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In a special session last Saturday, the school board approved the contract for a new elementary school principal. Board members unanimously accepted the contract for Ann Hilburn as Evergreen Elementary School principal beginning the 2022-23 school year. Hilburn is in her first year as the special education teacher at the high school and middle school, having moved to Wrangell from Mississippi last fall. Hilburn was part of an applicant pool of more than 30 people, which was narrowed down to eight to 10 applicants. Schools Superintendent Bill...
The state budget plan adopted by the House last weekend includes an additional $143,000 in one-time funding for Wrangell schools, almost a 5% boost from a state aid formula that has not changed in five years. The district has been relying heavily on federal pandemic relief money and reserves to fill budget holes the past couple of years, and plans to do the same for the 2022-2023 school year. District officials acknowledge it’s not a sustainable financial plan. State funding to school districts is based on a per-student formula, and Wrangell h...
Tribal members can apply for a fourth distribution of federal pandemic relief funds administered by the Wrangell Cooperative Association. This round of financial aid is limited to $2,000 per household. The application period closes May 16. Tribal members can select to receive the assistance for utilities, groceries, heating fuel or gasoline, or a combination of any of the four choices in increments of $500, $1,000 or $2,000 if the applicant prefers that the aid go all to one category. Previous rounds were limited to covering utility bills or...
Senior James Shilts cares about his school so much that it became the focus of his senior project. Shilts and wrestling teammate Rowen Wiederspohn grappled with the idea of beautifying part of Wrangell High School to satisfy a graduation requirement. "I was at a wrestling meet in the afternoon (last fall). I was walking outside, and I noticed the benches and how bad they were looking," Shilts said. "The next day, I went and talked to (assistant principal Bob) Davis to see if it was a good...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for multiple positions in the 2022-2023 school year. All positions are open until filled. K-12 Special Education teacher: This is a full-time teaching position in Grades K-12 Special Education. The position requires an Alaska teaching certificate with appropriate endorsements in Special Education or documentation of enrollment in a program to achieve an appropriate endorsement. Secondary Language Arts Teacher: This is a full-time teaching position in Grades 6-12 English/Language...
Wrangell schools need substitute teachers, and they’re looking anywhere and everywhere. The substitute drought has been a problem for a few years, but it’s been made worse by COVID-19 and a lack of people willing to work. “Currently, we have 16 substitutes on the list, which means three or four are available on any given day,” said Kimberly Powell, administrative assistant for the school district. “We could use 10 more.” Powell said in the past they have had 25 substitutes on the call list, making it easier to cover for any staff — from teac...
March 30, 1922 The best news in Wrangell in a long time came this week in the form of a letter from the Federal Power Commission, indicating a willingness to grant an exclusive permit to the town of Wrangell for the purpose of water power development on Mill Creek. The town council has been working very hard on this proposition for several months. Through their efforts B.F. Heintzelman, special representative of the Federal Power Commission, recently came to Wrangell to go into the matter with the council personally. Several special meetings of...
Wrangell schools are not short of dedicated staff, engaged students or supportive parents. But what the district is short of — and getting shorter — are students and funding. That is a bad combination, putting stress on the schools as management puts together a budget for the 2022-2023 school year, and creating a serious long-term problem that needs the full attention of the school board, borough assembly and, most importantly, the community. The Wrangell School District has been losing students for the past 25 years, dropping from more tha...
It only takes a fraction of a second for a school, health care center, municipality or others to be the victim of a cyberattack. It could take months or even years to recover, if at all. Brittani Robbins, executive director of the chamber of commerce, and Matt Gore, an educational technology leader and former IT director for the borough and Wrangell School District, are working together to educate Alaska communities about the threats to cybersecurity and how to mitigate them. They are also advocating for strategic partnerships to develop disast...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for a long-term Substitute Elementary School Teacher. This position is anticipated to begin Aug. 22 and run through Nov. 23, 2022. An Alaska Type A Teaching Certificate with the appropriate endorsements is required. Contact the district office at 907-874-2347 for more information. It is the Wrangell Public School District’s policy to not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, sex or disability. WANTED Looking for galvanized planters in good condition, and W...
March 23, 1922 With the Inter-School Meet at Juneau only five weeks away, the need for concerted action on part of the people in Wrangell has become more evident. Everyone is enthusiastic about the meet, as Wrangell wants to be put on the map educationally. The community is loyal to its school and is anxious to see the pupils who will be chosen for their special ability pitted against selected pupils of other schools in debates, declamatory contests, spelling, oral and written English, rapid calculation, basketball and track work. These pupils...
It's been too long, more than a decade, since a state Office of Children's Services caseworker has been assigned to Wrangell. Welcome back, we missed you. The borough and school district have been trying for years to get state officials to put back money in the budget for a caseworker in town. The position is so important to help children struggling with the emotional challenges of life that the borough offered two years ago to share the cost of the position with the state. News of the offer was well publicized in town, winning strong support...
For the first time in more than a decade, Wrangell has a state child protection services caseworker. Jennifer Ridgeway was the Office of Children's Services worker in Petersburg from October 2021 until February, when she transferred to Wrangell. She first visited Wrangell from Tennessee in July 2018 to officiate and attend her daughter's wedding, according to a release from the state. She had no plans to move but loved the area and moved to Wrangell that fall. "Southeast Alaska offers so much...
