JUNEAU – State lawmakers continued to press education department leaders this week about lapses in the state’s oversight of Mt. Edgecumbe High School and the resultant stresses on the students, most of whom are Alaska Native from rural communities.
Since the beginning of the current school year, more than 100 of the 400 students enrolled have departed the state-run boarding school, causing statewide concerns about the changes in school funding, operations, leadership and staffing that have affected student morale and mental health.
At a meeting in Juneau Wednesday, the state Board of Education voted unanimously to form an ad-hoc committee to review information about academic performance, student support and school climate before presenting the board with findings and recommendations as to the future of the school. The ad-hoc committee could include board members, parents, students, staff, alumni, tribal representatives and education experts.
Preliminary committee guidance is scheduled to reach the board in October. The board directs the state department of education, known as DEED, which directly operates Mt. Edgecumbe High School.
State board members this week did not address the recent vote by the Mt. Edgecumbe Advisory School Board to recommend and request that state leaders reopen hiring for the superintendent position at Mt. Edgecumbe to ensure a complete and thorough search process with input from stakeholders and the advisory board.
DEED Commissioner Deena Bishop did not consult with the MEHS Advisory Board last year when she hired Superintendent David Langford. The board is charged with advising and informing the superintendent, and providing input to the DEED commissioner on selecting each new superintendent.
After the Board of Education meeting concluded Wednesday, board chair Sally Stockhausen told the Sentinel that the yet-to-be-formed, ad-hoc committee will consider the idea of reopening superintendent hiring to allow for a complete and thorough search.
“All of the information that we've received will be passed on to the ad-hoc committee,” Stockhausen said, noting that preliminary guidance is anticipated in October.
As to the committee structure, Stockhausen said “we're kind of building this as we go.
“We haven't created an ad-hoc before, so (DEED) is going to come back with the proposal for the committee,” Stockhausen said. “We'll see how that goes in terms of the process of how that works. We'll have to review the statutes.”
On Tuesday, the first day of the state board meeting, Langford gave an hour-long presentation about the history of Mt. Edgecumbe, and issues with facilities that he encountered upon returning to the school this fall. Langford was a member of the team that reopened MEHS as a state boarding school in the 1980s.
Multiple state board members said Tuesday that they had yet to hear about problems with school facilities, despite the fact that the facilities issues have featured heavily in the Alaska Legislature, and statewide news media after Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman last month led lawmakers on an inspection tour at the school.
During a meeting in December, state board members heard from parents and alumni about issues with student mental health and overall well-being this year. Participants in the December meeting shared concerns with leadership, operational decisions, and a lack of oversight and accountability, and asked the board to form an ad-hoc committee to address these issues; the board took that action on Wednesday.
After the meeting, board member Pamela Dupras, a 1991 graduate of MEHS, said that the state board began discussing concerns with the school last year, when teachers issued a Feb. 28, 2025, “letter of no confidence” in then-Superintendent Suzzuk Huntington, who served from June 2022 until she resigned in spring 2025.
In that letter, MEHS teachers association members wrote that Huntington “is a kind and wonderful individual,” but that over her 2.5 years as superintendent she failed to publish a budget for Mt. Edgecumbe, and avoided critical communication, decision-making and advocacy.
Dupras said that “from there, a lot of steps, I know, were taken, but until Superintendent Langford’s report, I did not realize the condition that the school was in.” She said she had heard from some students that the school “is not like it used to be.”
As to facilities, Durpas said that photos from the beginning of the school year “were pretty deplorable and sad to see.” Dupras said she was heartened that school leaders this year implemented critical upgrades in the kitchen, replaced aging furniture in dormitory common areas, and scheduled other building maintenance projects to begin this summer.
During Langford's presentation, Dupras asked about the letters that board members have received from the advisory board, parents, alumni and other stakeholders asking that the state reopen hiring for the superintendent this year.
Commissioner Bishop this summer selected Langford, who had been newly hired as Chatham School District superintendent, and now is serving as superintendent for both Mt. Edgecumbe and Chatham. Langford says the dual role helps him access more resources for the Chatham district via the state department of education.
In board talks on Tuesday, Bishop advised the state board against that idea of reopening hiring for the superintendent position.
“I think it would be a critical error,” Bishop said. “David was selected to be able to bring Mt. Edgecumbe, pairing what had been done on the cultural side, bringing that straight back to the management side."
Late in Tuesday's meeting, the board went into an executive session to discuss the superintendent. The board had two separate topics for two executive sessions that lasted over two hours in total; the board recessed after the private sessions with no comment about the superintendent talks.
Lawmakers press MEHS leaders
In legislative committee hearings in the Capitol this week, lawmakers asked pointed questions of Bishop and Stockhausen as to the state’s present and future management of Mt. Edgecumbe.
In a Senate Finance Committee hearing Monday regarding major maintenance projects for Alaska schools, Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman grilled Bishop on the lack of clear capital budget requests from the education department for work on facilities that are in need of repair.
“I'd like to see your opinion, the department's opinion on the maintenance position of that school and the buildings, and a forward look at how you think it should be addressed, regardless of the funding amounts,” Stedman said. “We may or may not have the funds to do it, but the committee here cannot operate in the dark. … We can't function and do our job without the input from the department.
On Wednesday, Stockhausen gave a general Board of Education report to a joint legislative committee. Ahead of that report, lawmakers received at least 30 letters from parents and alumni asking the state to reopen hiring for the MEHS superintendent position, form an ad-hoc committee, and take other actions to set the school on a sustainable path.
During Stockhausen’s report, Sitka Rep. Rebecca Himschoot noted that academic achievement metrics are low for Chatham School District students in Klukwan, Gustavus and Angoon, as well as Mt. Edgecumbe.
“These are what I would call at-risk districts in terms of academic achievement,” Himschoot said. “And yet the board decided one superintendent was adequate for two districts, where I'll add there's no direct flight between the four sites in Chatham School District.
“There's no direct ferry between those sites, nor is there a direct flight between Sitka, where Edgecumbe is, and any of these communities,” Himschoot said. “I need to understand the decision to have a single superintendent for two very at-risk school districts. Can you help me understand that decision?”
Bishop responded to Himschoot’s question, saying that she made the decision to hire Langford for the dual superintendent role, and that she stands by it. Bishop pointed to research indicating that teachers and principals have the greatest effect on student outcomes, not superintendents.
Later in the meeting, Himschoot asked Stockhausen what the state board is doing in the short-term, mid-term and long-term for Mt. Edgecumbe.
“There’s been a spotlight on the school,” Himschoot said. “You are the board for the school.”
Stockhausen responded that “today, we are going to vote on the possibility of setting up an ad-hoc committee, and then we will set that up, and based on the results from that, that will help determine our next steps, both short-term and long-term.”
Himschoot said that she and other lawmakers would like frequent updates from the department and the board on the work of the ad-hoc committee for MEHS.
Editor's note: The story that appeared in the March 12, 2026, print edition has been lightly edited for clarity.
Contact the reporter at alaffrey@gmail.com.
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