Note: View the most recent Sitka School District budget. The school board’s next public hearing on the budget is set for Wednesday, April 23, 5:30 p.m. at the Sitka High Public Library.

The four teachers – two at Xóots Elementary, and two at Keet Gooshi Heen – have already received  their notices of non-retention, superintendent Deidre Jenson told the board at its work session on April 16.

But those letters could be rescinded, depending on how far the school board chooses to draw down its reserves.

How much in reserves would the Sitka School District have to spend to save elementary teachers?

The Sitka School District traditionally keeps around $1 million in reserves, to cover emergencies or other unplanned expenses.

To keep two teachers, the district would need to spend the fund balance down to $557,000.

To keep three teachers, the district would need to spend the fund balance down to $447,000.

To keep four teachers, the district would need to spend the fund balance down to $337,000.

Other positions likely to be cut:

School nurse reduced to approximately half-time.

Data manager (duties redistributed to Blatchley assistant principal).

Loss of two positions funded by Sealaska Heritage Institute grant and a CLSD (literacy) grant.

Paul Rioux, who served a previous term on a school board that also faced a serious budget crisis, steered the group back to this fundamental question, as the conversation veered toward an hours-long micromanagement of specific line items.

“I’ve done this a few times in the past and we’ve come to this point, and we’ve been like, we want to add two teachers back, go find us $400k, or kind of that 10,000-foot view thing,” said Rioux. “Not that I’m saying to do that. I’m just saying that in the past it’s been pretty broad. It hasn’t been, ‘What’s this line? Let’s cut $20-thousand and move it to this line.’ It’s been, ‘We want a librarian. Go find us $300-thousand. I’m not saying that’s the only way to do it. I’m just saying that, in my experience, that’s how we’ve done it.”

Board president Phil Burdick wanted to allow all board members  time to have their questions about the budget answered, something he didn’t think was possible in a two-hour work session. He wanted the administration to revisit the budget, and to find a way to balance it that was consistent with the board’s previous direction to keep class sizes low, especially in the early elementary grades, and to update both the curriculum and technology used by students.

“While we have a balanced budget at this moment, we also have some cuts in places that we at the table have said that this is something that we want to focus on,” said Burdick. “So instead of getting into the line items, I just wanted to talk about the actual bigger picture of what it is that we’re facing, right?”

Board member Tom Williams felt that there were opportunities for cost savings in the budget – like staff travel and some administrative expenses – that could be converted into teaching salaries, but the answers to his questions were not obvious or straightforward. Clearly frustrated, he said, “I’m drowning.” His fellow board member and daughter-in-law, Amanda Williams, was also unhappy with the ongoing loss of teaching staff, and increasing class sizes in kindergarten. “21 is a lot,” she said.

(Note: The Sitka School District has experienced a 31-percent decrease in instructional staff since 2015 – 19-percent of that loss just this year alone.)

Amanda Williams also found some of the coding and categories impenetrable, and some of the expense items unrealistic. A former Science teacher at Blatchley Middle School until her job was cut last year, Williams pointed out that $300 for classroom supplies for a year in her old classroom was far from adequate. When someone asked how teachers would manage, Burdick – a former teacher himself – said quietly, “Out of their own pockets,” suggesting that this had become the unwelcome new normal for educators in a time of shrinking public funding for schools.

Board member Steve Morse was quiet for most of the work session, but when asked for his thoughts, he was hopeful. With less than two weeks before it’s due to be sent to the assembly, the Sitka School District actually had budget numbers that balanced.

 “This is the most transparent budget I’ve ever seen, and it’s balanced,” he said. “And I think that what we’ve come up with is we would like some of the things put back in there, like positions for teaching.”

House Bill 69, drafted by Sitka Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, would have topped up the state’s funding for public education by another $1,000, the first permanent increase in nine years. Both the House and the Senate passed the bill with slim majorities compared to last year – even Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman was among the “no” votes this time – so HB69 was far from veto-proof. As expected, the governor promptly vetoed it the morning following the school board work session, saying he’d accept an alternative bill with a $560 increase.

If this alternative bill passes, it’s likely to create headaches for the Sitka School District, whose present draft budget is built on an anticipated $680 increase from the state, with time running out to rebalance the numbers before the budget is due into city hall by the end of the month.

There are two things in play at the moment for Sitka’s schools, funding-wise: A major bill (HB 69) crafted by Sitka Rep. Rebecca Himschoot has already advanced to the full House for debate, without any public hearings or testimony in the House Finance Committee.

