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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 Alaska House Finance Committee received public testimony from people across the state on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22. The state is currently in its budget season again, and the finance committee held the meeting to hear what the public felt was important. Several members from Wrangell called in from the local Legislative Information Office to give their perspective on the community's needs moving forward. Among the items Wrangellites voiced support for were the need for ferry...
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....
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met last Tuesday evening, Feb. 11, for a work session on the borough's future goals. The discussion was meant to ensure that all city employees understood what Wrangell's priorities are, and what they are all working towards. According to the meeting's agenda packet, the borough had a wide variety of goals to consider. Some of the goals laid out in the agenda packet included development of the old Institute and Byford junkyard properties, and cleaning up abandoned...
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...
Wrangell's census committee, made up of representatives of several organizations across the community, met last Thursday, Jan. 23, to continue their discussion of how to encourage higher responses to the upcoming 2020 census. During the meeting, Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore provided sample copies of the questionnaire people will have the opportunity to answer for the census. There are nine questions, asking for a person's name, age, sex, race, phone number, whether they own or re...
Petersburg and Wrangell both saw an overall increase in population from 2010 through 2019, but while Petersburg's population rose between 2018 and 2019, Wrangell's population saw a drop in the same timeframe, according to data from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. There were 3,203 residents living in Petersburg in 2010 and in 2019, there were 3,226, according to the ADLWD. Those figures equal to a .08 percent growth for the decade and 1.12 percent growth in the last...
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...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met last week, Jan. 14, to discuss the potential establishment of critical habitat areas for humpback whales in Southeast Alaska. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is proposing these habitat areas be set up all along the Pacific coastline, from Alaska to southern California. NOAA officials held a meeting in Petersburg on Jan. 6 to discuss this proposal. According to a report by the Sentinel's sister-paper, the Petersburg Pilot, these habitat areas...
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,...
The borough assembly and other city officials met Saturday morning, Jan. 11, to workshop future priorities for the city and to look at the upcoming budget process. A long list of state and federal legislative priorities was laid out for attendees to review and talk about. For state priorities for Wrangell, the first and foremost was the reinstatement of several state positions to the city. Over the past decade, according to the priority list, Wrangell has seen several state jobs taken away that...
Below is the second half of The Wrangell Sentinel's review of 2019, covering the months of July to December: July July 4 - Wrangell Police Chief Doug McCloskey was recognized for his service to the community at last week's borough assembly meeting. With his retirement at the end of June, McCloskey has closed out 38 years of police work. July 11 - The Fourth of July was a hot and sunny day in Wrangell, but that did not stop many people from getting out and having a good time. Like all previous...
Following is the Wrangell Sentinel's news review for January through June of 2019. Next week the review will include events from July through December. January Jan. 13 - The Fairbanks Arts Association opened their 24th annual statewide poetry contest for submissions this December. Each year, the association picks a new judge for the contest. This year will be judged by Wrangell resident Vivian Faith Prescott. Prescott is the author of numerous works, including The Hide of My Tongue and The Dead...
The Wrangell School Board met last Monday evening, Dec. 16, for several important topics. Two of the topics covered in the meeting were a look at the district's 2021 budget assumptions, and a formative evaluation of Superintendent Debbe Lancaster. The FY 2021 budget will be based on 316 students, according to information attached to the meeting's agenda. For the next budget the district is expecting flat funding from the state, as well as the same local contribution from the city as FY 2020....
Mayor Steve Prysunka travelled to Washington D.C. last week to speak before the Senate Committee on Energy and National Resources. He was invited to speak on behalf of the National Association of Counties, an organization that works to advocate county priorities in federal policymaking. Prysunka spoke last Thursday, Nov. 21, on the importance of the Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Program and Secure Rural Schools (SRS) funds. "We're somewhat unique because we're actually the third largest city...
Wrangell Public School's policy committee met last Thursday afternoon to review several proposed policies for the school district. One such policy refers to volunteers helping out around the school. According to Kim Powell, with the school district, the policy would require anyone wishing to volunteer with the school undergo a background check, if that volunteer will be interacting with students. The policy goes on to state that anyone acting as a volunteer in a classroom, media center,...
Georgianna Buhler has resigned as the business manager for the Wrangell Public School District this past week. Buhler has worked with the school district for many years. She served on the school board from 2001 to 2010, and again from 2016 to 2018. She resigned from her seat on the school board in August of 2018 to pursue the position of business manager. "I tendered my 90 day resignation effective 2/28/2020," she wrote in an email to the Sentinel. "The Superintendent chose to enact it...
The Wrangell School Board, still getting settled with new members from the election on Oct. 2, held a work session on the evening of Oct. 28 to begin a review of the district's strategic plan. The strategic plan was adopted in June of 2018, and sets a series of goals for the school district to aim for through to the year 2023. There are five main goals outlined in the plan, each with their own set of strategies and actions to be taken to accomplish them. The goals are: Student Learning,...
The Wrangell School Board met last Tuesday, Oct. 8, to reorganize after the borough's Oct. 1 election. The election saw three new people take positions on the board, Patty Gilbert, Jeanie Arnold, and Beth Heller, and also saw the re-election of Board Member David Wilson. After holding an early orientation session for the new members, the regular meeting was called to order. Board Member Aaron Angerman was elected to the position of school board president. Later in the meeting, he was also made...
PACE, the statewide homeschool program, held a meet and greet at the Stikine Inn last Wednesday, Sept. 25. Jen Whicker, a contact teacher for PACE, said that the program has been around since 2001 and is one of 15 homeschool providers in the state. Currently, she said they serve about 310 students across Alaska. About 22 of those kids live in Wrangell. There are several reasons a family might consider homeschooling, she said. "Sometimes the schools have overcrowding, or kids feel bullied, or...
While the role of superintendent is always busy, it has been especially so for Debbe Lancaster this past week. Lancaster, superintendent of the Wrangell Public School District, recently attended the Alaska Superintendents Association conference in Fairbanks, from Sept. 25 to 28. The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development also recently released a new website, "The Compass," that lets people more easily compare schools across the state. The ASA Conference was an opportunity for...
The City and Borough Assembly: Three Year Tearm Julie Decker is seeking re-election to the Wrangell Borough Assembly for a three-year term. There are several reasons she wants to sit for another term on the assembly. The current borough assembly has been making some good decisions on behalf of the city, she said, and she would like to see that continue. As a member of the assembly, she said that she has tried to stay informed and lead in a way that benefits the city as a whole. She added that...
The Wrangell School Board met early Monday evening, Sept. 23, to hold a work session on the results of the recent PEAKS tests. The Performance Evaluation for Alaska's Schools is an annual test that, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, is designed to measure a student's understanding of the English language and mathematics. Students are given the PEAKS test from the third to ninth grade. The tests were administered this spring, and according to Superintendent...
