The Sitka School Board is putting a quarter-of-a-million dollars toward new laptops for Sitka High School students. When the board met on Tuesday (6-30-26), it approved the funding unanimously as a three person board, shortly before appointing its two newest members.
The money comes from an additional $1.4 million the district will receive in one-time state funding which was approved by the legislature and signed by the governor late last month.
The district may also receive a windfall of $631,000 in congressional funding earmarked for technology. It would cover a full tech refresh for Kindergarten through 12th grade. But if the federal funding is approved, Superintendent Deidre Jenson said they won’t be able to spend it until October. She said laptops, which would cost less than half of the total, are more urgently needed.
“Our computers for the high school, they are falling apart. The middle school, we can piece together enough from the leftovers from the high school,” Jenson said. “We have a lot of items to purchase for tech, so I would encourage considering purchasing at least $250,000 worth of materials, so we can get it up and rolling right away in the fall.”
The board discussed its options, and considered holding off until the tech funds are secured, so they can spend from that pot of money.
“I wish we could have a conversation about the priorities overall, and where this money fits in. But I realize that tech is important, and it’s not that much money,” board member Courtney Amundson said. “If it’s critical, I mean, I’m persuasive to it, but otherwise, I just think we’re done here, and we need to punt it to next month.”
Board President Phil Burdick said while he’d support the board if it wanted to spend some more time developing a plan for the funds, he worried that pushing it off could have cascading effects.
“We pushed off the tech refresh two years ago, and we pushed off the tech refresh this year, this past year,” Burdick said. “We’re getting into this same pattern where we don’t have enough information, we don’t have enough money, we have to push this off, we have to push this off. It’s happened to curriculum in every area, it’s now happening to tech.”
Ultimately, the board agreed to approve $250,000 for high school laptops 3-0, with the money coming from the school district’s general fund.