Tactically, it’s unclear what it means for the future of the bill, which would catch-up school funding with inflation over the next three years, because Republicans in the House argue there’s no money to pay for it, without reducing Permanent Fund dividends, or raising taxes somewhere.

The bill will probably squeak through the House, which is controlled by a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents like Himschoot, and then head to the Senate, which is also controlled by a bipartisan coalition, where the numbers will be tweaked to deliver  – if not by the full amount proposed by Himschoot – at least by an amount comparable to or more than the $680 per-pupil increase that the governor approved last year. That leaves only Governor Dunleavy and his veto pen as the last barrier to some increase in education funding, and the new bipartisan makeup of the Legislature makes a repeat of last year’s override debacle less likely.

So the Sitka School Board is feeling confident that some additional money is coming their way, and members are optimistic that they’re not facing drastic staff cuts like last year.

The second element in the funding picture for Sitka’s schools is that the district’s reserves – or “fund balance” – could top $2 million dollars at the end of this school year, and that money could be rolled over to support next year’s budget.

Superintendent Deidre Jenson explained that the city’s takeover of school maintenance has changed the way the district looks at savings.

“Usually the fund balance is saved for large emergency things like maintenance, and we don’t have those maintenance expenses, so that’s something to consider,” said Jenson. “The other large expenditure that usually happens could be lawsuits, or, we don’t usually go ‘Oh, now we have an emergency’ to hire extra staff, or ‘Oh, we need to buy more supplies.’ There might be equipment, but we don’t have a large amount of equipment. It’s, you know, maybe a $6,000 copier. So I guess the question is, what would you like to spend down?”

As a practical matter, board member Tom Williams thought it was premature to decide now how much of the district’s savings account to spend next year.

“Because we don’t know what your budget is going to look like, it’s really difficult to suggest what you want to do with the reserves,” said Williams. “If your budgeting process shows that we’re $2 million in the hole and you want to keep the current level of service, we pretty much understand that there’s going to be a significant amount of the reserve dedicated to maintaining that level of service.”

Other board members, however, saw the $2 million in reserves as an opportunity to save staff positions. Board president Phil Burdick wanted to start framing the conversation around “FTE’s” – or full-time equivalents. For the moment, no one on the board suggested taking reserves below $1 million, but member Paul Rioux did ask how many positions were equivalent to what might be available in reserves (depending on possible legislative funding, and possible “timber receipts” from the federal government). At roughly $110,000 per teacher (salary plus benefits), Superintendent Jenson answered “nine.”

The board also briefly discussed the prospect of school closures or consolidation next year. Even without funding relief from the Legislature, the district would not have seen significant savings by closing schools, since the city both owns and now maintains them. The administration also pointed out some increased costs, such as relocating the district office, that would offset savings.

The Sitka School Board informally dismissed the idea, with member Steve Morse adding, “I say let’s hold onto our schools.”

Note: This story was corrected on February 24, 2025, to reflect the correct makeup of the Alaska Senate majority: a bipartisan coalition, rather than all-Republican.

Additionally, KCAW aired the following clarification:

“In the original version of this story, Raven News reported that under one particular revenue scenario, District superintendent Deidre Jenson told the school board that the money equated to nine FTE’s – or nine full-time equivalent teaching positions. This information was correctly reported by Raven News. However, in a follow-up call with KCAW, Superintendent Jenson stressed that these were positions that could be saved, rather than brought back. Raven News regrets that its coverage may have created the impression that the school district was poised to restore jobs after last year’s dramatic cutbacks.

In a detail not included in the original news report, Superintendent Jenson said additional savings involving curriculum could also possibly spare another four positions. Again, these are existing jobs that would be preserved, rather than new positions. 

In both cases, the superintendent emphasized that the district budget is still in deficit, pending action from the legislature, and is hoping to minimize staff cuts next year.”

Construction of Sitka’s new marine haul out is underway, but questions remain over how it will be run.

The city issued a Request for Qualifications earlier this fall, as a precursor to the bid process, and only two firms responded. Of those two, only Highmark Marine Fabrication of Kodiak was considered qualified.

This has prompted a lot of concern from Sitka’s local marine services industry. At a standing-room only meeting of the Gary Paxton Industrial Park Board on December 17, many local tradespeople and boat owners voiced doubts about having the haul out operated by a competing vendor.