The Lady Wolves came off their Southeast regional championship with the confidence to compete all the way to the state title for the first time since 1985, eventually falling one game short. In three games in Anchorage last week, the Wrangell High School girls basketball team twice showed why they entered the Division 2A state tournament as the top seed, but it was not enough to overcome the strong defense and speed of the Tikigaq High School squad from Point Hope. The Tikigaq Harpooners of the...
Former Wrangell resident Carroll Merritt, 86, died July 21, 2021, in Fort Benton, Montana. He was born in 1935, the first child of Bonnie and Ves Merritt, of Sturgis, South Dakota. During elementary school the family lived a short time in Deadwood, S.D., but most years were in Sturgis, where both sets of grandparents and other family were close. Carroll Merritt lived in Wrangell about 20 years, from the late 1960s to late 1980s, working as a teacher, said his widow, Agnes Merritt. They were married 51 years. He excelled in sports in high school...
With lower enrollment creating ongoing revenue shortfalls, the school district is seeking solutions and resources to close the persistent gap — particularly as one-time federal pandemic aid money will run out in two years. On March 7, members of the school board and district employees met with the borough assembly to present what district Business Manager Tammy Stromberg referred to as Version 1.5 of the budget. The work session lasted nearly two hours and consisted of an exchange of ideas and positive remarks as the process moves forward. ...
The borough has received a nearly half-a-million-dollar state grant, intended to help Wrangell cover some of its revenue losses due to the pandemic’s hit to the economy. The grant is $469,785, which the borough assembly may put toward buying a new garbage truck and replacing the exterior siding of the pool building at the recreation center. The assembly was scheduled to consider the expenditures at its Tuesday meeting. The borough had requested $1.8 million when it applied for the grant from the Division of Community and Regional Affairs in D...
The face mask debate is over for now — hopefully for good, if the community can stay healthy — and annual budget deliberations are starting over how much the borough will contribute to education and how the school district will spend its local, state and federal money. Which means it’s a good week to learn what students and staff are doing at Wrangell’s schools. There are a couple of examples this week that students are learning what’s important in life and how to manage and succeed after graduation. At Evergreen Elementary School, fifth gra...
After 12 years working in Wrangell's schools, Trisa Rooney has decided to move on. Rooney will resign from her position as activities director at the end of the school year, citing a need to take time for herself. "The last couple of years have definitely taken a toll," she said. "It's just been so much. I can't pinpoint just one thing, it's not totally the COVID. It's just a rough couple years." Rooney has been the activities director for about four years, she said, and has done something...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for multiple positions. All positions are open until filled. Custodian: This is a full-time, year-round classified position with benefits, 7.5 hours per day. Salary placement is on Column F of the 10- to 12-month Classified Salary Schedule. Job duties include but are not limited to keeping our school complex clean and assisting with setting up rooms for classes, large presentations and business meetings as needed; and assisting with minor repairs. A High School Diploma or equivalent...
The school board voted unanimously Monday to make face masks optional for students, staff and visitors in school buildings beginning Wednesday. The board adopted changes to the district’s COVID-19 mitigation plan, including removing quarantine requirements for close contacts of infected individuals and for students and staff returning to town after traveling. After hearing from students and members of the public, the board voted unanimously to approve the changes. The face mask requirement has been in effect since the start of the school y...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for multiple positions. All positions are open until filled. Custodian: This is a full-time, year-round classified position with benefits, 7.5 hours per day. Salary placement is on Column F of the 10- to 12-month Classified Salary Schedule. Job duties include but are not limited to keeping our school complex clean and assisting with setting up rooms for classes, large presentations and business meetings as needed; and assisting with minor repairs. A High School Diploma or equivalent...
The Wrangell school board will continue to evaluate its COVID-19 mitigation plan at its next meeting, scheduled for Monday. As case numbers continue to decline from the severe spike caused by the Omicron variant in December and January, some Alaska districts have voted for optional masking on school grounds. Effective Feb. 28, the Anchorage School District will make face masks optional for students and staff, Superintendent Deena Bishop announced last Friday in a letter to families. “As a career educator, I understand how critical it is to focu...
Elizabeth Peratrovich Day is Feb. 16, honoring Native rights activist Elizabeth Wanamaker Peratrovich of the Tlingit Nation who championed equal rights and whose testimony paved the way for the Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act passed by the territorial Legislature in 1945. In Wrangell, Tlingit storyteller and language expert Virginia Oliver is teaching schoolchildren at Evergreen Elementary, Stikine Middle and Wrangell High School about Peratrovich, who was born in Petersburg in 1911, and lived part of her life in Angoon. “Alaska Native children...
RUMMAGE SALE St. Philip’s will hold a rummage sale Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. HELP WANTED Looking for a new career for the new year? Interested in working with youth in the community? Residential Youth Care is looking to hire multiple positions at our Ketchikan location including: Residential BHAs Day and Night Shift, Education BHAs, Mental Health Clinicians, RN, and KAP Director. Check out job descriptions, updated benefits and apply online today at www.rycalaska.com. HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for a Tem...
