Parent warns district reorganization will drive disenrollment, says board breached community trust

Tiffany Cook, a parent of two students in the district, told the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District Board of Education on May 14 that recent reorganization decisions have eroded trust, will cause families to disenroll before official count dates and have not been analyzed by the district for fiscal impact.

Cook described emotional consequences for children and families and urged the board to consider the fiscal consequences of disenrollment. “There will be disenrollments. There have been disenrollments,” she said. “Craig and Galena are gonna be sitting pretty when those kids have their money go to those districts because they're not going to fast track if they're homeschooling.”

Cook recounted a recent conversation with her son in which he learned where he would be assigned and “burst into tears.” She said that after the district’s decision was finalized in April some children were left without the familiar teachers and spaces that provided stability — a point she tied to earlier trauma in classrooms when a teacher died midyear.

Cook said the change will damage trust in the district for at least a generation and urged the board to face the community and explain the decisions to students. She told the board she had asked a commissioner about projected fiscal impacts and was told the district would not consider disenrollment projections; Cook said the board has yet to incorporate that risk into planning.

Her remarks were delivered during the public comment period and were not followed by a formal board response or action at the May 14 meeting.