Sorted by date Results 676 - 700 of 801
As of Tuesday, the Alaska Legislature meeting in a special session in Anchorage had still not passed a budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. On Sunday, the Senate Finance Committee rejected a compromise budget passed by the House the previous day, which included some small concessions to the minority such as reversing cuts to the ferry system and per-student funding. A conference committee between the two chambers was being organized to negotiate an amended budget as legislators posture around various funding priorities....
Twenty-two seniors graduated from Wrangell High School last Friday. This year's graduating class donned their gowns and mortarboards and walked the aisle in front of friends and loved ones in a confetti-strewn ceremony at the school gym that afternoon. "All of our seniors are headed out in different directions, but all of them have worked very hard to get to this point," said Lisa Nikodym who helped the students prepare for post-graduation. "Wrangell High School staff and myself are very proud...
Wrangell School Board held a special session and workshop Tuesday evening to discuss the future of its school lunch program. At its May 19 regular meeting, the board voted in favor of canceling the school district's contract with NANA Management Services, which this year provided food and preparatory staff. “We are exploring different options,” said board president Susan Eagle. The workshop was not a formal one, with people allowed to offer ideas freely. Additionally, feedback had been submitted to the superintendent's office and was inc...
A draft budget was passed by the Wrangell School Board at its Monday evening meeting, but contract renewal for four non-tenured faculty members has been put on hold as administrators await news of a final budget from the State Legislature. Speaking up at the meeting in favor of prompt action was Jack Carney, a non-tenured teacher at Wrangell High School until the year's end and the school's activities director. He was critical of the school district's timing in renewing contracts so late in the year. “The job fairs are over. It's now the m...
To the Editor: Wrangell has many areas in education that as a community we can be proud of and thankful to the educators who have gotten us to this point. -Teacher longevity that suggests that teachers love the community of Wrangell, their jobs, the students, and are able to follow those children through their educational experience. -Wrangell is a blue ribbon school. That is a result of teacher collaboration as they plan curriculum and develop a productive atmosphere. -Wrangell’s educators are the most devoted people that I have observed t...
As budget deadlines draw ever closer, a pair of meetings will be held at City Hall next week. The Board of Equalization meets Monday at 6:30 p.m., and the Wrangell Assembly will hold a public hearing on the Fiscal Year 2016 budget at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Comprised of members of the Assembly, the Board of Equalization meets every year in early May. Forty-eight appeals have been filed this year, after assessors found improvement values had risen by five percent. While property values remained largely unchanged, this increase still affects overall...
Extra chairs were needed at Monday's Wrangell School Board meeting as parents and staff settled in to what would be a lengthy proceeding. On the minds of many was the proposed cut of $113,000 from the school lunch budget, effectively ending the program. The cut represented the largest of several cuts to school expenditures planned for the coming year, totaling $209,167 or a 3.5 percent reduction. The cuts were in response to the loss of one-time funding from the state and reductions to per-pupil funding proposed by the House and Senate...
Before the advent of the King Salmon Derby and summer vacation season, Wrangell residents are invited to enjoy the first of two annual Tax-free Days on Saturday. “Twice a year we petition the city to have no sales tax,” explained Cyni Waddington, with the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce. The days give consumers a temporary reprieve from the borough's seven-percent sales tax, and area businesses often use the day to offer special discounts and case lot sales. The last day was held in October to coincide with Permanent Fund Dividend disbursements, w...
Wrangell High School and Stikine Middle School principal Colter Barnes announced last week that he will not be returning to the position in the fall. In a letter attached to the daily high school bulletin last Friday, Barnes announced his resignation, effective June 19. In the letter he thanked the community's students and parents for their support and hard work. “I want to thank each and every one of you for all your patience, support, feedback and for entrusting me with your children for this past year,” the letter read. Barnes was hired Aug...
A draft copy of the strategic plan being developed for Wrangell Public Schools (WPS) is taking shape. The plan is based on ideas from educators, parents, students and other community members discussed in a planning session in February. The strategic plan looks ahead for the next three academic years and focuses on the areas of academic achievement, career and technical education, technology, and safety and facilities. School administrators are still taking feedback from members of the four 6-person committees but will approach the Wrangell...
School Board members met with the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly, city staff and school district officials at a joint work session late Tuesday afternoon. Of particular importance, they discussed a draft budget for the 2016 fiscal year. Ahead of anticipated declines in Foundation Support by $162,188, Wrangell School District staff is looking at making more than $156,144 in cuts to the operating costs. This decline in revenue includes one-time and special education funding provided by the state. One-time funding was promised by the state...
Wrangell Public School District will be partnering more closely with the University of Alaska Southeast’s Tech Prep Program in coming months, setting up an office for the program’s coordinator, Kimberly Szczatko. A memorandum of understanding was approved by the Wrangell School Board earlier this month and a formal agreement is in the process of being signed, but tentatively, Szczatko expects to be relocated from the Juneau office by May. Once here, Szczatko will be better able to assist high school students to enroll in tech prep pro...
The full Wrangell School Board met Monday evening at Evergreen Elementary to discuss contracts and the upcoming budget as the academic year enters its final quarter. The board examined budgets past and future, making some minor revisions to its FY15 budget and examining changes to its first draft of FY16. Superintendent Patrick Mayer explained that the changes reflect the expected 2.5 percent reduction in one-time monies allotted by the state. "The Legislature hasn't sent any indication that...
