Several new hires and resignations in the school district were a big topic of discussion in the Wrangell School Board's last meeting on Monday, Aug. 19.
One such hire was Tawney Crowley, who will start this year as both the new high school art teacher and middle school home economics teacher. The school board approved this hire unanimously, with minimal discussion. Crowley has spent the past year working at the Wrangell Sentinel, and also runs a side business making custom artwork that can be found in various shops around town.
"Since moving here I feel like we've really become a part of the community, I feel like the community has really welcomed us into it," she said. "So I feel really honored to be able to step into a position like this, doing what I'm passionate about, and working with kids which I'm also passionate about. So I'm nervous but I'm also very excited to see where this new part of my journey takes me and how it's going to shape me, moving forward."
The school board also considered approving a contract for Nancy Guthrie to be the district's special education consultant for the new school year. The contract, attached to the agenda, would give Guthrie oversight of the district's SPED program, where she would act as an "advisor, trainer and mentor to teachers, staff, and administration."
Board members David Wilson and Annya Ritchie saw a few formatting and spelling corrections to be made. Ritchie, however, also had some wider concerns about the content of the proposed contract. The wording of the contract made it confusing for her to tell how much Guthrie would be getting paid, she said, and she was worried about accidentally hurting the school district's budget.
According to the contract, Guthrie would be paid an hourly rate of $125 an hour, not to exceed seven hours a day. She would also get off-site work fees of $125 an hour, and any joint trainings or workshops, or participation in meetings related to due process hearings or complaints would be billed at $250 an hour. Lastly, Guthrie would be compensated $17,500 for four quarterly on-site visits to the school district per year, at five days per visit. One of Ritchie's concerns was in regards to the quarterly visits. She wanted clarification on the $17,500 being cumulative for all four visits, or if that was $17,500 per visit. Superintendent Debbe Lancaster said that the payment was cumulative. However, after discussion amongst the board, it was agreed to table the contract until the next school board meeting, to rework it for better clarification.
Besides new hires, the school board also accepted a pair of resignations. School Board President Aleisha Mollen and Vice-President Jessica Rooney both turned in their resignations recently. These were accepted by the board with minimal discussion.
According to the City and Borough of Wrangell, there are now four open positions on the school board: Two for three-year terms, one unexpired term until October 2020, and another unexpired term until October 2021. According to the city, declaration for candidacy for these positions, and others, will close on Aug. 30. Election Day will be Oct. 1.
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