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The Petersburg School District said they are confident in the safety of students and staff at school, following a credible threat made by a student last Thursday. The school responded to the threat with an investigation in cooperation with law enforcement. The Petersburg Police Department told the Pilot there is no present danger to the school. “We evaluated the threat and … we don’t see it as a threat to the students or to the public,” said PPD Chief Jim Kerr. Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter told the Pilot that the situation began when a...
Rick Perkins What is your age? 69 Why have you chosen to run for Assembly at this time? I have been asked to bring people and ideas together without a divisive tone in this capacity. What experience do you have that prepares you for this role? In working for the Boeing Company, I was able to bridge the gap from engineering to assembly, by building the tooling to do so regardless of paperwork or personalities. I have built 7 of my own homes, I have worked on 3 different water plant projects, and... Full story
In the middle school where I teach, it’s now commonplace to have two or three classes report to the gym each day where they play basketball, read books, or do nothing, because there is no substitute to cover for absent teachers. How can our schools improve outcomes like grades, test scores, and mental health if they can’t afford adequate staffing? The Legislature has a constitutional obligation to maintain a system of public schools. This year, the legislature approved a one-time $175 million increase in school funding. Our schools need a rel...
The Petersburg School District approved the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) six-year plan at the first meeting of the academic year August 15. It is a long term plan that is vital to secure state funding for major maintenance and building capital projects. The facility committee met with Borough Building Official and Code Enforcement Officer Ray Wesebaum, Southeast Regional Resource Center representative David Landis, and school board member Jay Lister to review and discern priorities for a six-year plan. So far, there are five projects on the...
Bo Varsano and Marja Smets of Farragut Farm won Farm Family of the Year at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer last week, the first Southeast farm ever to do so. Smets says they were surprised to hear they'd been nominated and selected for the award. "I think it's super cool to bring awareness to agriculture down here. People in the interior are like, 'Wow, there are farms there?'" In the Alaska State Fair announcement, Alaska Division of Agriculture Director Bryan Scoresby said, "Bo and Marja...
The filing window for candidacy in the 2023 Petersburg Borough Municipal Election officially closed Tuesday afternoon. Thirty candidates filed for the 20 seats up for election, and there will be 11 contested positions on this year’s ballot. The two contested seats on the assembly are now a race between Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Rob Schwartz, Rick Perkins, and incumbent Jeff Meucci. Both positions will be three-year terms. Dave Kensinger will not run for reelection in this year’s race. Both of the three-year terms on the hospital board are a con...
At the first board meeting of the academic year last week, the Petersburg School District board decided that school meal prices will increase by at least $0.25 this school year. This decision was approved in order to maintain the financial sustainability of the school food service program and comply with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Paid Lunch Equity Policy. The policy says that schools serving lunch need to have enough money to pay for meals that students buy at the regular price, not the discounted price; some s...
Students in Petersburg School District are set to start the school year on August 29, alongside several upcoming additions to faculty staff. New to the district is Thomas Hambley, who will teach fourth grade at Stedman Elementary this fall. "I am excited about joining the team at Stedman Elementary and becoming part of the Petersburg community," he shared. Hambley moved to Petersburg earlier this summer from Glennallen, where he taught fourth grade. He specializes in elementary level teaching...
Early in the season, one of my deckhands started the joke, “Pay to Bay,” dreaming of people paying money to fish on a drift boat in Bristol Bay, like people pay to climb Mt. Everest. That joke came around to bite us. We had a breakdown during the peak of the run, then the day we got fishing again Trident posted the 50-cents/lb base price (before quality incentives amounting to another 30 cents or more). The processor we sell to, Silver Bay, seemed sure to follow Trident’s lead. I sent my deckhands home with checks for $5,000 each—not much fo... Full story
Petersburg residents will have one ballot proposition to decide on when they go to vote in this year's municipal election on Oct. 3. Proposition #1 will ask if the borough charter should be amended to allow borough employees to serve on boards or commissions, except for those that directly administer their employment. The change, for instance, would allow a Petersburg School District employee to run for borough assembly or the hospital board but not the school board. The proposed amendment was...
Gus Pennington will return to Stedman Elementary School this fall as the new fifth grade teacher. However, Pennington is no stranger to the Petersburg School District. His new teaching role comes on the heels of experience in the district as a substitute and student teacher - and as a pupil in Petersburg, himself. Pennington graduated from Petersburg High School with the class of 2019 and left for college at University of Alaska Southeast. He returned to town later that fall - just before...
Petersburg residents can now file for candidacy in this year’s municipal election, which will be held on Oct. 3, 2023. 20 seats will be up for election this year, including two on the Petersburg Borough Assembly currently held by Dave Kensinger and Jeff Meucci. Both seats on the assembly are three-year terms. Katie Holmlund is the lone incumbent on the Petersburg School District Board up for election this year—also for a three-year term. The Petersburg Medical Center Board will have three seats on the ballot this fall. The seats that are cur...