Paul Rioux, a marine mechanic for 25 years, was among them.

“I think that every effort should be made to find a local operator, if possible,” said Rioux. “And what’s more than that is I definitely feel concerns about bringing in somebody who’s also a vendor. I mean, if we’re going to award a contract to operate the lift and haul boats, is one thing. If we’re also offering space or some kind of preferential treatment to compete with local tradesmen, it seems like that’s a slippery slope.”

Rioux felt that there would be an inherent competitive advantage for any vendor who also was in charge of scheduling and hauling out boats. 

Blake LaPerriere, also a mechanic, believed that an operator/vendor like Highmark would put a strain on Sitka’s pool of skilled labor.

“I think that bringing in a new a new outfit that’s looking for new workers might steal workers from businesses are already around,” said LaPerriere. “And then I also just think that it’s important to keep funds in our city and not bring in external vendors and move funds that are already scarce out of our town.”

Many others spoke on the same theme, and also expressed concerns about a private vendor driving up the costs of hauling out boats, at a facility that was built with public funds. The city also recently bought back the Northline Seafoods (now Sayak Seafoods) building at a cost of $1.3 million, and several in the audience objected to the vendor having preferential access to it.

Gary Paxton Industrial Park director Garry White tried to allay fears, saying that so far they had only qualified Highmark based on a “scope of services.” The actual details of insurance, pricing – and possible use of the former Northline building – would all be hammered out in a separate document called a “scope of work.”

He did not see a downside to sending out the scope of work solely to Highmark.

“I kind of thought about, let’s just kill two birds with one stone,” he said. “Let’s get it up. Let’s get it to them. Let’s get the prices back. Let’s hash this out and see if it’s going to work or not.”

Before the meeting adjourned, Sitka Assembly member Scott Saline spoke as a member of the public and suggested an alternative:  He told the board that it might be possible for the assembly to bypass the industrial park board’s screening process, and qualify a local operator to run  the haul out.

The timeline for opening the haul out remains the spring of 2025.

The loss of five lives aboard the seiner Wind Walker earlier this month was the latest in a string of tragedies that has shaken Sitka this year, from a January boating accident that killed two teens to the apparent bear mauling of a local fisheries advocate in October. In a two-hour vigil at the University of Alaska Southeast boat ramp on Saturday, more than 80 Sitkans and visitors gathered to share stories of loss.

Paul Rioux, who organized the event with Nalani James, said they wanted the community to have a space to come together in grief. 

“When someone is hurting, we can’t usually see the mess, and even if we could see it, we can’t reach into their hearts and put things back into the right places,” he said. “What we can do is acknowledge one another – give one another permission to hurt. Today, you all have permission to hurt. We can offer that love to one another.”

Malisa Crisman held up a photo collage of her son, who was one of five crew members aboard the F/V Wind Walker. She said she had come up from Las Vegas with her daughter-in-law. 

“My son was E.J. Celaya. He was a commercial fisherman out here for seven months,” she said. “He loved the people that he met here. He said Sitka is a beautiful place. He eventually wanted his family to come. He said everyone welcomed him, and he wanted to make this his home. He’s going to be forever missed.”

Sitkan Jackie DeBell held up a photo of her grandson, David Jackson, who died at age 16 in a car accident this September.   

“It’s been a real struggle with our family,” she said. “We have to learn how to live. It’s just learning to live without him, learning new things. And I just want to acknowledge everyone here. I know everyone has somebody they lost, and their lives are forever changed. Whether your grief started five, 10 years ago or last month, I want to offer you my condolences.”

Representatives from community organizations, including the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association and Brave Heart Volunteers, spoke briefly. 

Brave Heart program manager Kathryn Winslow encouraged Sitkans to rely on each other. 

“The holes in our hearts do not go away, and neither does the love,” she said. “So keep supporting each other, listening and sharing. We are a community woven together with threads of compassion and strength.”

Local musicians Elias Erickson and the Jen Reid Trio led the group through a hymn and a rendition of The Beatles’ “Let it Be.” Afterward, attendees stood at the edge of the boat ramp and tossed flowers into the channel.

Paul Rioux has joined the Sitka School Board – again. Board secretary Dawn Georgia did the honors, swearing in Rioux for the third time.

