The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School Board delayed approval of closing two elementary schools at their regular Wednesday night meeting. It’s part of an effort to address a massive budget deficit due to declining enrollment and years of high operating costs.
Nearly a dozen staff members in blue, tie-dyed Point Higgins sweatshirts attended the meeting to honor their school — likely in anticipation of its closure this upcoming school year. Point Higgins Principal Todd Henke played video montages of the school students and staff. Teachers in the audience laughed seeing videos of their students on screen. Several board members cried.
But when it came time to vote, board member Shari Montgomery said there isn’t enough information to close that school or Fawn Mountain Elementary quite yet. She said there needs to be more plans in place before making such a big decision.
“I don’t think we can just start closing schools without any plans of where our kids are going or how they’re going to get there,” Montgomery said.
She also said she’d like to see financial data on the projected savings of school closures before a vote happens.
“We have a lot of heartbroken people about losing our neighborhood schools,” Montgomery said. “After last year’s failed attempt to save money with the restructuring, providing that financial information upfront can help rebuild trust and show that this is a viable plan and not just another experiment with our children.”
Montgomery said there needed to be a “comprehensive closure plan” — one that includes where the kids will go and what transportation will be provided for them to get to their new schools.
The board unanimously approved to delay approval and direct district staff to draft a closure plan to be presented at the regular board meeting April 8.
Around a dozen people commented at the meeting. Many of them asked the board to include Career and Technical Education, or CTE programming, in next year’s district budget. Nearly everyone who spoke asked for transparency from the board on what programming is being preserved.
On the agenda was also a Reduction in Force plan — a document that legally outlines how and why layoffs can be made. It doesn’t address what is being cut.
Some board members, like Ali Ginter, were concerned about that. She wanted to know what was being cut before voting on the RIF plan.
“We had several public comment regarding the protection of the programs,” Ginter said. “Had we had that in this RIF plan, I doubt that we would have had so much confusion up at that podium”
But, according to interim superintendent Sheri Boehlert, approving the RIF plan is a necessary step before approving the budget.
“We cannot outline every single specific program in there, because if the budget doesn’t get passed in its first reading, there may be changes and fluctuations,” Boehlert said. “And we do not want to be held to a document that outlined a specific program, and then the budget changes, and now we’re held to that program and to what’s in the budget.”
And that approval is time-sensitive — the Ketchikan Education Association, the local educators’ union, initially wanted it approved before Spring Break so staff who are facing layoffs could be made aware as soon as possible.
Boehlert explained that if teacher contracts are released as soon as possible — the day after the budget is expected to be finalized — the earliest teachers could be notified of layoffs is May 9. State law requires tenured teachers who are being laid off need to be notified by May 15.
“That gives us six days,” Boehlert said. “Six days to effectively, and with empathy and with heart, let these people know that they’re not going to have a job. If we push this later and we don’t approve it until whenever down the road, we get to the point where if we are even one week late, we will be in jeopardy of [having to] bring back every teacher, and then you will be facing a real challenge.”
Boehlert said that after weeks of collaboration — aside from a few “wordsmithing” changes — the KEA and district staff were in agreement on the plan — up until early Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the board meeting. At that point, Boehlert said, it was too late to make any last-minute changes. And, she said, it’s been approved by the district’s legal team multiple times.
Board Vice President Melissa Reed supported the RIF plan as presented. She said she wanted to honor the work that had already been done.
“I am really concerned that we keep putting this off and making small word changes rather than giving our staff and our teachers and our administrators the knowledge to go forward,” Reed said.
Board member Ginter said she wouldn’t vote to approve the plan until she was sure the KEA president was satisfied with the version of the RIF plan presented.
“I don’t feel like we should be rushing this,” Ginter said. “I really don’t feel comfortable that we are missing elements of this document. Even if legal has said, ‘oh yeah, it’s fine.’ Other districts, I’m sure, have heard, ‘oh yeah, it’s fine,’ but then they’ve been sued.”
KEA president Lindsay Tucker said in an email to KRBD that while they understand the district must enact a RIF, they continue to have reservations about the plan adopted.
As part of a statement, Tucker wrote: “The language currently presented in the RIF lacks the specificity needed to ensure fair and consistent implementation. For example, there is an absence of identified programming priorities. A responsible RIF plan should be guided by a clear understanding of which programs and services the district intends to preserve. Without that clarity, it is impossible to fully assess how proposed staffing reductions will impact the educational opportunities available to students.”
Tucker said KEA continues to insist on collaboration between the district and the union going forward.
The RIF plan was approved 5-2, with Montgomery and Ginter voting no.
The school board meets again in a special meeting this Saturday, and another special meeting next Wednesday. They are expected to approve next year’s budget April 8, the same day they are expected to vote on both school closures.
