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Petersburg students return to class this Tuesday, and students and families will experience some changes to Petersburg School District policies this academic year. The local school board reviews the student handbooks for Stedman Elementary School, Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School every year and makes updates as deemed necessary. Language in the Stedman handbook about dress code was added to include a "three-finger rule" for tank tops to advise the width of sleeves should be about...
Be it boating safety classes, courtesy vessel inspections, maritime observation missions or last-minute substituting for chefs on Coast Guard Cutters, members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary provide support to Coast Guard units and promote boating safety in local communities. And now, the Auxiliary in Petersburg will stand up a local Flotilla after years operating as a detachment. The Coast Guard Auxiliary has about 20,000 volunteers nationwide - about 225 in Alaska, which is District 17 for...
Jill Lenhard moved to Ketchikan last August to take a teaching job at Ketchikan High School, but she – and her husband, music teacher Matt Lenhard – both got caught up in this year's teacher layoffs that impacted public school districts across the state. Fortunately for Petersburg, this meant the perfect candidate was unexpectedly available to fill a new teaching vacancy at Mitkof Middle School. Lenhard had spent over 20 years in Petersburg as a vital component of the school district's Eng...
The window to file for candidacy in Petersburg's municipal election is now open. Folks in town who meet the qualifications for local office can add their name to the ballot by turning in required paperwork to the Borough Clerk's office before the window closes on Aug. 20. A total of 14 seats will be up for election this fall. Each position is for a three-year term. Among the local elected positions will be two seats on the Petersburg Borough Assembly, currently occupied by assembly members Bob...
Patric Drewe Curtiss was born on August 28, 1947, in Kirkland, Washington, to Ruby and Glenn Curtiss and welcomed by his two sisters, Karen and Linda. After graduating from Lake Washington High School, Pat attended Everett Junior College where he met and fell in love with Patricia Crouch, a Seattle girl rooming with some girls from Petersburg, Alaska. Following their advice, Pat started spending his summers working at Petersburg Fisheries Inc. to earn money for college. Inspired by his older sis... Full story
Petersburg teachers will likely have a contract for the next three years. That's because a deal between the teachers union and the school district met a final requirement on Friday when Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed the state operating budget without vetoing any one-time public education funding. The two groups came to a tentative contract agreement in May that was contingent on Dunleavy approving all $175 million dollars for public education in the state operating budget. That agreement came after...
June 27, 1924 – The cannery of P.E. Harris at Scow Bay ran through 800 salmon Monday. This was the second salmon to be canned this season around Petersburg. The Mountain Packing Company was the first, having run through 86 cases last Saturday. The trollers have been making big hauls. Otto Sutter of the Fidalgo Packing Company, who was in town recently, reported that the big run in the Copper River district near Cordova was of short duration. The Petersburg packing Company canned fish Thursday. The Kingsmill Brought the fish from Colpoys and Eag...
Petersburg School District is the sole recipient in Alaska of a new grant designed to help schools source more food locally - in this case, through a partnership with Farragut Farm. PSD's food service program offers school breakfast and lunch, a fresh fruits and vegetable snack program in the grade school, an after school at-risk youth program, and also the summer food program; currently, the entire food service program is self-funded, according to PSD Food Service Program Director Carlee...
In the middle of her voyage from Sitka to Pelican, Alaska State Rep. Rebecca Himschoot called into the Pilot from West Chichagof Island to talk about her first term and her upcoming repeat bid where she is running unopposed. With the weight of the campaign off her shoulders, while the legislature is out of session, Himschoot is boating through the district – visiting each of the 21 communities she represents in the State House including Petersburg – with fresh eyes, as she reflects on the hig...
Petersburg School Board unanimously passed the district's FY25 budget at their regular meeting on Tuesday. This year, more of the budget is going to instruction and less to operations and maintenance, summarized PSD Finance Director Shannon Baird. The budget estimates 450 students will be enrolled in the school district in the 2024/2025 school year. That number is around 19 students fewer than the school year which has just ended. Because the base student allocation has remained flat for yet...
The next Petersburg Borough budget was passed by the assembly on Monday after amending it three times in its final reading. This approved budget for fiscal year 2025 will start at the top of July and includes maximum funding for Petersburg School District to the tune of $3.4 million. Several speakers from PSD testified their gratitude to the borough for supporting the so-called "to-the-cap" funding in the borough's FY25 budget. "Inconsistent and unreliable state funding has created instability...
May 30, 1924 – E.J. McKechnie, one of the U.S. Forest Service stationed at Petersburg, says that four miles will be added to the road at Farragut Bay this year. He hopes to have his equipment and men ready around June 5 so that work can then be started. The roadway now begins at the Wallace Homestead and runs toward the river. More settlers are moving into the Farragut Bay section. Mr. McGregor is prospecting along the river and there is a chance that paying mines may be added to the resources of the district. June 3, 1949 – At the May 26t...