Georgia: “…and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge my duties…”

Rioux: “…and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge my duties…”

Georgia: “…as a member of the Sitka School Board to the best of my ability…”

Rioux: “…as a member of the Sitka School Board to the best of my ability…”

Rioux served a full term from 2019 – 2022 but chose not to run again. Late last summer, when board president Tristan Guevin resigned to apply for a teaching position in the district, Rioux was appointed to the vacancy – which lasted all of one regular meeting in October. 

With only one candidate on the ballot for two open seats on the school board in the municipal election, the next move for Rioux could have been to register as a write-in. However, he chose not to.

KCAW: “I have a feeling that people are wondering why you went this route instead of running as a write-in for the three-year term.”

Rioux: “Oh, I was just hesitant to make the three-year commitment at this point. I wanted to give it a chance, and I kind of waited and monitored to see if anyone was going to jump in, and nobody did. So I made a decision to go ahead and put in another letter of interest to fill in for a year, because I think the board can always use the help, especially when there’s an empty seat.”

Rioux will serve only one year, until the municipal election in October, 2025.

The other members of the Sitka School Board wasted no time appointing Rioux. They dispensed with the usual interview, since he was the only applicant, and had just interviewed for the job a month before. Rioux was a significant voice on the board during his previous full term, much of which was served during the peak of the Covid pandemic.

Rioux witnessed what the board went through last spring, as it confronted a major budget deficit and was forced to layoff fourteen teachers.

He didn’t suggest that he would have done anything differently.

“It’s a really, really difficult thing and, we’ve had a lot of people in this town that have served on this board that have had to do that,” he said. “Over the last 20 years, we’ve lost a lot of programs and a lot of instruction: librarians and different positions and whatnot. And it’s not an easy thing to do, to have to take something away, but we have no way to raise funds, so we have to build a budget around the funds that we’re given and it’s not an easy thing to do.”

Once the board was seated, the group chose officers for the year. Phil Burdick was voted unanimously as president of the board; Tom Williams as vice-president, and Steve Morse as clerk.

Board members also alternate serving as liaisons to the individual school buildings: Newly-elected member Amanda Williams selected Keet Gooshi Heen;  Paul Rioux took Pacific High; Steve Morse, Xóots; Tom Williams, Sitka High; and Phil Burdick took Blatchley. Student board member Francis Myers will be the official student liaison for all grade levels.

Amanda Williams’ oath of office… “and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge my duties as a member of the Sitka School Board to the best of my ability… congratulations!” (applause)

Newly-elected school board member Amanda Williams had no sooner been sworn into her three-year term, when the Sitka School Board considered its first significant policy decision in some time: Whether to open a district pre-K program, beginning this year.

Superintendent Deidre Jenson has been developing the idea, with support from Xóots Elementary principal Jill LeCrone and others who are concerned about the high numbers of kindergarten students entering the district far below proficiency in the basic skills needed to learn reading.

“We had about 80-percent of students that were kind of in needing intervention, in the red, so to speak,” Jenson told the board. “Needing intervention, that’s pretty standard coming into kindergarten, and we just really want to kind of get ahead of the game and provide early intervention or prevention so that they can get a little head start.”

The Alaska Reads Act was passed by the Legislature in 2022, and sets a standard for reading proficiency by the end of third grade.

Jenson said that the district had distributed a survey to all families, and found that a majority of respondents were in support of a pre-K program.

“Throughout the Sitka School District, there were 43 that said yes (to a pre-K program), 35 said no, and 21 said maybe,” said Jenson. “And the ‘maybe’ was if there was an educational component to (the preschool).”

Jenson added that 24 families said they would pay at least $1,000 a month in tuition for the preschool. The objective, she said, was not to compete with Sitka’s existing childcare programs and preschools, but to serve students who weren’t already enrolled elsewhere.

Joel Markis, president of the board of the Betty Eliason Childcare Center, was worried about the district’s capacity to outcompete his organization’s services. He thought the administration should have consulted with Betty Eliason.

“From my perspective, I look at the school district opening up a competing venture in our community that you benefits from the tax base in Sitka,” said Markis.

Former Ventures director Annette Evans also expressed concern about the possibility of a second preschool teacher salary being supported with Ventures funds, if the preschool was offered full day. Ventures is an after-school program housed by the school district, but largely self-funded, and Evans did not believe the budget had anything to spare.

“The mention of using Ventures funds for a public preschool is something that should be investigated, if you haven’t looked into that,” she cautioned.

