How ferry shutdown impacts school districts

The shutdown of ferry service in Southeast Alaska has impacted many aspects of day-to-day life in communities across the region. In previous reporting by the Wrangell Sentinel and Petersburg Pilot, peoples' travel plans have been disrupted, businesses have been impacted, and cultural events like Celebration 2020 could potentially see decreased turnout.

Another aspect of Southeast communities that is facing disruption from the lack of ferries are school districts. The schools of Wrangell and Petersburg are trying to find ways to deal with the sudden loss of one of their means of transportation.

According to a press release from the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, the M/V Matanuska isn't expected to go back online until sometime after April 14 despite an earlier DOT press release that stated the M/V Matanuska would be out of service through March 1 to address an issue with the reduction gear system.

The M/V Columbia is expected to pick up sailings that were originally scheduled for the M/V Matanuska on or after April 14.

Superintendent Debbe Lancaster, of the Wrangell School District, went into some detail about the impacts they were facing. The four main areas that have been affected include increased travel expenses, changes to sport schedules, an additional burden of fundraising for school organizations and community members, and just the fact that this is an unwelcome distraction for the district, which is in the middle of a school year and its budget season.

"We will continue to work with ASAA and stakeholders to figure out how to continue to have reasonably priced student activities that include travel," Lancaster said in an email.

"Our community relies on consistent ferry service for travel between Alaskan communities," reads one of the school district's 2020 legislative priorities, which were discussed in a Feb. 24 school board meeting. "The reduction of ferry service has negatively impacted the school district budget by forcing our student athletes to travel via jet service for competitions. We are also seeing an increase in shipping costs for necessary supplies and equipment that are shipped to our island. Wrangell Public Schools strongly urges to find a reliable solution for adequately funding our highway system."

The Wrangell School District is currently undergoing its budget season. A draft of the FY 2021 budget currently has revenues set at a little less than $5.7 million, and expenditures around $6.5 million. Travel costs are divided under several categories, depending on who is traveling and for what purpose. Under the "student activities" category, student travel is set at $125,000. This is a step down from the FY 2020 budget of $140,675. FY 2021 is still in its early draft stages, however, and the numbers are subject to change.

During a school board meeting on Feb. 24, there were also some revisions to the current budget, FY 2020. The original fund for student travel was set at $151,675. This was decreased to $146,675. The total fund for staff travel was increased from $50,500 to $70,500. Total expenditures budgeted for FY 2020 remain the same despite these changes, at $6.1 million.

In a Feb. 13 article in the Sentinel and Pilot, Wrangell Secondary School Principal David Macri said that the loss of ferry service was having a "domino effect" in the school system. Aside from increased costs the schools now face for travel, Macri pointed out the additional time this was costing school staff. Travel plans and events schedules have had to be redone, he said, taking up a lot of time. Coaches, teachers, and school staff then have to make sure students and their parents are properly informed of the changed plans, costing them more time.

One of the most obvious ways schools have been impacted is in the area of sports. School districts across Southeast have relied on the ferry system to travel for sporting events in the past. Now that such an option is gone, sports teams are facing higher costs and disrupted plans.

"The school has been contacted and informed that we do not have access to a ferry to travel to regions," reads a Feb. 20 Facebook post by the Wrangell School District. "Our teams, pep band and cheer will be flying up. As soon as we get our travel details solidified we will communicate with parents then."

The Ketchikan Daily News reported that AMHS asked Alaska Airlines last week if the airline would be able to accommodate schools to the Regional V basketball tournament in Juneau on March 12 and 13. The Ketchikan Daily News also reported that Alaska Airlines replied they would be able to get all the participants to Juneau a few days before Regionals are set to start.

Jaime Cabral, activities director for the Petersburg School District, said what school districts are facing in Southeast Alaska with the absence of a ferry is unprecedented. School districts have been working together to help make more cost effective. For example, Haines High School played Wrangell High School on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then they'll play Petersburg High School on Thursday and Friday. Typically, schools only play two games a week, but in order to save money on travel costs, Haines is playing four of their conference games in the span of four days.

At their winter conference, Southeast Alaska activities directors discussed different options in order to continue traveling for sports games in the future, said Cabral. Instead of having games strictly on Friday and Saturday, games could revolve around the ferry schedule. That might mean that games are played in the middle of the school week, or every other week.

"The days of playing just solely on Friday and Saturday are kind of out the window," said Cabral.

In the short term, the Petersburg School District has been limiting the number of students that are able to travel to away games. With the M/V Matanuska offline through April, Petersburg students have had to travel to games in Wrangell and on Prince of Wales Island using Breakaway Adventures. The Vikings have had to fly to all other 2A schools in their conference.

Regionals, for the high school basketball teams, are scheduled to take place on March 13 and 14 in Juneau. A press release from the Alaska Department of Transportation stated that the Alaska Marine Highway System is looking into alternative service options to get people up to Juneau for regionals. The press release also mentions that Alaska Airlines is working with school districts to help accommodate their transportation needs.

Wrangell Wolves Coach Cody Angerman, and Lady Wolves Coach Laurie Brown, confirmed that the team will be flying to Juneau for Regionals via Alaska Airlines. Lancaster added that the airline has offered the district a low fare for the flight to Juneau, at about the same cost as the ferry would have been. This is a one-time offer, she said, but is very generous and one she is thankful for.

"Wrangell is resilient and always pulls together to be a strong solution oriented community," she wrote. "56 students including both teams, the band, and the cheer squad are able to travel to Juneau for the regional tournament at the ferry rate. This is an extremely timely and generous contribution to offset our financial burden.

Angerman also pointed out another aspect of their schedule the ferries have impacted, in the teams coming to play against them in home games. Wrangell faced off against Haines in two games on Tuesday, Feb. 25 and 26. This was atypical, as games are usually scheduled for Fridays and Saturdays. However, Angerman said that with the lack of ferries the Haines team is trying to fit as many games into a single trip around the region they could, meaning they played Wrangell on weekdays and moved on to their next set of games on the weekend.

"I think it's really impacted everybody, including us," Angerman said.

Richard Brock, head coach for the Petersburg High School boys basketball team, said players look forward to playing opposing teams and the time it takes to travel to each school, but with the ferry system offline in Southeast Alaska, not all the students are making the trip.

"It's these kids that it's impacting," said Brock. "It's their year. This is their season."

However, basketball is not the only sport that has been impacted. Jack Carney, Wrangell wrestling coach, spoke about how the loss of ferries shifted their plans. Wrangell competed in the Southeast Alaska middle school wrestling championships in Juneau a few weeks ago. Carney said they had already bought tickets to take the ferry up there for the tournament, but then the shutdown occurred and they had to scramble for new means of transportation. He did not remember the exact number, but he said that it was almost double the cost to fly a group of 20 to Juneau.

"The district was nice enough to cover the cost this time, but that's not something we can depend on," Carney said.

During the tournament, the ferries were being discussed by many of the coaches attending the event, he said. Carney pointed out that Haines was expected to participate in the championships, but because of the ferry situation they went to a tournament in Fairbanks, instead. In Carney's opinion, he said, not having the ferry system up and running will completely change life in the region as people know it.

Brock said there have been instances when the team was traveling with Alaska Airlines and the plane was delayed, which resulted in them being stranded because there weren't any other means of transportation.

"In the past, if the plane didn't work, there's typically ferries moving around that can help you get home," said Brock. "You don't even have an option when the plane is broken. You don't have anywhere else to turn in certain communities."