The K-5th grade library program at Stedman Elementary School will welcome home a former Petersburg resident and long-time friend to the community, Debi Tice. One of several new hires to Petersburg School District, Tice now holds the title of Elementary Librarian and Intervention - the latter half reflecting a measure of the Alaska Reads Act. Tice started teaching in Petersburg in 1998, leaving and returning a few times, then ultimately taking her teaching career abroad to Brazil, China, and...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The state board of education last Wednesday delayed action on a proposal that would bar transgender girls from participating on high school girls’ athletic teams in Alaska, with several board members saying they wanted more time to consider the issue. Opponents of the proposal called it discriminatory and unconstitutional and said it would likely lead to litigation. Supporters, including Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, said it is needed to ensure fairness in girls’ sports. The board heard more than 2 1/2 hours of publi...
Alaska State Rep. Rebecca Himschoot visited Petersburg last week to meet with constituents as part of a tour around the Southeast communities she represents in the Alaska House of Representatives. Himschoot, a career educator and former member of the Sitka Assembly, finished her first legislative session in May after being elected to the House last year. She represents House District 2, which spans from Prince of Wales Island to Yakutat and includes Petersburg, Sitka, Kake, and Craig. "It was...
The Petersburg School Board approved the district's FY24 budget at its last meeting of the school year on Tuesday. The uncertainties surrounding education funding in Alaska as well as rising inflation and utility costs have made the budget's development a long and winding road, but advocacy efforts by school officials on both the local and state level have helped ensure stability in the district for another year. "Honestly this is a much better scenario than what I had...predicted, so I mean...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed Alaska’s $6 billion state budget into law Monday after vetoing more than $200 million from the document approved in mid-May by the Alaska Legislature. The governor’s biggest single cut was half of a $175 million one-time funding boost for K-12 public schools. Lawmakers intended the addition to partially compensate for inflation-driven cost increases. Because school districts have already had to set their budgets for the coming year, Dunleavy’s veto leaves some of them facing additional budget cuts or the prosp...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously passed the borough's budget for the next year in its final reading during Monday's meeting. The final version of the FY24 budget fulfills the Petersburg School District's request to increase local funding to $3 million, up $1 million from last year. The district has been advocating for a bump in funding at the local level and from the state as it faces inflation, higher utility costs, and the implementation of the Alaska Reads Act next school year. "I...
After 22 years of teaching at Stedman Elementary School, Gregg Kowalski is heading into a whole new world of learning-retirement. Kowalski could be found packing up his classroom last Monday morning, taking down inflatable planets and Tibetan prayer flags, moving well-used couches to other classrooms, and organizing shelves full of books that he will leave for the teacher taking his place next year. "It feels surreal. It's almost like I have to invent myself again, like being born again,...
The U.S. Forest Service is still seeking volunteers to fill out seats on the South Tongass Secure Rural Schools Resource Advisory Committee (SRS RAC), but with the deadline to apply fast approaching the committee is at risk of not having enough members to hold meetings. According to the Forest Service, RACs review proposals for projects on National Forest System lands, provide advice to the department, and vote on recommendations for the allocation of federal Secure Rural Schools Act funding to...
Alaska lawmakers reached a compromise on the state budget and adjourned after a one-day special session last week, approving a $1,300 Permanent Fund dividend for this fall with the possibility of a second, smaller payment next year if oil revenues exceed projections. The amount of the PFD and the capital budget — construction and maintenance projects in legislators’ home districts — were the final items that forced legislators into a special session after the regular session ended May 17 without a budget. The governor called them back to work...
The budget that legislators approved last week and will send to the governor for his signature into law or veto would provide around $804,000 in one-time additional state funding to the Petersburg school district for the 2023-2024 classroom year. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has not publicly stated whether he will approve the increase in state funding for public education. He did not propose any increase in the budget that he submitted to lawmakers at the start of the session in January, leaving it to legislators to decide an amount. State funding for pu...
April 25, 2023 Superior Court Judge Katherine Lybrand presided over the change of plea in State of Alaska (SOA) v Chadam Lopez. The defendant pleaded guilty to Reckless Driving and was sentenced to 30 days jail with 30 days suspended, a fine of $1,000, police and jail surcharges, 2 years probation, 6 month license revocation, ignition interlock device for 1 year, and an alcohol assessment with recommendations followed. The charge of DUI was dismissed by the prosecution. April 27, 2023 Superior Court Judge Katherine Lybrand over a status...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved the borough's FY24 budget in its second reading during Monday's meeting with three amendments added. The first amendment, proposed by Assembly Member Jeff Meucci, increased funding for Mountain View food service from $25,000 to $42,800 using general fund reserves. The increase was requested by the program to help meet the rising costs of food, inflation, and an increase in deliveries to five days a week, which started during the COVID-19...
With education funding undecided, Director of Finance Karen Morrison reported to the Petersburg School District Board during its meeting on Tuesday about possible budget scenarios for the next school year. The need for an increase in funding both at the state and local levels has been driven by inflation, rising utility costs, and the implementation of the Alaska Reads Act as well as the end of the district's hold harmless provision and COVID-19 funding going away. Earlier this month, the...