The most significant concern over the proposed preschool came from board member Phil Burdick, who objected to the price tag. Although there is admittedly a need for more childcare services in Sitka, he thought the district’s $1,000 per month tuition excluded many families who could not afford it, and would widen a  gap that the district has spent at least two decades trying to close.

“A tuition-based program is not equitable,” he said. “You can say that we’re going to offer support for people to get daycare assistance, but there is a sticker price attached to it, and I can’t wrap my head around that. I can’t figure out (because) one of our main strategic goals for the plan is to build a more equitable School District, and so I just can’t see how this works.”

And for Burdick, himself a former teacher and administrator, there was another piece besides equity.

“We’re creating a program that is going to then function solely for Alaska Reads, support kindergarten teachers so they can better teach to Alaska Reads… it feels a little bit like teaching to the test, which I don’t like,” said Burdick

Xóots principal Jill Lecrone defended the proposal, arguing that Sitka’s youngest learners needed the support, regardless of the requirements of the Alaska Reads program.

“By no means are we teaching to the test,” Lecrone said. “Our preschool will be a very hands-on, place-based environment where kids can thrive. I believe that our kids need a space to play and grow. And yeah, there will be some pre academics in there, but the whole point of it is to get them in with other kids to play and to get socialized and to be happy and well adjusted when they start kindergarten.”

Board members Amanda Williams and Steve Morse saw benefits in moving forward with the idea, with Morse saying “It’s definitely a step in the right direction.” Student member Francis Myers wanted to ensure that the administration had researched the cost of the community’s other childcare programs, and that the district was not undercutting them. Only member Tom Williams was hesitant, saying that there were more questions than answers – particularly about staffing – and he wanted to bring back the item for further discussion after the administration had provided those answers.

In the end, however, Williams was outvoted 4 to 1, with even Burdick joining the majority in favor of allowing the district to pursue hiring two teachers and opening the new preschool in time for it to serve students over the next seven months of the current academic year.

Note 10-11-24: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Annette Evans as the director of the Ventures program. She is actually the former director, and is now the therapeutic preschool manager for Sitka Counseling.

October 2, 2024 School Board update: Board approves school psychologist contract

Last month’s loss of a Pacific High student in a vehicle accident, on top of other recent tragedies on the ocean, has focused attention on the emotional health of young people in Sitka.

Sitka School Board member Paul Rioux stepped from behind the table at Wednesday night’s meeting (10-2-24) and spoke from the public, to lament the loss of both Raven’s Way and Crossings, and the closure of Bartlett Hospital’s crisis stabilization unit only eight months after it opened.

Rioux said he understood that a lack of funding – and not a lack of concern – was behind these closures, but he argued that the cost of not paying for these programs was becoming too high.

“Grief is somewhat taboo in our culture, and it’s because our toolbox is in the area is not well stocked,” said Rioux. “It’s time that we changed that. It’s time that we empowered our students, staff, and families and community to better support those who have experienced loss or struggle with depression. The compassion and empathy of our community is without question. We are Sitka strong. We are Southeast strong. The outpouring of concern, love, and funds with each tragedy shows this over and over. Please. Let’s lock arms on this, let’s find ways, small and large, to better support one another.” 

Rioux spoke during persons to be heard, since there was no action item on student emotional health on the evening’s agenda. Later in the meeting, however, the board considered a $50,000 contract for school psychological services.

The district is required to provide psychological services, primarily in support of special education students, and the district’s regular psychologist is on leave. Nevertheless, the board voted unanimously to support the measure. Acting board president Todd Gebler had not forgotten Rioux’s earlier testimony.

“I would just say this is something that has to happen,” Gebler said. “More than ever (it) has to happen now, especially after what Paul was saying. These services are vastly needed, so (this is) definitely something I support.”

The contract for psychological services was awarded to Eula Crippen, with Second Nature Psychological services in Sitka.

Former member Paul Rioux is back on the Sitka School Board.

Rioux was appointed by the board to serve out the term of Tristan Guevin, who resigned last month to apply for a teaching job at Pacific High School.

Rioux was one of three applicants who submitted letters of interest in the vacant seat. He previously served one full term beginning in 2019. During his interview Thursday night (9-12-24), Rioux explained that he was in a better place now than when he chose not to run for reelection in 2022.

“I have always intended to come back,” said Rioux. “I wanted to take a break because it was hard on my personal and family life — those were especially trying years. And so I thought that, given my experience, that I might be a good fit to help out a little bit while there’s a gap.”

