The Ketchikan School Board decided Wednesday to continue to require a tuberculosis skin test for all new students.
The district had been offered a chance to participate in a new state public-health program for low-incident areas. That pilot program would test select students based on a risk-assessment survey.
The Board, though, determined that Ketchikan is at a high risk of exposure, citing the many visitors,and seasonal and military workers.
Other districts considered low-incident are in Anchorage, Juneau, the Mat-Su Borough, Fairbanks, Kodiak and Copper River.
Without much discussion, the Board also voted Wednesday to fund the Wellness Coordinator position for another year. The position had been funded by what was expected to be a four-year state grant, but it lost funding after the second year.
The Wellness Coordinator focuses on obesity prevention.
The School Board also unanimously approved a change to the FY16 district budget. The change prioritizes $100,000 in activities funds considered time-sensitive. Those funds now can be distributed to activities at the start of the school year.
The Board also talked about a request the district will have to make of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly to raise its spending limit for the FY2015 budget.
The request stems from retirement funds the state released in excess of $30 million. Superintendent Robert Boyle says the district is merely passing the funds on to the recipients, and won’t be enriched.
The next regularly scheduled School Board meeting is Aug. 26.
