Ketchikan school board reopens restructuring debate, directs staff to plan multi‑age option; approves study of closing Point Higgins

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District Board of Education on March 12 reopened debate over a controversial FY2025–26 restructuring plan, directing staff to develop a plan for multi‑age/shared class arrangements and to pursue specified district cost reductions while also approving the creation of a closure plan for Point Higgins Elementary.

The action followed a lengthy work session and more than an hour of public testimony in which parents, teachers and students urged the board to rethink a February 12 vote that advanced a specialization model that would concentrate grade bands and shift students between buildings. Board members ultimately voted 4–3 to direct staff to prepare a multi‑age/shared‑class plan with targeted expense reductions and also approved a separate motion directing staff to prepare a closure plan for Point Higgins Elementary; both votes were split along similar lines.

Why it matters: The board’s direction is an attempt to find alternatives that reduce staffing and operating costs while avoiding the disruption community members warned would accompany the restructuring the board previously approved. District staff told trustees the budget must be finalized for the borough by May 1, setting a tight timetable for any new proposals to be analyzed and priced.

Discussion and votes

Board members aired multiple alternatives during the work session, including keeping neighborhood K–6 schools with split or multi‑age classrooms, closing a geographically isolated school, or adopting the specialization plan that was passed Feb. 12. Trustees debated options such as converting elementary schools to K–8 or moving 7th–12th graders into the high school building; they also discussed legal and timeline constraints for a school closure.

Trustee Catherine Tatsuta and several colleagues urged caution about the Feb. 12 specialization plan and said closing a single school might be a cleaner, shorter‑term structural change. Trustee Jordan Tabb and others voiced concerns about intermixing middle‑ and high‑school students on one campus and about space and supervision. Superintendent Robbins told the board that any closure requires “maximum reasonable public notice,” citing case law and explaining staff would need a minimum of about 30 days to prepare a defensible closure process.

Public comment reflected deep community concern. Jason House, president of the Ketchikan Leadership Organization (KLO), urged the board for “timely decision and clear, consistent direction” so school staff can implement plans. Fourth‑grade teacher Matthew Boyd told the board, “You guys are good people,” and asked trustees to keep an “open mind” about flexible alternatives like multi‑age classrooms. Several parents and students described anxiety about forced moves and longer bus rides.

Formal actions

- The board voted to direct staff to prepare a plan to implement multi‑age/shared class models in primary schools and to propose district expense reductions (vote: 4–3). The motion included staff-level ideas such as a shared vice principal for Fawn Mountain and Point Higgins, a shared music teacher, a floating librarian, reduced nonessential staff travel, and a request that the borough reduce the district’s planned debt reimbursement (as a budgeting option) by $500,000.

- The board also voted to direct staff to develop a school‑closure plan for Point Higgins Elementary (vote: 4–3). That vote was limited to creation of a plan and did not itself close the school.

The board rejected several other motions that would have closed different schools or required an immediate reversal of the Feb. 12 restructuring vote.

Legal and timeline constraints

Superintendent Robbins reminded trustees that state and local practice require “reasonable” public notice before closing a school. He cited an Anchorage decision about “maximum reasonable public notice” and said staff would need about 30 days to complete a closure plan and hold hearings. The district must submit its budget to the borough by May 1 and to the state by July 15; trustees and staff repeatedly noted that compressed timelines limit how much new planning can be completed before budget adoption.

Next steps

Board members asked staff to return with costed plans and community outreach proposals. Staff said it will include public engagement — including outreach to tribal representatives and other community groups — in any closure or multi‑age proposal. Trustees also discussed asking the borough to consider reducing the district’s debt repayment obligation as part of a short‑term budget fix. The board scheduled follow‑up work in coming meetings, with the next regular meeting set for March 26.

Quotes attributed to meeting speakers are drawn from the March 12 transcript and public remarks.