Rioux has four children, two of whom have graduated, one is a senior, and one is in eighth grade. He told board members that the three main responsibilities of the board were budget, the superintendent, and curriculum, as well as interacting with the public and doing legislative advocacy. 

The vote to appoint Rioux was 3-1, with member Tom Williams opposed. Williams said that he preferred to see continuity on the board, and his pick to serve out the term would be Amanda Williams – his daughter-in-law – who is the only candidate to file for one of two open board seats in the October municipal election.

“We have a very short period of time,” said Williams. “How much influence and benefit to the board overall is going to be minimized on such short service. Only one candidate put their name in to run, and that continuity will go from starting here tonight, through the length of the term.”

The third applicant for the vacancy was former board member Elias Erickson. Neither Erickson or Rioux said whether or not they would register as write-ins for the two open full-terms in the municipal election next month. The last day to file as an official write-in is September 26.

Paul Rioux will serve on the board for only one scheduled meeting on October 2, until new board members are seated following the certification of the municipal election on October 8.

The Sitka School Board has offered its informal support for a plan to tax the sale of cannabis products, in order to pay for extracurricular activities in the school district.

The Sitka Assembly has drafted a ballot proposition to put before voters this fall that would eliminate the municipal sales tax on cannabis, and replace it with a slightly higher consumer tax. At its most recent meeting, the school board backed the proposition – with one major caveat.

The problem is just a line in the ballot proposition ordinance stating that the money raised by the new tax would be “included in the calculation of local support” per state law – where it might have the unintended effect of diverting funding from classrooms into extracurriculars.

That’s an oversight, according to assembly member Rebecca Himschoot, who sponsored the ordinance. She cleared things up with the school board at its meeting on June 1. This money is intended to land outside the state funding formula, and directly support student participation in sports and activities.

“It’s really important to the assembly, or at least to the three co-sponsors that these funds be supplemental to the district’s existing effort,” said Himschoot. “So our expectation is that the district will continue with current funding levels. And we’ll be adding to that, and the ultimate goal — obviously, elusive-but-worthy — will be to make school activities, if at all possible, free and open to everyone.”

Himschoot said that the problem language would be deleted from the draft ordinance, with the approval of the rest of the assembly. Another likely change will be eliminating the highest proposed tax rate of 10-percent on marijuana, and capping it at 8-percent.

Sitka already charges a sales tax which alternates seasonally between 5- and 6-percent. Cannabis products would be exempt from the regular sales tax, if voters approve the ballot measure. Himschoot said this made the new consumer tax easier to bear for the cannabis industry in Sitka.

“So we’re hearing from the three companies we’ve been talking with: One company has been very supportive, one company has become supportive through the changes that we’re making, and we’re not really hearing from the third company,” said Himschoot. “And when I say ‘very supportive,’ they understand the need for activities in the end, and using this (tax) as a means to that end is something they’re supportive of.”

Taxing  marijuana is complicated. Outgoing school board president Andrew Hames recalled serving on the Marijuana Advisory Committee in 2016, and learning how excess taxes might make legal cannabis uncompetitive with the existing, illegal market.

“And at that time, there was so much concern by people who were looking to starting a business at being burdened down with taxes, and not being able to, number one, be competitive with the black market,” Hames said. “And number two, be sustainable with just the amount of expenses. Because of the nature of the product, they didn’t have the same tax write-offs. So they were really hesitant, which at the time surprised me because one of the main reasons for legalizing was we can tax this and we’re not taxing it at all right now. And so the thought was, let’s get things up on their feet. And then we can revisit this a few years down the road.”

Hames said that he was pleased that the assembly was now pursuing the idea.

Funding student activities has been a difficult problem over the last couple of decades. Travel costs are huge, and students and families are asked to both fundraise for activities, and pay fees that have grown so large that equity is a serious concern.

The school board has explored solutions over the years, formed parent committees, without any major breakthroughs. Board member Paul Rioux thought the consumer tax on cannabis products was the first real opportunity in a while.

“As much as I hate to see new taxes, I was thinking back to what my comment a few months ago about, you know, possibly looking around at the good old days,” said Rioux. “And we’re looking at situations with rising costs and stagnant — if not declining — revenues. And if we’re not working as a community to solve those problems before they reach our doorstep, then they’re just going to run us over.”

