I served 6 years on the UAS Ketchikan Campus advisory council through the time period that we transitioned from a community college to a branch of the University of Alaska. During that time I also fought to get the college library open to high school students. That was accomplished but I believe it is still underutilized.

We have made some advances over the last year toward greater cooperation with the UAS Ketchikan Campus. We have many more opportunities that are possible to work on with the UAS Ketchikan Campus and we need to look at increasing our opportunities with the entire University of Alaska network. We need to take greater advantage of video conferencing and satellite classroom delivery.

The following is a point I have brought up consistently over the years but it has been confronted with adult power struggles and money demands. I contend that if the Ketchikan Campus has 7 students in a class and the teacher is able to handle 15, or 18, that we should allow "qualified" high school students to take the class at no charge to the district. If there is a requirement for 8 students in order for the class to continue and to pay for itself, the district could pay for the one student but allow 8-11 students to take the class.

In doing this we maximize the use of our scarce resources and provide greater opportunities to some of our high school students. We show the community and the legislature that we are not only truly consolidating we are being fiscally responsible and willing to be accountable.

There is a great benefit to the Ketchikan campus in that it allows greater exposure of the campus to students at Kayhi that may wish to continue taking classes in Ketchikan. The KGBSD, by providing minimal supplemental funding for classes scheduled to be canceled, would allow for greater opportunities and offerings for both the high school and the college. How many UAS Ketchikan students have become frustrated with the canceling of classes, and have finally chosen to go somewhere else for their education. In addition, if we show that we are maximizing the potential of the dollars already being sent to Ketchikan, we can make the case for expanding the program if additional funds were available. We would have a track record of success that we could document.

I have even explored with Shirley Holloway, the commissioner of education at the time, the idea of allowing Ketchikan to be under one dean of students in a K-14 system. This was confirmed as a possibility but would need public support. This could help overcome the adult financial and power squabbles. This idea would have to be explored more extensively with greater public discussion of the pros and cons. This wouldn't be needed however, if you could get adults to come together and agree. I will try to do this if I am elected to the school board. We have to look out to the future and not be short sighted to our own individual gains.

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