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Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell was in Wrangell Monday to discuss his proposed election-year education reforms with teachers and meet with select borough officials. Parnell also answered questions about a wide range of topics. Parnell sought to use the speech to turn the 2014 legislative session into the "Education Session," and proposed a slate of educational reforms during his Jan. 22 State of the State Address before the Alaska Legislature. He also used the speech to declare his support for a...
School board members and officials reviewed a second draft of the 2015 budget at Monday night's regular school board meeting. The second draft cuts projected shortfalls by $192,168, or almost 88 percent. A first-draft version of the budget circulated among city officials, board members, and the public had projected a $219,461 gap between revenue and spending. The second draft circulated Monday night shows a gap of only $27,293. Officials expect additional drafts as the school system revises figu...
A Wrangell Public Schools budget presented at the Jan. 20 school board meeting and distributed to the borough assembly shows a $219,461 shortfall. Business manager Pam Roope characterized the drafts as very preliminary, and meetings to refine the numbers are ongoing. The figures have been presented before the school board, but only as a discussion item, and not an action item requiring a vote. Since the budgeting process is only now just beginning for the 2015 fiscal year, potential cuts to programs or other things would likely take place in...
The school board presented the annual Report Card to the Public at a public hearing before the Jan. 20 school board. The document compiles testing results for the entire school system, as well as individual testing results for the component schools, down to the level of individual grades. Preliminary results showing a five-star rating for Stikine Middle School – the only traditionally structured middle school in the state to achieve the Department of Education’s highest five-star ranking – were released over the summer. The Report Card to th...
The school board voted Monday 3-2 to approve a contract for an interim principal for the rest of the 2013-14 school year. Board members Krissy Smith and Cyni Waddington voted against the proposal. Deidre Jenson, formerly of Thorne Bay, started at Evergreen Elementary School Tuesday morning as the first in a series of administrative changes proposed in the wake of the resignation of Superintendent and Elementary School Principal Rich Rhodes, approved in early December and set to take effect June 30. Jenson, who was on hand Monday to introduce...
The ideal new Wrangell School System superintendent could come from anywhere in the United States. He or she should be familiar with high technology schools. The new superintendent should be able to operate a Title I program, familiar with community involvement, high test scores. This person should be able to deal with a situation with high turnover, controversy, staff development, training, small schools, fishing communities, while also being a good communicator school board members told Norm Wooten, Director of School Improvement and...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. January 22, 1914: There was an accident at the public school last night. The steam heat is on the hummer today and the school is out of business. Apparently there was a fire started in the furnace and after the boiler was hot, the cold water turned on and the whole front section burst. This is a very unfortunate occurrence to happen at this time of the year when the heat is an absolute necessity. Oscar Carlson and Ole Johnson are building two moveable stations 5x5x6 feet to hold the extinguishers...
The School board voted 5-0 Monday to hire an interim principal for Evergreen Elementary School for the rest of the year. The board also voted 5-0 to separate the positions of elementary school principal and superintendent, held by Rich Rhodes since the beginning of this school year, and to retain the services of the Association of Alaska School Boards to aid the search for a replacement superintendent. The board voted down 4-1, with Krissy Smith the lone dissenter, a motion that would have hired a lead teacher at Evergreen to provide...
The Chief Shakes House rededication was easily the biggest event of 2013 in Wrangell. However, the year was filled with events and news stories big and small. On the first edition of 2014, the Sentinel pauses to recollect the stories throughout the year. January An electrical fire damaged the fish tank at the Nolan Center, causing it to be removed. A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off of Craig Jan. 4, rattling windows and nerves in town. The quake caused no major damage in town, but...
Gov. Sean Parnell’s proposed 2015 budget does not include any capital money for Wrangell projects. The budget, released last Thursday, allots $2,360,655 for capital projects in the other constituent municipalities of what will become state House District 36 after a court-approved redistricting takes effect before mid-term elections this year, according to figures released on the Alaska Office of Management and Budget website. The Alaska legislature could revise the budget before it is enacted, though State Sen. Bert Stedman (R-Sitka) said t...
To the Editor: I am writing in regards to the story that appeared on the cover of the November 21, 2013 edition of the Wrangell Sentinel. I must admit to having several emotions while reading the article regarding the school district’s disregard for child safety as it relates to food allergies. Those emotions ranged from sadness, to disgust and anger. It seems that one sided rumors and accusations not supported by any facts are becoming normal for our newspaper. I, of all people, know how difficult it can be to write for the Wrangell S...
When he was nine months old, Spencer Petticrew’s parents tried to give him a single pea. The pea didn’t quite make it into his mouth, but only brushed his lips, his mother, Sherri Pettcrew, said. However, Spencer turned bright red within 30 seconds, and started having difficulty breathing. The Petticrews rushed their son to an emergency room, where doctors determined that Spencer had a severe food allergy. “His entire face turned red, he got hives all over his body and he couldn’t breathe and we had to go to the emergency room,” she said. “It...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. November 20, 1913: C.F. Clark, whose nomination for U.S. Marshal for the First Judicial Division of Alaska has just been made by President Wilson, has resided in Juneau for 6 years. He was in the drug business and late in taxidermy. Prior to coming Mr. Clark was located in Tacoma. Mr. Clark is a native of Missouri and his home is in Champ Clark's district. Mr. Clark went into the race for the marshalship without the endorsement of the Alaska Democratic national committee or any local Democrat of...
