November 16, 2022

 

Dear CCSD Parents and Community Members:

 

This is always an exciting time of year as the holiday season is on our doorsteps; our families, students, and staff members are preparing for our upcoming Thanksgiving break, student holiday programs, and our winter holiday break.  It is also a busy time for CCSD as we’ve been addressing some major district initiatives. 

 

First, the CCSD School Board appointed two new members to fill seats that have been recently vacated.  Please welcome Heather Mendonsa and Kimberly Wojtak to the CCSD School Board.  The CCSD School Board has recently organized its leadership positions in the following manner:

 

• Hans Hjort – President
• Trish Conatser – Vice President
• Marla Dillman – Secretary
• Heather Mendonsa – Member
• Kimberly Wojtak - Member

 

Second, the four-week, student count period ended on October 28.  The student count period is an important time for all Alaska school districts because it ultimately determines the amount of state funding each school district will receive this school year. CCSD is pleased to report that our Craig based enrollment is up 16 students over last year’s enrollment.  We have three additional students at CES; our CMS enrollment dropped by 1; our CHS enrollment grew by 14 students.   Our PACE homeschool/correspondence program enrollment is down from last year as are many of the statewide homeschool/correspondence programs. PACE enrollment is 446 for the 2022-2023 school year, a decrease of 39 students from last year. CCSD is proud to offer our families on POW and across the state viable educational options.

 

Furthermore, our CMS and CES Rehabilitation Projects will go out for bid today (Wednesday, November 16).  There will be a pre-bid on-site facility walk through for prospective contractors on November 29 and bids will be opened on Monday, December 12.  Due to the complexities of the middle school project and a long delay for the construction and shipping of air handler units for both the CMS and CES projects the district will need to consider adjusting our school calendar for the 2023-2024 school year if we ultimately have enough funding to move forward with these projects.  MRV Architects has informed CCSD regarding the following parameters the district needs to consider:

 

• The middle school construction date works with the current school calendar, which shows the last teacher workday on June 7, 2023.
• The middle school would be unavailable for the full school year (2023-2024).
• The 2023-2024 school calendar would require modifications to facilitate the maximum possible summer construction window for the CES Rehabilitation Project.
• MRV Architects recommends a first construction day on May 15, 2024 and a substantial completion inspection on September 16, 2024.  This would enable a start of school on September 17, 2024.

 

Please note that nothing is finalized yet.  These are very turbulent times from a construction perspective with inflation and bottlenecks with shipping.  As more information becomes available after the bid process we will know if we have the necessary funding to move forward with these projects based on the amount of our lowest qualified bids.  As soon as we know more specific information it will be shared immediately with our community.

 

In closing, thank you for choosing to educate your child(ren) with CCSD.  If I can provide additional information about the items noted in this communication or any other district initiative, please call me at 826-3274 ext. 4003 or email me at the address below. I’d really appreciate the opportunity to continue the conversation.

 

Sincerely,

Chris Reitan, CCSD Superintendent                                                                  

Email: creitan@craigschools.com