School board recognizes Tammy Groshong and Darian Gerald during meeting

The Wrangell School Board met Monday evening. The board recently began a new program where “pages” from different classrooms would attend the board meetings to lead everyone in the pledge of allegiance, and a reading of the district’s mission and vision. This was the first evening of this program, and the pages were fifth-graders Reese Corn, Andrew Guggenbickler, Ben Houser, and Shailyn Nelson.

The school board took time to recognize Tammy Groshong for six years of service on the board. Groshong is not seeking reelection this year, and Monday’s board meeting was her last one. The board thanked her for her service and wished her luck on her future endeavors.

Secondary school principal David Macri also attended the meeting to give recognition to another member of the community. He presented a letter to the board, thanking Darian Gerald for her recent speech she gave on Sept. 10 during a high school assembly on Suicide Prevention Day. Gerald shared her story of her struggles with mental health and thoughts of suicide and encouraged those in the assembly to be there for each other, and to reach out if they were in need of help.

“The conversation you provided is not an easy one to have, with anyone,” the letter read. “However, through your bravery, sincerity, and humility you have created a level of understanding, support, and awareness that promotes a safe and accepting environment free of scorn and ridicule. You provided hope.”

The school board also brought up some old business during their meeting, taking another look at a proposed legal services agreement with Sedor, Wendlant, Evans, and Filippi. This item was tabled, previously, due to some concerns about the wording of certain sections of the agreement. Upon further review, however, it was adopted at this meeting.

Other items approved during the meeting include an AASB call for resolutions, acceptance of a grant award and a donation, appointment of the 2018-2019 school board standing committee members, approval of the classified salary schedule, and the adoption of Resolution 19-01, stating that the school district may seek to employ retired teachers or administrators under the Alaska Teachers Retirement System.