To the Editor: I propose that the extra $200,000.00 that the borough of Wrangell gives annually to the local school district is suspended, if the school performs in an unbusiness, unprofessional manner. Namely if the school district creates corporate malfeasance, by partaking in corporate welfare. Specifically if the school hires any business to perform their duties of feeding our children. There is no way that any corporation can prepare quality hot meals two times a day one hundred and eighty days a year, without a profit. The true nature of...
By Brian O’Connor Sentinel writer The borough assembly cut an additional candidate from the list of applicants for the borough manager job during a closed executive session Sept. 10. Four candidates now remain in the hunt for the position. They are: retired borough clerk and former legislative aide Christie Jamieson, current interim borough manager and finance manager Jeff Jabusch, current Alaska Commission on Aging planner Jon Erickson, and Kyle H. McCain of Shavano Park, Texas, where he was most recently city manager for just under two y...
School lunches were the main topic of conversation at the Oct. 9 school board meeting. Documents provided by the school meals program show the school provided 2,623 meals in September, down 1,182 meals from the same month last year. The figure represents a decrease of 31 percent. District figures show students ate 443 fewer breakfasts this year than last year, and 739 fewer lunches. The decline in meals is also attributable in part to declining enrollment. Fewer students mean fewer lunches and breakfasts. As evidence, they pointed out that the...
Name: Cynthia Waddington Age: 39 Occupation: Wrangell Chamber of Commerce Office Manager What background or experience do you have that qualifies you to be on the Wrangell School Board? I believe that education is the key to success. I am a college graduate and fully support the goal of ensuring that our students excel to their potential. I am currently the Executive Director of the Chamber Board of Directors, and understand the importance of conducting productive meetings. My business...
The Wrangell school board voted 3-0 Monday to begin the search for a possible food vendor. The motion approved by the board empowers school administrator Rich Rhodes to begin advertising requests for proposals in local publications. The district currently purchases and prepares all food served to students through a combination of grants and the school system’s general fund, Rhodes said. Allowing an outside vendor to provide the food could potentially lead to savings for the district, Rhodes added. “I feel good that a food services man...
October 2, 1913: The assessment work for the year on the Silver King property on Aaron Creek on the mainland was finished last Thursday and the crew of men that have been working there for the summer returned to town. The property belongs to Silver King Company composed of J.E. Burg, Ludwig Burg, Sr., Ludwig Burg, Jr., Alfred Burg and Chris Wido, who have four claims that are holding forth promises of being some of the best mining claims in this district. They have a tunnel run 165 feet with a shaft of 14 feet cross cutting the vein and during...
Secretaries and Administrators returned to work August 5. Teachers will return for in-service training on August 19 -20. August 21 will be a teacher work day and students will return to school on Thursday, August 22nd. The State has tasked the school district with adopting and implementing the New Alaska State Standards. It’s a pretty rigorous adoption. An example is kindergarten students were required to count to 20. Starting this year, by the end of the year, kindergarten students will be required to count to 200. Not only that, but they w...
James Eric Sundberg, 56, died at home May 18, 2013 in Manson, Washington, after a yearlong battle with mesothelioma, a rare, incurable cancer caused by asbestos exposure. He was born January 18, 1957 in Juneau, Alaska. His parents were Odd B. and Mary J. Sundberg. He graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School in 1975. Summers during his high school years he worked at his Uncle Harry’s fish cannery in Wrangell, Alaska. In 1977, Jim was accepted into the Alaska Carpenter’s Union 2247 App...
The deadline for registration in the popular Summer Reading Program is set for June 30 at the Irene Ingle Public Library. This program is held annually beginning June 1 and runs through the end of July. All students in Kindergarten through Grade 9 are eligible to attend. The basis of the program, which began in 1998 is simple – after reading a book, students take a retention test on a computer, which is graded and provided to the school district at the end of the program. Each book is worth a certain amount of points and students receive v...
The Borough Assembly approved the collection of property taxes for the next fiscal year at their May 28 meeting, continuing the mill rate currently paid by residents of the City and Borough of Wrangell for another year. The Assembly voted 7-0 to approve the rate. The ordinance will, except for property that is exempt by law from taxation, set the mill rate at 12.75 mills for the tax year 2013, 4 mills for the Wrangell Service Area, 4 mills for property outside the Service Area, and 4 mills for the tax differential zone. Taxes due and payable...
The Wrangell Public School Board of Education is moving forward on a pair of long-term issues – with one involving Evergreen Elementary and Wrangell High School facility upgrades – and another involving the nutritional needs of the district’s students. The board voted Monday, May 13 to initiate a request for proposals to paint the elementary school façade and a portion of the front of the high school. “Painting the elementary school has been on the list of to do items for awhile now and will...
With the advent of digital technology, a number of Wrangell’s public and governmental agencies are going “paperless” in an effort to streamline operations, save costs and improve efficiency. One of the main users of digital records technology in town is the Wrangell Medical Center – though the Wrangell Public Schools District can now be counted among such users of this next-generation standard for meetings. According to superintendent Rich Rhodes, a paperless, web-based system known as BoardDo...
