Schools readying for special ed review, drafting budget

Wrangell's public school system got encouraging marks for its special education provision, during a special report Monday evening.

The Public School District board met with Bob Hadaway, a consultant who has been working with the school system's administration and special education staff since September in preparation for a districtwide monitoring this fall by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. Superintendent Patrick Mayer explained the review was routine oversight, performed every four years to ensure school districts are compliant in how they use their programming resources.

In his update, Hadaway reported Wrangell schools have 46 students who qualify for special education, about 14.5 percent of the total student body. That proportion is about average for schools in the state. In addition to these, several students are currently in the referral and evaluation process. Two teachers and 11 part-time paraprofessionals work with special needs students, supported by a secretary and five part-time contracted specialists.

In terms of classroom time, Hadaway noted favorably that Wrangell has an inclusive model for students. Students with special needs are accommodated in the classroom for part or most of the day alongside their peer group, rather than being pulled from class.

"I have noticed a real acceptance," he said. This applies not just to faculty but to other students as well. "The kids are very kind to each other."

Looking ahead, Hadaway said he would continue working with Wrangell's program to create an electronic documentation system for its Section 504 plan. The regulations are a means to provide accommodation for students that might not otherwise require special education services. Wrangell's program would also be updating its testing kits this year, to ensure individualized assessments of students are accurate.

School board members also took a first look at their draft budget for the coming year. Speaking with the local districts' legislators this month, Mayer said the expectation this year would be a hold on education funding from the state. While not expecting a cut, he explained other increases in expenditure would amount to a reduction in effect.

With that in mind the school is at the moment projecting around $6.45 million in expenditures against a few thousand dollars more in revenues, though increased student numbers still need to be factored in. Board chair Georgianna Buhler explained Monday's meeting would be the first of many ahead of adopting a budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. The district will be welcoming input from faculty, the wider public and students during that process.

The board will be bringing in a specialist later this month to help plan a new strategic planning process, one to replace the three-year model that has been guiding the school district through the end of this next semester. Buhler noted the current plan lacks easily measurable goals by which to track progress, something she would like to see addressed in a new model.

"When we go through this, it is my hope and my intent that we create goals that are realistic," she commented. "The board really wants something that is measurable."

In other board business, members accepted letters of resignation and retirement from Evergreen Elementary School principal Gail Taylor and secondary schools art teacher Anne Luetkemeyer. Both will serve out their contracts through the school year's end.

Taylor only arrived in August, coming from another district in her native Oklahoma. She and her husband have decided to move back to their hometown of Broken Bow this summer. The departure is not an unhappy one, with the couple expecting not one but two new grandchildren in the near future. In order to be closer to family, Taylor explained they will be taking a new opportunity to open up a retail and souvenir shop back home.

Luetkemeyer has been a certified teacher with the district since 2006, and considers her job with WPSD to have been the best she's ever had. However, her 65th birthday is approaching next month, and the educator said her goal had been to retire at that time so she can focus on family and artwork of her own.

"I am really going to miss teaching a lot," she admitted. But Luetkemeyer is also looking forward to future projects and travel. A certified welder, she would like to work on various multimedia art projects that teaching had left little time to pursue. She and her husband plan to remain in Wrangell.

Monday's meeting was preceded by a presentation put together by Laura Davies' fifth grade class. Her students this year have been expanding their horizons with "Mystery Skype," an online exchange between schools using the popular video streaming service.

A half dozen of her students took turns explaining what it was all about. Two classrooms from different parts of the country connect with each other, with students working together to guess where the others are from using yes or no questions, similarly to the game "20 questions."

Some places have proven easier to figure out than others, and Davies' students pore over their paper maps and atlases as the questioning goes on. But they also have access to programs like Google Earth, and keep track of their questions with organizers like Google Keep using their assigned Chromebooks. Her class explained the schools have so far come from far-flung places such as Hawaii and Iowa, or even international neighbors like Ontario, Canada.

Once guessed, the kids partake in some cultural exchange, explaining to their online counterparts what their home town is like, how people live, and other aspects of their experience. Some of what they learn can be quite surprising, such as the size of some urban schools where the student body is as populous as Wrangell itself. Other kids are likewise keen to learn about life in Alaska, like the local Tlingit culture or the autumn moose season.

In addition to brushing up on geography skills and using new technology, the class works on its communication and teamwork. So far Wrangell's class has exchanged with 17 other schools in this fashion. In her second year of doing the activity, Davies said she finds new schools to partner with online, typically through Twitter.

"That's the great thing about Twitter," she said. "If I post what we're doing someone is often reaching out."