By Sentinel Staff
Sitka School District Superintendent Mary Wegner announced at Wednesday’s School Board meeting that she will resign her position at the end of her current contract, June 30.
She has served as district superintendent for six years.
“This is a really intense job in hours and in stress, and I’m just not willing to do that,” Wegner said in a phone interview today.
Looking back on her tenure, Wegner said that she was proud of the Sitka School District’s invitation to the League of Innovative Schools, as well as with the work she has overseen in the district’s partnership with the Sitka Tribe of Alaska.
“One of my proudest accomplishments during my tenure as superintendent is our partnership and the integral nature of our work with Sitka Tribe of Alaska,” Wegner said in her resignation letter to the school board. “Although significant groundwork had begun prior to my superintendency, our work towards true co-creation to achieve equity for our students and families has progressed significantly through the many grants we have been part of, as well as our commitment to listening, growing, and learning together during my tenure.”
Sitka School District Superintendent Mary Wegner works through the lunch hour today. At Wednesday’s school board meeting Wegner announced that she will be leaving her job on June 30, 2020. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
School Board Chair Elias Erickson issued a statement saying Wegner’s “excellent work as our district leader has allowed Sitka schools to make great strides in the implementation of our School Board goals of closing the achievement gap, and creating a more positive environment for students to learn in.”
Wegner said she plans to move to Juneau so she can spend more time with her grandchildren. She added that she intends to continue advocating for public education in Alaska.
Wegner said that the board decided at Wednesday night’s meeting to look for an interim superintendent for next school year while conducting a full-scale search for the permanent position.
In a memorandum, Erickson described the search for an interim superintendent as “our immediate priority.” He said anyone who has a Type B Certificate and is interested in the position should submit a letter of intent to board secretary Ruth Joens by Friday, March 13.
