Board hears clerk’s policy recommendations and debates HR contracting practices; several votes approved

Ketchikan — At its Sept. 24 meeting the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District Board of Education received a written verbal report from the board clerk on items learned at an Alaska Association of School Boards (AASB) conference, discussed district human‑resources practices after concerns about contracts being signed before board approval, agreed to form a health‑care task force and approved a set of routine motions by roll call.

Board clerk’s recommendations: Chloe Hall summarized takeaways from the AASB conference she attended in Anchorage and recommended several governance improvements. Her recommendations included exploring a board document management system (for secure sharing of confidential documents), using roll‑call votes for matters when members participate virtually, creating short written committee reports for inclusion in board packets, issuing notices of possible quorum for public events to comply with the Open Meetings Act, and an immediate review of BP 9321 (executive session policy). Hall said BP 9321 has not been updated since 2002 and recommended policy committee review; she also flagged BP 6151 (class sizes) and BP 5138 (cell‑phone policy) in relation to recent legislative changes.

HR contracting practices and board oversight: Several board members raised concerns about contracts and whether they had been executed before board approval. Member Ginter said signing before formal approval “undermines transparency and creates liability.” Superintendent Ford Slack responded: “This is certainly not a practice that I have ever seen with boards in Alaska … After the board hopefully approves that contract, I was normally on the phone with the candidate saying that tonight, your contract has been approved. You’ll be hearing from whoever in HR will be getting you the contract to be signed. I have never seen contracts signed before a board approval.” She said the typical practice is a letter of intent followed by board‑level approval and then execution.

Health‑care task force and board goals: Business‑services staff said they plan to convene a healthcare task force in late October with follow‑up meetings in November and December and invited board interest in serving on the group. Several members expressed interest but said public‑facing commitments should await the post‑election composition of the board. On board goals the board agreed to schedule a dedicated workshop after the Oct. 2025 election to draft board goals aligned to the district strategic plan; members said a multi‑hour work session is the right forum to develop board goals.

Votes at a glance: By roll call the board approved the agenda, accepted reports for information, approved a revised consent calendar (with one contract item pulled for separate discussion), formally withdrew a previously proposed school lunch MOA with NMS USA so staff could rework it, approved offering three long‑term substitute contracts for 2025–26 and approved a first reading of BP 4133 (travel expenses) with language changes under consideration in the AR. The long‑term substitute motion passed 7–1 (Member Ginter recorded the lone no on that motion); other roll‑call votes passed unanimously.

Ending: The board directed the policy committee to review the executive‑session policy and other flagged items and asked staff to provide written committee reports for future packets. Several board members urged using formal complaint processes where appropriate rather than acting on informal allegations.