When the Sitka School Board met Tuesday evening (11-3-26), it agreed on its goals for the school year and reviewed the district’s current grants.
The Sitka School District recently received $80,000 from the U.S. Department of Education to go toward playground equipment or after-school programs to train for a recently-revived national fitness test. The origins of the Presidential Fitness Test date back to 1958. The program underwent several modifications before it was retired in 2012 under the Obama administration, and was restored by the Trump administration earlier this year.
Superintendent Deidre Jenson said the district is still working out exactly how those funds would be applied.
“You can’t buy a set of swings for this grant because you’re not going to be tested on how well [or] how high you can swing. You’re gonna be tested on chin ups. You’re gonna be tested on endurance,” she said.
Jenson said the grant is supposed to provide consistent funding over the next five years, but she isn’t sure how the amount might be affected if more school districts decide to participate.
In other funding news, the board reviewed other grants Sitka schools receive and how they’re used. According to Jenson, grants help cover the salaries of 8.243 full-time positions. Pacific High School Principal Matt Groen said nearly all his staff heavily depend on grant funds.
He also spoke to the board about current successes and challenges at Pacific High. While the school’s enrollment is down from the past two years, the student population is greater than a decade ago. But Groen said dropping attendance rates are a big concern.
“Our student government is actually actively engaging in this. That’s why they did Spirit Week. I know that’s like putting a finger in a flooding dam, but it is something,” Groen said.
He said Pacific High staff have been collecting data on which days and classes see the highest number of absences to work toward solutions.
The school board also approved its three goals established at its retreat last month, including its approach to the district’s shrinking student body. School Board President Phil Burdick said community conversations about whether or not to close a school “will no doubt be heartfelt.”
“It’s a difficult conversation, so we just really want to get out in front of that,” Burdick said.
The board agreed to postpone approving the district’s annual priorities until its next meeting on Dec. 2.
