Senior Jasmine Wolfe’s remarks to the Sitka School Board were a welcome surprise, after another extraordinarily difficult budgeting cycle. “I was definitely one of the classes that was hit hardest between COVID and budget cuts,” she said, “and I just want to say thank you.” (SHS image)

“I will be graduating, I think, in roughly 12 days, and so this is the last school board meeting before I graduate,” said Jasmine Wolfe, a senior at Sitka High. “ I just wanted to say a thank you, not only to the board, but to the district.”

Wolfe addressed the Sitka School Board at its last meeting of the academic year on May 7. She entered Sitka’s schools at kindergarten, and attended through high school. Wolfe told the board that she took none of her experience for granted.

“I have been so, so blessed to be raised and grow up in this school district and see from everything from being able to take Miss Golden’s snorkeling class to the amazing music programs and everything in between,” said Wolfe. “I was definitely one of the classes that was hit the hardest between COVID and budget cuts, and then also working in student government and seeing all the struggles that you guys have gone through with the budget cuts and worked as a team to really figure out a solution that works for us. And I really just want to say thank you. And as I am leaving all this behind, because I know there’s still so much you guys have to go through, specifically with the budget, I just want to say thank you for all your hard work and dedication.”

Wolfe spoke during public comment. When she concluded – to warm applause – board president Phil Burdick asked if anyone else would like to speak, saying “Do we have another like that?”

The rest of the meeting proceeded less eventfully. Jasmine Wolfe’s remarks about the budget were perceptive, as the district’s budget has been balanced with an assumed amount of funding from the state that could be vetoed shortly by the governor.

On another front, the Sitka School District has been hit hard by the loss of its Americorps staff. The Trump administration terminated funding for the program nationwide on April 25, immediately ending the jobs of nine Americorps members in Sitka, including three working in the school district.

Sitka High principal Laura Rogers says the departure of the Americorps volunteer has been felt in her building.

“She made a huge difference in a variety of different ways, both working with kids who struggled, working with kids who came back after missing school for a week or two because they had mono or because they had traveled to see family in the Philippines,” said Rogers. “Believe it or not, a lot of her efforts were helping kids refine their scholarship essays and their applications. And I am very concerned next year that if we don’t have a person like that, that we will not see quite the same success rates we were able to see this year.”

The Sitka School Board won’t convene again until summer – 6 p.m. Wednesday June 18 in the District Office board room. In the meantime, they’ll be busy at graduations: Pacific High will graduate 2 p.m. Saturday, May 17 in the Sheet’ka Kwaán Naa Kahidi; Sitka High will graduate 7 p.m. Monday, May 19, in the high school gym; and Blatchley Middle School will have its rite of passage 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 21, also in the Sitka High gym.