New Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District Michael Robbins speaks during a community forum earlier this year. Robbins officially too over the job July 1. (Screenshot from KPUtv video)
Ketchikan’s school board heard from the district’s new superintendent Wednesday. Michael Robbins delivered his first report as the district’s new top administrator after taking over for interim superintendent Melissa Johnson on July 1.
Robbins outlined a three-part plan for his first 100 days as superintendent. First, he says, he’s meeting with school staff, labor groups and outside organizations to get up to speed. He told the board that he’s also looking at academic performance metrics.
“I’ve also had a chance to — and I think I put this in the transition plan — look at a lot of our data, and kind of start to make decisions based on some of the things that we saw. I’ve been working with our technology department to kind of pull some of that, and I think that that’s going to make — we already do that a little bit now, but I think we’re going to try to do that a little bit more just to try to target some of those kids,” Robbins said.
By the end of his first 100 days in October, Robbins says he plans to issue a written report outlining some of the changes he plans to make to improve student achievement.
School Board President Stephen Bradford praised Robbins for his work to date.
“It’s obvious that your feet were running before you even touched down. And we appreciate that effort and that dedication and focus that you’re showing to our school district so far,” Bradford said.
In other business, Ketchikan’s school board unanimously approved a revised set of goals for the coming school year. The board’s edits to the priority-setting document were largely minor — for example, splitting a two-pronged goal to communicate with the public and ensure diverse representation on district committees. The board also voted to work with Ketchikan’s tribe to pursue special teaching credentials known as Type M certificates for Alaska Native cultural instructors in addition to Native language teachers.
The board also unanimously approved a roughly $380,000 contract with a Palmer-based firm to upgrade the sound system in Ketchikan High School’s auditorium. The district’s maintenance director told the board that work is expected to get underway this fall, though he said some networking components may be delayed by supply chain issues.
