Haines Borough School District students and teachers take note: Summer vacation is half over.
Teachers are due back Aug. 13 and students will attend their first day of classes on Aug. 18. There will be many new faces.
About 10 full-time positions – equal to 20 percent of the district’s teaching staff – have turned over.
New hires will fill the following positions: district music teacher, special education director, guidance counselor, fourth grade teacher, Title I reading specialist, kindergarten teacher, high school special education teacher, high school science teacher, and elementary music teacher.
The high school science position is a temporary hire to cover teacher Mark Fontenot’s one-year leave. The elementary music job is a half-time position.
In addition to interim superintendent Rich Carlson, the administration includes K-12 principal Rene Martin, assistant principal Cheryl Stickler and special education director Kim Cunningham.
New hires will attend a new teacher orientation Aug. 10.
School board president Anne Marie Palmieri said she hopes the district will have negotiated a new contract with teachers before classes resume. Negotiations have been suspended while negotiating team members are out of town.