The Petersburg School Board will meet in its regular session tonight at 6 p.m. in the Petersburg Middle and High School library. The board will address six items of new business, starting with a public hearing on the Indian Education Grant.
The federal grant is designed to address the cultural, linguistic, and academic needs of Native American and Alaska Native students. The programs it funds are designed to ensure that all students meet academic standards set by the state. The grant requires the school board to give an opportunity for any member of the public to speak about how the money should be used.
Then, the school board will review exempt contracts. Most Petersburg School District employees are represented by one of two unions: either the Associated Teachers of Petersburg, which represents local teachers, or the Petersburg Support Personnel, which represents employees working in supportive roles, like cafeteria and office staff.
Some personnel are exempt from both of those contracts. At today’s meeting, the school board will review the exempt contracts for the coming year, which will go into effect in July.
Following that, the school board will change its bank account signers. Petersburg School District’s current Finance Director, Karen Morrison, is resigning at the end of the school year, having held the position for twelve years. She’s moving to Juneau to work for the State Department of Education in their finance department. Shannon McCullough was selected to replace her, and will be added to the school district’s list of bank account signers.
The school board will also update its calendar for the fall semester. In previous years, teachers at Stedman Elementary have held an annual parent-teacher conference meeting in the first week of school. They are requesting to push the conference back a few days, which would give them more time to complete tasks related to the Alaska Reads Act.
Then, the school board will review Petersburg High School’s accreditation status, which must be renewed every five years. It will also review the status of its MAP and AK Star assessments, which are statewide tests administered by the Alaska Department of Education.
The Petersburg School Board will meet in its regular session tonight at 6 p.m. in the Petersburg Middle and High School library. KFSK will broadcast that meeting live. There’s more information on KFSK’s community calendar.
