Roundtree focused on budget and school lunches

Elizabeth Roundtree is running for one of two three-year seats on the Wrangell School Board, and her main focus is creating more opportunities for students through funding.

One of her main concerns, like many involved with the schools, is the budget. That, and lunches. Roundtree, who went to school for accounting and is now the office administrator for Wrangell IGA, wants to find solutions to keep the school funded.

Declining enrollment has reduced state funding for the schools, creating holes in the district budget.

"I want to dig into the accounting of it all and figure out school lunches," she said. "We spend all this money, and I know some of the lunches are like a slice a pizza. That was one of the things I was talking to the superintendent (Bill Burr) about; seeing if there was a way to bring some more healthy choices."

Roundtree, 36, believes there is another way to bring in healthier alternatives and wants to work with others on the board and in the district to figure out what that might be.

Roundtree and member David Wilson are the only two candidates on the ballot for the two seats.

She also wants to make sure extracurricular activities remain available for students, as she believes it helps children discover new opportunities as it has with her two daughters.

"I don't want the artistic kids to lose out on the experience because of funding," Roundtree said. "I don't think there's any threat to it at the moment, but it would be good to make sure it's something that sticks around."

Roundtree has worked for a year as a paraprofessional for the schools, and she sees a lack of paraprofessionals and substitutes and staff retention as other challenges the district is faced with.

"The last five years that I've been here (in Wrangell) it's been an issue," she said. "We moved here in 2017 and it's always been, 'We don't have enough substitutes.' ... It's definitely something we need to dig into and find out why people don't want to do the job."