State education commissioner comments on MEHS discontent

Mt. Edgecumbe High School. (Alaska Department of Education and Early Development)

By Anna Laffrey

Daily Sitka Sentinel

In a more than four-hour meeting of the Mt. Edgecumbe High School Advisory Board last Thursday, several school community members said they felt Superintendent David Langford was misleading in his response to concerns they expressed at a Dec. 3 meeting of the Alaska Board of Education about low student body morale and the rate of student disenrollment since the start of the fall term.

The speakers disagreed with Langford's assessment of student life issues that first aired this school year at an Oct. 9 meeting of the MEHS Advisory Board, and which they followed up on Dec. 3 when they testified at a meeting of the State Board of Education. All the Board of Education and MEHS Advisory Board meetings have been held over Zoom.

In the regular meeting of the Advisory Board on Thursday, members encouraged MEHS administrators to work to restore trust at the school by improving communication with parents, easing restrictions on students, and focusing MEHS staff training and efforts on aiding students' mental and behavioral health.

Department of Education and Early Development Commissioner Deena Bishop attended the meeting to discuss some major shifts for MEHS this year such as reduced funding, staffing changes including a new dormitory principal and new superintendent, and a switch from contracting with Trinity Business Services to NANA Regional Corp. for all food service and dormitory operations at the boarding school.

Except for a few students from Sitka who can live at home, Edgecumbe students are housed in campus dormitories during the school year. The students come from all parts of Alaska, mostly from rural villages.

Bishop’s presentation on Thursday also acknowledged the seven public comments that MEHS community members gave during the Dec. 3 Board of Education meeting, which she attended.

Testifiers in that meeting said that a mental health crisis is occurring at MEHS as health care providers are seeing record rates of suicidal ideation among students, and more than 10 percent of students have left the school, or "disenrolled."

Speaking Thursday, Bishop said she noted concerns in the areas of student health, family communications, morale, trust, restrictions on students in the MEHS dorms, reduced recreational opportunities, shortcomings in school security, reduced staffing, and the fact that counselors were moved to serve in different positions at the school this year.

Bishop said much of the change is due to reduced funding following years of budgets inflated by the infusion of about $5 million in COVID-19 funds that could be spent at the school’s discretion.

“When students are feeling that there is seemingly less at their school, that is a result of the funding,” Bishop said.

Later in the meeting, Bishop discussed a recent letter from a group of parents, alumni, former staff and administrators, and leaders of tribal governments outlining similar concerns.

Bishop said “the state School Board did receive the letter, but also listened to the testimony, and they had sent action for me to come back to them with some information on Mt. Edgecumbe, as well as some information surrounding an ad-hoc (committee) like, what would that look like.”

Bishop confirmed that she will be looking into the concerns and taking them back to her board.

After Bishop’s presentation, Department of Education and Early Development staff member Susan Greenlee Sonnenborn explained the state policies that govern the Advisory Board. Sonnenborn explained the state Board of Education, which is at the head of DEED and serves as the governing body for all state-operated schools like Edgecumbe.

MEHS Advisory Board policies, as adopted by the state Board of Education, say the Advisory Board is to provide the MEHS superintendent with input on the school calendar, student activities and travel, curriculum, student conduct, the selection of principals, construction and major maintenance projects and school policies, Sonnenborn said.

“The policy also provides that the Advisory Board is to provide input to the commissioner on the selection of a Mt. Edgecumbe director or superintendent,” Sonnenborn said, noting that all recommendations are subject to final approval by the MEHS administration or state Board.

Following Sonnenborn’s presentation, Advisory Board member Tanya Kitka asked whether any Advisory Board members were included in the decision-making process for hiring David Langford as superintendent beginning July 1.

“No,” Bishop responded, explaining that “this year, due to the lateness of the hire, moving forward we did do a hire through a directorship out of the department.”

After some discussion, Kitka asked whether it would be appropriate “to request that we have an upcoming year review” for Langford.

“Would it be applicable to ask that that position be opened up and have, you know, a full review and full review of all applicants, including, you know, Mr. Langford, just so that we can have an actual, you know, kind of authentic hiring process performed once we're not in crisis mode?” Kitka asked.

Bishop said that she could get back to Kitka about that question. “The Advisory Board should have feedback into the review and evaluation in the working conditions and the working relationships, absolutely,” Bishop said.

Following the DEED presentations, 13 members of the public gave three-minute testimonies outlining their views on operations and student well-being at MEHS this year.

The testifiers said parents need better communication; students are losing the pride and traditions that come with being MEHS Braves; students are facing new restrictions and disciplinary attitudes; and discussed how restrictions affect kids experiencing inter-generational trauma, and may lead to adverse student behaviors.

Blossom Teal-Olson, who works for NANA Corp. as the on-site MEHS dormitory manager, spoke as a parent during public testimony Thursday.

“I really do want to hear everyone's opinions, but I feel in these last few meetings the superintendent has kind of been berated, and I kind of want to move on to the actual issues of students and education,” Teal-Olson said.

Another parent, Samuel White, said that “my son, his morale has gone down because of the new administration. And one of them, one of our family members, left because it was too strict.”

White noted that Langford changed the format of the school’s monthly meeting with parents, which traditionally has been a “town hall” style. For the parent meeting on Dec. 4, the superintendent requested that parents submit questions in advance of the meeting.

The Dec. 4 meeting “was a total cut-off,” White said.

White said that at the parent meeting, Langford "lied multiple times, and that really concerns me … especially (for) one who’s a superintendent of two schools." (Langford also is superintendent of Chatham School District, which includes schools in Angoon, Gustavus, Klukwan, and distance delivery students.)

"So, we just need more transparency with the new administration,” White said.

In public testimony at the end of the meeting, another parent said that at the Dec. 4 parent meeting, Langford misstated the rate of student departures from MEHS.

At that parent meeting, Langford stated: “We’ve lost 43 students and we’ve gained some students that have come in since the beginning of August. There was a rumor that it was worse than ever and it’s not true. We’re at 43 students, last year there were 76 students that had left, and the year before they were at 121. Right now it’s actually at the lowest level it’s been in the last five years.”

In fact, school records show that 72 students departed throughout the 2024-25 school year spanning from August through May, and 56 departed the entire school year before. Fourteen and 19 students had departed by December of 2024 and 2023, respectively.

As of December, 43 students have departed MEHS, Langford reported to the Advisory Board on Thursday.

Langford’s written report shows that three new students have arrived since August. Of the 43 students departing, nine left for family or personal reasons, nine left due to homesickness, one left at a parent’s request, three decided to leave, 11 left for unknown reasons, three needed a higher level of care and seven were dismissed, the report states.

A written report to the Advisory Board from MEHS student parliamentarian Martin Karmun, who serves in a non-voting Advisory Board seat, expanded on attrition at the school this year.

Karmun stated in his report that “the conditions of this school have reached a point where many students are struggling, and many are talking about not coming back to school after winter break.”

“Many students, including myself, feel disconnected, unfairly spoken to, and uncomfortable," Karmun wrote.

“Perhaps the most concerning thing that is happening is the students' rapid decline in mental health,” Karmun wrote. “When our Behavioral and Mental Health Services Coordinator was moved to a school counselor position, students were devastated. After she resigned from her school counselor position, there was a gap in student support, especially at a time when students really needed it."

“Students are overwhelmed,” Karmun wrote. “Mt. Edgecumbe has been a place where students are proud to be, and many students are connected to this school and want to see it return to its best. But right now, many are struggling, and we need support. Thank you for your time and commitment to the well-being of MEHS.”

• This story originally appeared in the Daily Sitka Sentinel.