he began his career in education, it has grown on him, he said, and he is thrilled to continue his career in the state. Burr will move to Wrangell July 1 to serve as schools superintendent. He was born in Iowa, but has worked as a teacher and administrator across Alaska. He studied at the University of Northern Iowa, where he said his minor claim to fame was living in the same dorm as future NFL Hall of Fame...
After several weeks without games due to bad weather or spikes in COVID-19 cases in other towns, the Wrangell High School boys and girls basketball teams are eager for scheduled games against Metlakatla on Friday and Saturday. It has been a truly unique season for the Wrangell Wolves and Lady Wolves. The Wolves began their season at the end of January, with two games against their rivals, the Petersburg Vikings. The Lady Wolves began their season against the Craig Lady Panthers in early...
The city announced a new COVID-19 case Monday afternoon. “This individual is a local resident, is asymptomatic, and is now in isolation. There is no other information available at this time,” the city announcement said. Of the 36 cases Wrangell has seen since the start of the pandemic, 25 have been locals, eight non-locals, two residents who were not in town at the time and one residency unknown. The city continues to advise that people “keep close interactions to a very small group of people, ideally just within your household,” and staying si...
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....
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...
More than 600 people in Wrangell have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. SEARHC's COVID-19 website reported Tuesday morning that 886 Wrangell residents had received their first vaccination shot. Of these, 612 had received both doses, almost one-quarter of the community's population. Aaron Angerman, with SEARHC, said they have started to share data online about how many vaccines have been administered in their communities....
While shop classes are common in schools across the country, not many offer students a chance to build their own boats. The marine fabrication class at Wrangell High School had decades of history, according to teacher Winston Davies, who said it teaches students important lessons for their lives and careers. "This marine fab program, I think got started back in the '80s with Dave Brown," Davies said. "He was my shop teacher, and it's been going ever since. ... It's kind of a hallmark of the...
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...
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...