Wrangell’s school board held its last meeting of the year Monday evening.
Annya Ritchie is a new school board member and chairs the curriculum committee. She focused on the need to rework Wrangell’s health and physical education.
“In elementary school, we’re asking our primary educators to also teach PE,” Ritchie says. “And it’s not their area of expertise.”
Ritchie says elementary teachers are taxed with this extra burden that could be outsourced in a cost effect way. Like looking for partners at SEARHC or Public Health to teach classes.
Ritchie says in the secondary school there is one noticeable gap. No health class for middle schoolers.
“We have lots of PE opportunities in the secondary school, but we only have one health class in high school.”
For other items discussed, High School Principal David Macri says he hopes to revamp the secondary class schedule. Right now the schools follow roughly hour-long classes students take all year. Macri wants to change that, providing fewer, longer classes a day that could be completed in one semester. Macri has not yet formally presented these changes to the board yet.
Recently dismissed secondary art teacher Shanna Mall came to the meeting to contest her firing. She claimed the district wrongfully dismissed her, and she said she would be making an appeal. The district does not disclose personnel matters.
