New superintendent works to boost enrollment

Even while Bill Burr, Wrangell's new schools superintendent, is still unpacking, he already is looking toward challenges the district will face in the coming school year. One area of improvement he is optimistic about is bringing enrollment numbers back to previous levels.

Last year, during the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment in Wrangell schools dropped to about 200 from their typical number around 300 - the largest percentage decrease in any school district in Alaska. Many families chose to homeschool their kids, or pursue correspondence courses.

Wrangell's numbers ticked upward as last year went on, and Burr said he is hopeful to see a lot more kids return when registration opens in August.

"We'll get real numbers, or at least the beginning of real numbers, then," Burr said. "We're estimating, it's still gray in July, but we had budgeted on 225. We think we are going to surpass that number. ... The positive comments that we have received, the principals have received, are encouraging for both the district and the staff to have more students."

At the root of encouraging families to bring their kids back to school, Burr said, is the question of why they left in the first place. The pandemic played a big role, but families may have had other reasons they thought their children could get a better education elsewhere. Burr said that as he and the district learn more, they hope to address these issues. The end goal for the district, he said, is to be an "educationally safe" environment.

"We are hoping that our program, going forward, is educationally sound. ... It seems like I'm talking in a circle, but that the students find an educationally safe place to be. I should say students and staff, that's important also."

Burr replaced Debbe

Lancaster as superintendent on July 1. He came to Wrangell from the Delta/Greely

School District, where he had worked as assistant superintendent since 2014. He has also served as director of technology and as fill-in principal at the district in Alaska's Interior. The district has over 800 students.

Other challenges that Burr said he hopes to address as he settles into his new role in Wrangell include capital improvement projects to the district's aging buildings, as well as to see what digital education opportunities could work for students.

He also mentioned the introduction of a new state testing system Wrangell and other school districts can look forward to this year, and to see what data can be gleaned from that.

"The assistant principals, Jenn (Miller-Yancey) and Bob (Davis), worked all last

year to encourage students to return and to find what needed to be done educationally so that students felt

comfortable returning," Burr said. "I know that there was a mask mandate last year, from the assembly as well as the school board. I know the assembly has lifted that, (and) the school board meets in August. But we are discussing what, educationally, the needs are of the students in the community."