Newly elected members of the Ketchikan School Board were sworn into office at their regular meeting this week. Lindsey Johnson, Shari Montgomery and Melissa Reed joined the seven member board on Wednesday night.
During the reorganization, Katherine Tatsuda was voted to remain board president. Melissa Reed was selected as vice president and board member Ali Ginter is clerk-treasurer.
Interim Superintendent PJ Ford Slack, who submitted her resignation last month, extended her stay with the district by a few days. She was initially going to leave on Nov. 10. Now, her last day will be Nov 14.
That means the district has just a few weeks to find her replacement. Board members were clear they want to hire internally within the district — but that will have its own challenges. School leaders aren’t incentivized to leave their current position for a temporary one. There would also need to be someone to fill their position in the school.
Members of the Ketchikan Leadership Organization, which is the district’s administrative union, spoke to the board during a work session. They shared concerns of short staffing, retention, and burnout.
Sheri Boehlert is the principal of Schoenbar Middle School.
“We have to have transparent decision making, and we have to get back to fostering continuous improvement,” Boehlert said. “When was the last time we talked about academics? When was the last time we talked about growth and excellence and used data to actually have those conversations?”
Other members complained about a lack of school social workers, technology specialists, and a curriculum director. Staff is being stretched thin, and isn’t feeling support from the board.
“We’re still doing what we need to do, but we are worn, we are weathered, and we are risking not being able to leverage what we need to with our students and our staff,” Boehlert said.
Board member Jordan Tabb asked what a potential interim superintendent will need to succeed in the role.
“First and foremost, we need to know that we have the full support of the board,” Jason House, president of the KLO, said during the work session. “We need to know that we’ve got the support of this community. We need to know that you’re going to have our back. We’re trying to cover each other as best we can, because we don’t have the district support.”
Part of that support from the board includes standing up against misinformation or negative community comments, which board members said can get harsh and, at times, cruel.
The search for a new, long-term superintendent is set to officially begin in December. It’s unknown whether the future superintendent will be local or have to relocate for the position.
The school board meets again Nov. 5. A special election on the recall of three board members will be held Nov. 18.
