School board approves resolution addressing Tustumena by Nicole Klauss / nklauss@kodiakdailymirror Aug 07, 2013 The loss of the ferry Tustumena, which is out of service indefinitely as it undergoes repairs, is now affecting students in the Kodiak Island Borough School District. Each fall, nearly one-third of the students at Kodiak High School participate in fall sports including football, cross country, swimming, volleyball and tennis. With the loss of the Tustumena, costs for student travel have exploded as the district has been forced to use air travel. According to a resolution presented to the Kodiak Island Borough School Board in a Monday night special meeting, increased travel costs mean 50 percent fewer students will travel to away games. The school board approved the resolution, which asks the state to support student travel due to the loss of the Tustumena. The resolution encourages the Alaska Student Activities Association to align its schedule with that of the Kennicott and asks the Alaska Marine Highway System to decrease the number of Kennicott trips to Washington so that ship can fill in for the Tustumena. KIBSD superintendent Stewart McDonald worked with the staff at Sen. Gary Stevens’ office before writing a resolution for the school board to consider. “The reason I worked with the office was to seek a way to weigh in on this matter, bringing the awareness to the sate and all of the departments that needed to be aware of it without creating conflict with any group,” McDonald said. The state is fining Seward Ship’s Drydock $20,000 each day the Tustumena remains ashore, and the resolution recommends a portion of that fine be reserved for student travel. It also encourages air carriers to reduce their rates for student travel. “I just love number three (regarding the $20,000 fine),” school board member Rick Kniaziowski said. “That’s one of my favorite resolutions I’ve ever seen.” The resolution will be forwarded to state officials, the Alaska Marine Highway System, the Association of Alaska School Boards and the Alaska School Activities Association for consideration. In other business, the school board approved a $148,500 requisition for 2013-2014 professional development workshops that will be used to train 55 teachers from kindergarten to third grade on making students proficient in reading. The board also approved five contracts. Jackson Brown was hired as a social studies teacher at Kodiak High School, Elizabeth Brundage was hired as a teacher for Peterson Elementary School, Joseph Krause was hired as a teacher for Larsen Bay School, Yvonne Cleary was hired as a counselor for Kodiak High School and Kate Anthony was hired as a teacher for East Elementary School. The school board next meets at 7 p.m. Aug. 19 for a regular meeting. Contact Mirror writer Nicole Klauss at nklauss@kodiakdailymirror.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 20:41:06 +0000
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