Superintendent

February 17, 2007

From the Superintendent:

In a sad note, I want to extend my condolences and those of my district and staff to the families of Jim and Nelson on their recent losses. The tragic house fire, here in Angoon, has brought our village to a halt. The impact will be far reaching to many of our staff and especially our students, and we will work diligently with these concerns. The staff at Angoon is working to help in any way possible, and the district extends its hand of support as well.

The month of February was incredibly busy. The legislative fly-in and its information are of vital importance to the district.

As most of you know, the Timber Receipts were not a part of President Bush’s budget. This will affect the Southeast school districts. This will be a $289,000 loss for our school district. There are many attempts, at present, by the Southeast Superintendents to reduce this concern on our schools, but no positive communication has happened -- to date. I will keep everyone informed but must remind everyone this is our budget development phase time for the district.

The board and I visited with legislatures about possible transportation funds (bus) for Klukwan and have not received positive communication. The loss of possible financial support for student transportation at Klukwan will be a significant impact ($50,000). The student population has been estimated at only 12 or so, if there is no bus, and that would affect three members of the teaching staff. So again, the budget development phase for the district will be difficult.

We also discussed the ferry schedules and how they affect our students, the Gold Medal period and its impact on testing, attendance and truancy and many other issues which are important to our district. Most were not received well and in some cases were met with absolute negative responses.

During the legislative fly-in, I discussed with legislators the possibility of Alaska helping feed our students. At present only the federal government helps with this expense. To date Chatham School District does not offer food service at three of our sites and at our fourth (Angoon) we have a yearly deficit of $50,000. I was not successful.

The superintendents are supporting a $5,810.00 Basic Student Allotment for this next year. We are also requesting that rural schools received 50% of the ICER funds. I need your support on this for our students and would request that you call: Rep. Bill Thomas and Senator Kookesh on these issues.

A point that you might find interesting. The district received impact aide from the federal government. The State of Alaska keeps 90% of the money because our district is an REAA. While I am very grateful for the $221,000, I received for our students; wouldn’t it be nice to receive the whole amount? The way the state gets 90% of this money back is simple. Take the $221,000 find 90% of that - $198,900.00. Now what the state does is deduct that amount ($198,000) off our Basic Student Allotment. So while we get the federal money we lose because the state keeps ($198,000) the 90%. Wouldn’t it be great to get the Basic Student Allotment Money (BSA) and the Federal Impact Aide funds as well? When you hear someone say that the REAA’s do not support their kids, you can share this amount with them!

The district administrative staff met in January. The discussion was varied and incredibly useful. I was not aware of the great ideas that we all could share. I will be adding to my mail-outs the information that the administrative staff wanted to share with the school board and parents, in their quest to increase success for our students. Mostly, they redesigned the graduation qualifications and suggested pathways; they also reviewed ¼ credits instead of ½ credits and the inclusion of athletics inside the present credit grid. The technology credit was dropped and the state technology standards will be added within existing classes, so a reduction in graduation credits by one is recommended. Remember, all of the above are discussion and recommendation only and there will be ample communication with ASC, parents and the board before a final decision is made.

NEA-Chatham has contacted me with its request to begin labor negotiation. I have informed them that this process will be open and very public. You should expect information from me via e-mail and mail-outs on all future meetings and their results. I will also be mailing out, in this packet, the present salary and benefits of everyone in the district for your review. I will be making comments on the past negotiations and what was accepted by the district and its impact and how present negotiations will affect the district. My goal is to keep our best and brightest.

Please do not panic over the information I have shared with you in regards to budgets and money. I promise to work expeditiously in resolving these concerns. It was and still is my desire to increase teachers at Angoon and Gustavus due to student needs. I want to continue growth in technology, curriculum, and staff training. I will keep this in mind as the board and I move forward in the budget process.

Next Board Meeting: March 12-13th in Angoon
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Board Action: February 13, 2007
Hearing/Policy/Reading/Resolutions:
Public Comments on items in this section
BP 8120 – Review and make recommendations to qualifications. – Tabled for language clarification
PB 8000 - Review and make recommendations in regards to the name ASB.- Passed
BP 8200 (a) (b) – Review and make recommendations in regards to powers and duties. Passed
BP 8320 – Review and make recommendations in regards to meetings. Passed
BP 6146.1 – Review for discussion and recommendation from the Board: Send to ASC for Review
i. Addition of Skills Tutor as Credit Recovery for High School
ii. Addition of VHS Classes for Credit
iii. Breakdown of Credits from ½ to ¼ to facilitate credit recovery
iv. Addition of athletics as a credit: ¼ credit per sport

Old Business:
1. AR User Fees Update: Direct ASC’s to set fees and send to Superintendent –March Meeting
2. Classified Salary Committee Report: Tabled due to recent budget uncertainty

New Business:
1. Letter of resignation – Klukwan: Accepted
2. District Crisis and Pandemic Plan: Accepted
3. Gustavus Discipline Management Plan: Tabled
4. Video/TV Production Curriculum (Angoon): Tabled

ASB Minutes:
1. Klukwan ASB Minutes January 5, 2007 Reviewed
2. Gustavus ASB Minutes January 10, 2007 Reviewed
3. Angoon ASB Minutes January 23,2007 Reviewed
4. Tenakee ASB Minutes January 19, 2007 Reviewed

Correspondence: All Correspondence Reviewed and Discussed by the Board.
1. ASC-Klukwan Letter to the Board
2. ACSA Legislative Newsletter
3. E-mail ASC members Gustavus (2)
4. E-mail parent Angoon
5. E-mail “Geography Bee Results”
6. Gustavus Fox Tails
7. E-mail from Robyn Taylor to all sites about in-service
8. E-mail from Robyn Taylor on Lockdown Drill
9. Glacier Bay Chatham borough Economic Feasibility Assessment Summary Report
10. Angoon Fitness Center News Report
11. Letter from RainTree Quilting about Gustavus School
12. E-mail from Jo Coelo with the winners of the Geography Bee results:
a. Zach Manchester – 1st place
b. Tal Norvell - 2nd place
c. Eric Thompson - 3rd place
Future Items:

1. Personnel BP Review and revision
a. Classified Evaluation Tool Reviewed
b. Health Insurance for classified over the summer break
c. Classified Salary Scale reviewed and guidance from the board
2. Discussion on Social Promotion
3. Tlingit Curriculum K-2 for Angoon
4. Discussion on “Seat Time” versus completion of standards and the authorization of credit
5. Discussion on Senior Trips and regional board guidance