For the next few years, school meals will be free to all students enrolled in Petersburg School District. All three school sites in PSD now qualify for the USDA Community Eligibility Provision, which allows schools to offer breakfast and lunch at no cost to student families because the meals are ultimately reimbursed by money from the federal government. PSD Food Program Director Carlee Johnson McIntosh managed the administrative push for getting the CEP. "It's such a great need ... I've seen it...
After twenty three years working for the Petersburg School District, Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter will retire on June 30. In early 2001, Kludt-Painter's dad told her there was a job opening for a principal in Petersburg, Alaska, and said he thought she'd like Petersburg, a town about the same size as her hometown of Orofino in rural northern Idaho. She jumped at the opportunity. Barb Marifern, who was on the hiring committee, said that after a series of phone interviews with each...
On Saturday, the Petersburg Community Foundation (PCF) granted over $26,000 to nine Petersburg nonprofits and awarded Volunteer of the Year to Jim Stolpe. The Petersburg Community Foundation formed in 2008 as a local affiliate of the Alaska Community Foundation (ACF). PCF continues to grow its community grant-making endowment fund, thanks to the support of the Rasmuson Foundation, ACF, and generous local charitable giving. Every year, dividends from its investments are used to provide financial...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly is considering an ordinance that may increase the local sales tax cap for the first time in over two decades. If passed, the ordinance would appear as a ballot proposition this fall, allowing borough voters to decide the hike. The proposed ordinance seeks to raise the maximum taxable transaction amount from $1,200 to $5,000 by amending code language. Under the current municipal code, any purchase exceeding $1,200 is only taxed on the first $1,200 - capping the...
The Petersburg Borough budget for the next fiscal year (FY25) is nearly decided. Currently, the proposed general fund budget for FY25 anticipates total revenues amounting to $13,009,827 and expenditures of $13,408,975 - spending a deficit of nearly $400,000. This budget includes maximum funding for the Petersburg School District. The borough finance department attributes the FY25 general fund budgeted deficit spending primarily to the school district funding increase request, however the...
The Petersburg School District is considering three scenarios to reduce the financial burden of student activities on the district's general fund. The three scenarios each involve different adjustments to activity fees, expenses, or a bit of both. The first proposed scenario is all price hikes for activity fees and no cuts to expenses; the third option does not change activity fees, but cuts expenses significantly. The second scenario tries to balance the other options and does a bit of both....
Rep. Rebecca Himschoot hopes the bill she successfully ushered through the 33rd Legislature will provide school districts with effective tools to recruit and retain experienced teachers. “Districts are struggling to staff schools,” said Himschoot, whose House District 2 includes Sitka, Petersburg and dozens of small Southeast communities. “We’re trying to add more tools for districts to fill positions with the best teachers they can get,” she said. House Bill 230, sponsored by Himschoot, is an education reform package that includes elements...
Graduation has arrived for the class of 2024. Commencement events kick off on Tuesday, May 28 with a noise parade around the loop starting at 5:00 p.m. followed by the graduation ceremony in the high school gym at 7:00 p.m. This graduating class faced its challenges. They were freshmen in the fall of 2020, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic shaped the beginning of their high school experience. "We had teams that qualified for State, but we didn't attend because State wasn't really...
On May 7, negotiating teams for the Associated Teachers of Petersburg (ATP) and Petersburg School District met for a private discussion. The certified teacher contract negotiations have been in a stalemate for months. The situation is constrained by inadequate state education funding that has not adjusted for inflation since 2017. The lack of funding is causing trouble for the district budget to meet the union's expressed need for teacher salary increases. At the May 7 meeting, the district...
PMEA supports the teachers union To the Editor: We, the members of the Petersburg Municipal Employees Association Union (PMEA), support the Associated Teachers of Petersburg Union (ATP). As fellow public servants and advocates for quality education, we recognize the vital role that teachers and staff play in shaping the future of our community. We stand firmly behind the ATP in their current ongoing negotiations for a fair and equitable labor agreement. We believe that investing in our teachers is an investment in the future of Petersburg....
Let’s keep Petersburg schools - and Alaska - great To the Editor: Through no one’s fault but my own, I got busy with work and forgot to run down and attend the #RedforEd march for education. So I wanted to thank the Pilot and KFSK for covering the event as well as local school board and statewide education issues. Public school is what we make it, and in the near decade I’ve lived here I’ve seen people pour their hearts into making our schools great. I don’t have kids in the district, but as a Borough taxpayer I believe strongly in funding o...
Letter to the Editor: Support teachers to keep Petersburg competitive Contract negotiations between the Petersburg School District and the Associated Teachers of Petersburg began in January. The current contract, which is set to expire at the end of this school year, allowed for a 1% increase across the certified salary schedule in each of the last three years. This was in line with similar increases in previous contracts. As we all know, the last three years have brought significantly steeper inflation - roughly 15% in Alaska. We have all...
There were more attendees than usual at the Petersburg School District Board meeting last week as over a dozen teachers observed discussion about critical issues surrounding district finances. A few attendees testified before the PSD School Board, expressing shared concerns related to the district's tight budget and ongoing certified teacher negotiations between PSD and the Associated Teachers of Petersburg (ATP) union, which have struggled to reach an agreement on a three-year contract amidst... Full story
