A retired Sitka School District staff member has raised concerns about alleged misuse of the district’s travel accounts. While the district and local say the matter has been investigated and resolved, the former business manager believes further scrutiny is warranted.
At the Sitka School Board meeting on November 5, Leslie Young said that while she oversaw school funds during a transition to centralized accounting in 2023, she noticed some concerning charges on the district’s Alaska Airlines travel account.
“Before the account was transferred to the business office in 2023, two employees had exclusive control,” Young said in a statement during the public comment portion of the meeting. “Records suggest that miles and companion fares earned through district-related travel may have been used for personal vacations, including trips to Hawaii, Colorado, and multiple visits to Fairbanks with no documented district purpose.”
Young said she reported the trips to her supervisor at the time. After she retired in 2024, she continued to seek more information, filing a report with the Sitka Police Department and the Professional Teaching Commission to look into the matter.
“The records available to me at the time span only a three-year period,” Young said. “To determine the full extent of the misuse, I believe [a] formal records request to Alaska Airlines is necessary to establish how many additional years of activity may be involved. I firmly believe the evidence warrants a full, independent criminal investigation, not merely an internal review by the superintendent.”
Young submitted a written complaint to the school board in August, and received a response from Superintendent Deirdre Jenson.
In Jenson’s letter to Young, she wrote that both she and the former interim superintendent had investigated the matter and said that information involving personnel would remain confidential. Jenson wrote that while there were past issues of limited account access, now multiple staff members share oversight of the Alaska Airlines mileage account, and the District monitors it continuously. But Young wasn’t satisfied by the response.
“That response is unacceptable. Public funds or resources are never intended for personal use,” Young said in her statement to the board. “Misappropriating them is not a personnel matter. It carries potential criminal consequences.”
Speaking with KCAW after the meeting, Superintendent Jenson said the matter had been investigated both internally and externally, by multiple parties.
“There has been investigation that has been done regarding this issue,” Jenson said. “[I] cannot comment on personnel matters. What I can assure the public is that there has been no misuse of public funds.”
KCAW also reached out to Sitka Police to learn more about its investigation. Spokesperson Serena Wild said that a police officer opened a case after Young filed a report at the end of October. The officer consulted with the Assistant District Attorney regarding the case and the ADA determined that further criminal investigation was not warranted, and the case was closed as unfounded, pending further information.
Young said the district should have brought the matter to police from the beginning, not her as a private citizen. In an interview with KCAW, she said she didn’t bring the matter to the board’s attention lightly.
“I’m really saddened by this. You know, the district is such a wonderful opportunity for students. There’s so many great things that happen, and there’s so many wonderful teachers and staff that are amazing. And I just am really saddened that it impacts the good work that happens there,” Young said. “And I just want accountability. That’s important. I want to be able to sleep at night knowing I did everything I could to make people accountable and follow the rules.”
