The Haines Borough school board is seeking public input on how residents would like to see a recent donated scholarship fund dispersed to students.

The board was notified last fall that former resident Vera Smith, who died in 2016, left the district $622,000 to establish the William George Seig Scholarship, named after her first husband, also a former Haines resident.

She left her executor, an attorney in Virginia, full discretion for how the funds are to be dispersed, and that executor is hoping to get feedback from the board and Haines community.

At a workshop last month, the board settled on an egalitarian approach, hoping to disperse the scholarship funds equally to graduating seniors who are headed to a college or trade school.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, superintendent Roy Getchell told board members that the district’s lawyer has since cited concerns that because four board members have students in high school who stand to benefit from the scholarship, there could be a conflict of interest when it comes to the board’s decisions on the scholarship’s dispersal.

“What he suggested was finding a way to encourage public comment before our next board meeting,” Getchell said of the attorney’s advice.

Board member Michael Wald said he doesn’t see a conflict, and suggested that the board draft a letter offering a recommendation to disperse the funds equally. “We’ve been talking about this for six months,” Wald said. “There seems to be a consensus that we would like to see an equally distributed sum of money, and it’s not our decision anyway. All we’re making is a recommendation to a lawyer.”

Board president Anne Marie Palmieri said it would be prudent to follow the attorney’s advice and allow the public to weigh in. “I’d like to hear what the community thinks,” Palmieri said. “I know we’ve had significant conversations about this. If I were giving feedback, I’d want everybody to hear it.”

Board member Lindsey Dixon, parent of a graduating senior, said it’s important to be transparent. “It doesn’t hurt to show that we are adhering to our (conflict of interest) policy whether or not we perceive that to be a conflict of interest.”

“You could say that we’re working against our own interest because it’s going to take so long that our own children aren’t going to benefit,” board member Sara Chapell quipped.

The board ultimately decided to offer its recommendation to the executor in a letter during a board workshop session later this month, and to submit the public’s feedback as well.

The school district will post a survey on its website this week to provide input.

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