The Wrangell School Board met Monday, Sept. 21. Two major topics of discussion during this meeting were the high school swim team, and whether or not students could travel for activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several people spoke at the meeting, calling for the school district to fully fund the swim team, to add the coach's position to the schedule of extracurricular activities, as well as to remove the schedule of extracurricular activities from the negotiated agreement process.
Jamie Roberts has served as the swim team's coach for several years, as well as coach for the Wrangell Swim Club. She wrote a letter to the school board and to the teacher's union president Ryan Howe, making these requests. It was her understanding that teachers could only bring up a certain number of items during the negotiated agreement process, she wrote, and that coaches do not have a process for advocating for changes to the extracurricular activities schedule. Furthermore, she wrote that the swim team gets some funding through the Title IV grant, but this covers the coach's salary and some student expenses. The swim team has to fundraise several thousand dollars every year to meet all their expenses, she wrote.
"While the Swim Team will strive to contribute through fundraising, being asked to raise that level of funding on a yearly basis seems unsustainable," Roberts wrote. "If the school continues to deny funding a Swim Team, adding a Swim Coach to the Schedule of Extracurricular Activities will at least offset some of the expenses incurred each year and free up the grant funding to cover the students' expenses."
Several others called for the district to better support the swim team during the meeting, as well. Kristy Woodbury said she believed that the school board has claimed in the past it was not possible to add the sport to the extracurricular schedule because coaches' salaries are part of the negotiated agreement. However, she said by her understanding this went against Alaska Administrative Code. The portion of the code she cited reads that school districts shall survey the student body every three years to determine their interests in specific recreational and athletic activities, and will adopt a plan that sets out all the extracurricular activities the district will offer before March 1 of each school year.
Other members of the public who spoke up include Kate Thomas and Diane O'Brien, both advocating for greater support of the team. Several school board members also voiced their support for doing a better job with the swim team.
"I swam when I was younger," said Board Member Jeanie Arnold. "I think that it's an excellent sport for endurance. It's challenging. We have the resource in our very small community of having a wonderful pool, that a lot of communities our size don't, and I think taking advantage of that is absolutely what we should be doing. I also just want to let all the people know that have been bringing this to our attention, it has not gone unheard. We're just, again, trying to work with the school to find a solution, but I absolutely support swimming."
Upon further discussion, the board eventually approved of a motion to add the question of the swim team to their next meeting's agenda, to work out some formal answers.
Other correspondence the board received during the meeting voiced concerns about the district's mask mandate, or to ask questions about the elementary school's schedule. Sage Smiley, reporter for KSTK, also wrote a letter stating concern over a lack of communication between the district and the media, and worries that communication might become an even bigger problem with the superintendent's improvement plan requiring her to get prior approval for any communications with the media.
Questions of whether or not students could travel for activities were also discussed. Billy Strickland, executive director for the Alaska School Activities Association, was a guest speaker at the meeting. Strickland said that it is not a question of whether or not there can be activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a question of how it can be done safely. Sports and activities are important for children, he said, as they provide outlets and opportunities for character growth, plus the benefits to their physical and mental health.
"What we've been trying to do is work with schools to safely put on activities," Strickland said. "The most recent guidance we've gotten from the Department of Health and Social Services is this: Your activities, whether or not you're offering activities, should not be based solely on an alert level ... What their advice is, develop and adhere to strong mitigation plans. Educate the students, and the families, and the communities that what they're doing outside of activities is probably a greater risk than what they're doing in activities."
Strickland also discussed some specifics of what ASAA is considering for sports in the near future. The wrestling season has been pushed back to November, he said, to give them more time to figure out how best to operate a sport with lots of physical contact during the pandemic.
Cross country season is currently underway, as well. Wrangell's first meet was held virtually, with teams running in their hometowns but still competing against each others' times. Regionals are planned for Oct. 3 in Petersburg, according to a press release from Wrangell High School. The state tournament is scheduled for Oct. 10. The state tournament is looking to be a safe experience for Wrangell to travel to and compete in, Strickland said. There are risks, he said, but if Wrangell puts together a strong mitigation plan the risks will be lessened. Some preparations ASAA is putting together include reducing the number of participants, starting races with separated teams and runners, sending out runners in different waves, requiring screening documentation, among other precautions.
Activities Director Trisa Rooney also spoke about student travel. She said, during the meeting and in a letter to the board, that she is very concerned because there is no set plan in place for how student travel could be organized. She has received many questions from parents, students, and community members over the past few weeks, she said, and more often than not she has not been able to provide answers.
"Is there any intent on letting students travel or host any activity?" She asked. "If not, let us know ... If there is intent, what would we have to do to make it a reality? Could we come up with a checklist that if all the boxes get checked we are a go?"
Discussion about student travel went on for some time. Board Member David Wilson voice support for student travel. Decisions need to be made quickly, he said, and a travel mitigation plan needs to be put together. Board Member Patty Gilbert made a motion directing Superintendent Debbe Lancaster to submit the district's COVID-19 mitigation plans, when they become available, to the local Emergency Operations Center for input. This was approved by the board. The general consensus amongst the school board was that they did need to sit down soon and lay out a clear plan for student activity travel.
Other items covered in the meeting include a lease agreement with Trinity Financial Services for Chromebooks, a review of the district's insurance coverage, first and second readings of various policies, and the student representative report.
During the meeting, the school board also accepted the resignation of Board Member Beth Heller. In her letter, Heller did not state any reasons for stepping down from the school board, but stated she would be happy to continue serving until a replacement can be found.
"I would like to thank all board members for the endless volunteered hours that each member gives to the school district and community of Wrangell," Heller wrote. "As always, the staff and students of Wrangell Public Schools will have my support and encouragement in the future."
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