Sitka education advocates and elected officials said today they were disappointed but not particularly surprised by the governor’s vetoes Thursday, leaving the school district with a more than $400,000 budget gap for FY26. “This is the first time...

In a meet that boiled down to a single relay and a handful of other close events, Sitka High’s boys track and field team secured their second consecutive state championship, Saturday in Anchorage, overcoming Grace Christian by only three points in...

Senator Bert Stedman said a bill headed to the governor’s desk should make it easier for Mt. Edgecumbe High School to compete for much needed major maintenance projects. House Bill 174 passed the Senate unanimously on Tuesday, the last day of the...

Growing up in Sitka, Kobi Weiland saw the Coast Guard’s presence everywhere. He surfed with them, knew them as friends’ parents, saw their helicopters flying overhead in drills and rescue missions. Enrolling in the United States Coast Guard...

Sitka’s lawmakers say today’s veto override marks progress in securing a permanent funding increase, but say it still leaves uncertainty to school districts in setting their budgets for 2025-26 school year. “Hopefully as we work through our...

Eight seniors graduated from Pacific High School Saturday, May 17, as its 2025 graduating class.  The students entered the Naa Kahídi to “Pomp and Circumstance” and listened to speeches by Matt Groen and Phil Burdik.  Emma Thompson of...

Sitka’s state representative says she’s “optimistic” that the votes are there to override the expected veto on the Legislature’s per-pupil education funding increase. “The most important thing in the next couple of days is whether House Bill 57...

By Sentinel Staff Seventy-two Sitka High School seniors will enter the school gymnasium at 7 p.m. tonight to become the school’s 95th graduating class. Class members will take their place on the stage to ‘‘Pomp and Circumstance,’’ performed by...

Staffing reductions at Mt. Edgecumbe High School won’t cut as deep as initially anticipated by administrators, though the school is in the process of making cuts as the boarding school, which serves students from across Alaska, faces a seven-digit...

This week, the Performing Arts Center will be transformed into the 20th-century playhouse of an eccentric actor, whose weekend of fun quickly goes awry as one of his guests is murdered.  Deftly maneuvering among hidden rooms, mounted swords...

The Sentinel received the following press release after we had gone to print today.

By Sentinel Staff Eighty-four Mt. Edgecumbe High School seniors walked across the stage this morning to receive their diplomas in a graduation ceremony held at the school field house.  The class of 2025 chose Michael Mahoney as its...

At a brief meeting of the Sitka School board Wednesday evening, kept short by the near universal wish of board members and attendees to be at the middle and high school pops concert, Superintendent Deidre Jenson said the district is “not out of...

As part of the nationwide axing of the National Endowment for the Arts, Sitka Fine Arts Camp lost a grant intended to be used to pay staff this summer, and although the organization will be able to avoid immediate cuts by drawing into its fiscal...

Scores of young musicians will gather for two concerts next week, where they will show their chops with a wide range of musical performances, all free to attend and held at the Performing Arts Center, Monday and Wednesday evenings. First will be...

High schoolers from across Alaska reported to Sitka High School at 7:15 a.m. today to develop and deliberate on a number of Alaska Association of Student Government Executive Board resolutions, and to rally for public education funding. Today is...

With the deadline for the Sitka School District to submit a balanced budget to the city only days away, the School Board on Wednesday discussed details of a proposed budget that no longer includes reductions in teaching staff and retains...

As the federal government continues to look for budget items to cut, Sitka’s 4-H program, which is operated by the nonprofit Sitka Conservation Society, received notice of the termination of a Department of Agriculture grant that supplies about...

The Alaska Legislature has voted to uphold Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a bill that would have significantly increased the funding formula for Alaska’s K-12 public schools. Dunleavy vetoed House Bill 69 last week, citing cost concerns and the...