The Chatham School District has hired an interim superintendent for at least a six-month stint.
Klukwan School will be overseen by Susan Sciabbarrasi, who served as the Wrangell School District superintendent for five years and retired in 2011. In 2012, she served a year as interim superintendent in Tanana. She previously worked as a teacher and superintendent in Virginia.
She will be stationed in Angoon where Chatham School District is headquartered.
“I want to make sure I’m visible in the communities,” Sciabbarrasi said.
Former superintendent Bernie Grieve resigned in May, citing personal reasons.
Sciabbarrasi said she will visit Klukwan and meet with the teachers as soon after the school year starts as possible. The first day of school for the Chatham School District is Aug. 28.
She said her goals as interim superintendent include meeting with school principals weekly, reviewing curriculum to make sure core standards are being met, looking at textbook updates and becoming familiar with the budget.
In addition to Klukwan School, Sciabbarrasi will also oversee Angoon School, Gustavus School and Tenakee Springs Independent Learning Center.
Klukwan School also hired former Haines School reading specialist Janice Byerlee as a full-time teacher to compensate for increased enrollment. Byerlee will teach pre-K through second grade, moving Fran Daly to teach grades 3 to 5 and Jessica Tipkemper to teach grades 6 to 12.
The school once struggled to recruit more than 10 students. It would lose state funding if enrollment were to drop below that number.