As legislators in Juneau prepare a budget for the state's next fiscal year, Alaska residents have been urged to contribute their say as cuts are considered. Since the Legislative session began on Jan. 20, lawmakers have been weighted with the task of finding ways to address a more than $3.6 billion deficit. To that end, the State House was looking at making a nearly 10 percent, or about $240 million, cut from state spending over the previous fiscal year. Among areas affected by the cuts would be capital improvements, education, transportation,...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. March 18, 1915: C.G. Burnett, A.B. Pennycook and E.P. Clark returned Saturday afternoon on the gas boat Peggy from a 300 mile cruise through Fredrick Sound, Chatham Strait, and Sumner Strait. They report that all bays along Baranoff Island are still frozen up. The following additional items of news were gleaned from a conversation with one of the members of the party. Captain Morgan, formerly of Wrangell, arrived in Port Walter recently after a seven years absence from Alaska. Captain Morgan was mar...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. March 11, 1915: Mrs. J. Hyland and her sister Miss E. Philips and their friend Miss E. Roberts arrived Saturday night from Telegraph Creek. The party made the trip over the ice from Telegraph to the mouth of the river. Three sleighs and fifteen dogs in charge of three Indian mushers were used in making the trip. The party encountered a blizzard between the boundary and salt water, but all stood the trip well. Mrs. Hyland brought out a number of fur pelts, black fox, etc. The party left on the...
Wrangell Public Schools will be looking for direction from the public in the next step of what school superintendent Patrick Mayer hopes may develop into a strategic plan for the next academic year and beyond. A reception and charette – or focused period of planning activity – will be held at the Stikine Inn on Feb. 17 beginning at 7 p.m. The session hopes to address four questions to each of four areas: academic achievement, safety and facilities, career technical education, and technology. Questions have been put together by strategic pla...
Joel Neuschwander, 77, passed away Dec. 26, 2014, with family by his side in Hubbard, Ore. He was born on January 27, 1937 to Ruth and Arthur Neuschwander, the middle child of seven siblings; Charles, Gerald, Karen, (Joel), Sandra, Ramon and Elizabeth. At Canby High Joel excelled in wrestling and was District and State Champion for three years, he graduated in 1955. At OSU he completed his Bachelors in Education, at PSU he completed his Masters in Science/Psychology. In college he carried the...
A team of architects and civic planners appeared before Wrangell officials and residents last week to start drafting a master plan for the city's future waterfront development. The eventual goal is to develop the fill area along Campbell Drive into a mixed-use property for businesses, locals and visitors to enjoy. Chris Mertl of Corvus Design, James Bibb of North Wind Architects, Dick Somerville of PND Engineers and Meilani Scheijvens of Rain Coast Data make up the team assembled to develop the...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. January 21, 1915: Wrangell is taking a step forward along the sporting line when she plays Metlakatla a game of basketball next Saturday night at the Rink. According to a wire received yesterday the Metlakatla boys are leaving today and should arrive here late tonight or early tomorrow morning. The game will be the most exciting one that it has been the good fortune of Wrangellites to witness and there is no doubt that everyone will be in attendance. The Metlakatla boys are a very strong team,...
Kicking things off with a new borough manager in Jeff Jabusch, 2014 for Wrangell was not only a period of changes, but also one of building and continued development. Pavement was poured at the Marine Service Center, a number of roads were resurfaced or due to eventually see improvement, and the city was able to showcase itself to other regional communities by hosting several prolific functions. January Wrangell Cooperative Association collected 210 registrations for Tlingit-Haida members at...
A full School Board sat down to its monthly agenda Monday night, reviewing and revising a number of policies. Of particular concern to local resident Jacquie DeMontigny was policy number 6145, dealing with extracurricular and cocurricular activities. In particular, the board was looking to correct a contradiction in the language, which specified restricting students with both a D or F or just F grade from traveling for extracurricular activities. In the new form, the schools would follow a...
There was plenty to do for Halloween in Wrangell last Friday, as the borough's businesses opened their doors to a colorful assortment of trick-or-treaters in the afternoon. Organized by the Chamber of Commerce, many establishments provided candy and other free amusements in the town's business district. Earlier that morning, children at Evergreen Elementary and their parents were able to enjoy the school's annual "Harvest of the Land and Sea" festival in the gymnasium. The fifth graders helped...
Candidates for Alaska House District 36 met in Wrangell Thursday evening for an on-air forum hosted by radio station KSTK. Republican candidate Chere Klein and Independent Dan Ortiz – both from Ketchikan – are running in the Nov. 4 election to represent the district's communities in the State Legislature. KSTK's director Cindy Sweat acted as the evening's moderator. Candidates were given five minutes apiece for opening statements, alternating who got to answer questions posed by the public fir...
Local businesses and educators will have the first of three opportunities to brush up on their ‘e’s’, as Wrangell School District and the Chamber of Commerce host a pair of technological experts to come to improve people’s e-commerce and e-marketing skills. The specialists are part of a $23,000 grant through the Association of Alaska School Boards, the organizing body for schools across the state. Called the Consortium for Digital Learning Initiative, the program strives to enable modern entrepreneurial methods in school districts around...
