Turnover, New Board Members, and a Look at Next Year

The Copper River School District (CRSD) saw a small wave of resignations this month, with Special Education Director Sheryl Ross, Glennallen Elementary School (GES) Special Education Teacher Brenda Riffel, Kenny Lake School (KLS) Teacher Brandon Holmes, District Reading Interventionist and GES First Grade Teacher Laura Scott, and GES Special Education Teacher Anna Callison resigning effective at the end of the school year. Slana School Secretary Nicole Kautz resigned with an effective date of February 26.  

There were also new hires: Michelle Kurtz was hired as a KLS elementary teacher effective immediately and approved for the next school year. Margaret Wethor, who has been a sub in the district, was hired as a GES special education paraprofessional, and Sarah Roberts was hired as a special education paraprofessional with secretarial duties at Slana school.

At the March 3 regular CRSD board meeting, board members Hannah Bengston and Lacayah Engebretson questioned Superintendent Laville about the resignations. Laville initially stated some staff resigned due to life changes leading people away from the Copper Basin, or “being ready to retire.” 

Engebretson pointed out “Since December, there have been ten resignations, seven of them in special education. All three of the special education teachers that have resigned have been from Glennallen. We’re understanding it’s personal but are we collecting data across the time period? Why are people leaving and how can we use the data to support retention in the future? Even if it’s for ‘personal reasons,’ what are the things our staff are valuing and how can they be supported for retention?” 

Laville stated the cost of living and housing are a major issues alluded to by staff. “It’s too costly out here,” she said, “We don’t know how to fix that.” She added housing also impacts recruitment, as prospective staff ask about housing opportunities in hiring discussions. 

Engebretson encouraged Laville to perform exit interviews that could quantify unmet needs, and use that data for future advocacy or to seek resources. 

Bengston asked what board members can do to support the district in retaining or attracting staff. Laville stated reaching out to learn about housing opportunities and networking to recruit staff would both be helpful. She also stated the district is moving to national platforms such as LinkedIn to recruit teachers. 

Attrition in the Special Education Department is especially difficult, and not only because the children need attention, consistency, and care. 

Laville stated that the district has federal mandates to provide specific amounts of support to special education students, which currently number 82 throughout the district. Will the district be penalized if they are unable to fill vacant positions? Laville stated she is seeking guidance from authorities on that issue.

Student Individualized Education Plans are also time consuming to keep current. Glennallen Principal Ben Dolgner reported that new student paperwork can take “days” of staff time. With vacancies, that workload increases for remaining staff and for administrators. 

Laville shared that staffing is an issue in other districts, and other superintendents have described having trouble recruiting and retaining staff. She acknowledged that due to a need for personnel, districts may hire teachers that do not have a record of being effective educators. 

The 2026/27 calendar was reviewed and accepted by the board. Teachers will return August 17 and school will start August 24. School will end May 27. The relatively late start and end is due in part to Labor Day and Memorial Day falling later in the year. 

Seat B on the Copper River School District Board was filled by Mark Pick. The seat had been vacant since former member Heidi Jacobsen resigned in late 2025 to become the Glennallen High School math teacher. Pick and Ashley Hicks applied for the vacant seat. The board appointed Pick after going into executive session to discuss the candidates’ applications. 

Pick currently works for CRNA. He described his role as “providing support for students.” He stated he has been someone students and families can confide in, which has given him insight into needs at the school. Pick stated he has experience in education roles as diverse as crossing guard, Special Education teacher and as the head of Special Education in Hydaburg. 

When asked what he felt the district could be doing better, he stated, “We’re preparing them for the future, if today was the future. But things are evolving faster than we are.” When asked about the district’s use of technology, he stated he felt young people are familiar with querying AI or clicking on test answers, but students could learn more about truly “using [technology] as a tool.” 

Eileen “Birdie” Ewan was elected the new Vice President of the school board. 

The policy committee reported they are exploring refining the cold weather policy. They have discussed putting a community survey together. They are considering revising the policy to give the superintendent more discretion on cold weather closures. The committee stated a service animal policy is needed, and they will present a model policy to the board during an upcoming meeting. 

Administrator reports highlighted partnerships between schools. Upstream Learning’s go-getter robotics team is collaborating with Kenny Lake students and expanding to Glennallen. Upstream is also looking forward to a joint science fair with Slana. Kenny Lake highlighted hosting Glennallen Nordic Ski for their season ending event last month. 

Slana School was invited to Mentasta Katie John School Cultural Week Celebration in late February. Slana students learned about cultural hunting traditions, participated in art projects, played games, and got to know Mentasta kids. They were offered gifts at the end of the events in keeping with host tradition. 

Board Chair Mark Somerville announced he and board members Anna Bell-Hand and Preston Callison will go to Juneau in April to meet with legislators. He stated proposed bills that would create unfunded mandates for schools are among his concerns. I reached out to Somerville for additional information and hope to discuss the potential legislation more in a future article. 

Somerville stated he also would like to speak directly with legislators about positive things occurring in the district. 

The transfer of the Chistochina School property to Mount Sanford Tribal Consortium (MSTC) is almost complete. MSTC will pay $7500 to cover the administrative costs of the transfer. The district will retain the ability to use the property for events and has the right of refusal for future sales of the property. The terms of sale dictate the property must be used for public use. The board is ready to approve the transfer, but formal approval was postponed until the next meeting due to some errors in the paperwork. 

Special Education Services bids for school psychology and occupational, speech, and physical therapies were approved. District students who require these services will have access to them more frequently in the coming year, in compliance with new mandates. The increase will cost the district approximately $83,000 more than last year, but Title VI-B funding to the district has not increased. 

Kenny Lake Student Representative Miya Hammons came to the meeting sporting a potato that was her “child” for the week. 

The next regular board meeting will be April 7 at the Slana School.