Both board members Blossom Teal-Olsen and Todd Gebler liked the proposal. Gebler said his knee-jerk reaction was that “any revenue stream would be welcome.”

Assembly member Himschoot encouraged board members to speak to the proposed ballot proposition at the assembly’s next meeting on June 14. She reminded the board that sales tax revenues were on the rise overall in Sitka, and that replacing the sales tax on cannabis with a slightly higher tax to benefit students wouldn’t be seen as unfair to the sector.

“And we do always have to acknowledge the risk of the black market when we increase taxes on this industry,” she said. “So I guess there’s a certain level of faith and trust in Sitkans to do the right thing. There won’t be a huge bottom-line difference to most people in town who are using marijuana products.”

The move came following the announcement by board president Andrew Hames that he is resigning effective June 2 in order to pursue a teaching position in the district. Former board president Amy Morrison resigned her seat on May 18.

Only one person had filed a letter of interest for the interim appointment to Morrison’s seat. Board member Blossom Teal-Olsen proposed readvertising for applicants to both seats, and filling them at a special meeting in June.

Board member Paul Rioux said there had been some pushback about moving forward with an appointment with only the one applicant.

“We got a lot of public feedback about creating a bigger pool,” he said. “And that’s what that’s why you guys want to do it this way, right?”

Board member Todd Gebler echoed Rioux’s remarks, saying “one applicant is a very shallow pool.”

That sentiment was reflected in public testimony from Sarah Ferrency, a former administrator in the district.

“I just wanted to publicly reiterate the testimony that I made to you via email, which is that I appreciate you considering a wider pool of candidates,” said Ferrency. “Your board policy does state that when making an appointment to the board, the board desires to draw from the widest possible number of candidates. And one simply is not a wide number of candidates.”

Ferrency said that although she personally was not interested in an appointment, she’d spoken to a number of people who were, who were simply too caught up in graduation and the end of school to get their letters in.

The successful appointees would have to win the unanimous vote of all three remaining board members. Outgoing board president Andrew Hames reminded everyone that he and Blossom Teal-Olsen joined the board in the same way two years ago.

 “That’s exactly the scenario When Blossom and I were appointed almost exactly two years ago,” said Hames. “There were three members voting. And then also to state publicly that these appointments are only up until the October election, correct? Because I think there was some thought or thinking that in filling the seat that was vacant, you would finish out that person’s term. That’s not the case. I don’t want to use the word temporary appointments, but they are only through October. And then if the person selected for the seat wanted to retain that seat, they would need to run for it. Which is — again — exactly what happened to us.”

The appointees will serve until the Municipal Election on October 4, when voters will elect candidates to serve out the remainder of the vacant terms – one seat would be for two years, and the second seat would be for one year. A third seat, currently held by Paul Rioux, will also be up for grabs this fall. Rioux’s seat would be a full, three-year term.

The Sitka School District office will accept letters of interest from prospective appointees to the Sitka School Board through 4 p.m. on June 9. The list of applicants will be made public on June 10. Written public comments on the applicants will be accepted via email through June 14. The Sitka School Board plans to interview the applicants and select two to serve, during a special meeting beginning at 6 p.m. on June 15 in the District Office board room.

The Sitka School Board on Wednesday evening (4-6-22) voted down a motion to rename the school Charlie Joseph, Sr., Awdigaan Hít, 4-1, with member Paul Rioux opposed.

The vote was largely a formality, as the board remains interested in a name change for the building. At its next regular meeting in May, the board will discuss how to proceed. Board member Blossom Teal-Olsen suggested asking the Sitka Tribe to form a name-change committee, and to propose three names that could then be put before the community.

Although there was much support for the name Charlie Joseph, Sr., Awdigaan Hít within the tribal community, there was not consensus, and some testified that the name-change process undertaken over the past year was flawed.

Andrew Hames elected to succeed Amy Morrison

When the school board convenes next in May, it will be under new leadership. Board president Amy Morrison is leaving Sitka, and submitted her resignation effective May 18. In a secret ballot, the remaining board members named Andrew Hames as the new president of the board. Vice-president is Paul Rioux, and clerk is Blossom Teal-Olsen.

Although next steps weren’t discussed at Wednesday’s meeting, if the board follows past procedure, it will soon solicit letters of interest from candidates who’d like to fill Morrison’s vacancy. The appointed candidate would serve until the municipal election in October.