SCHOOL BOARD

On Wednesday, the school board approved a ninth and final new teacher contract, marking the end of a challenging effort to recruit amid a nationwide teacher shortage. To help with other hiring efforts, the board also approved a new salary schedule for administrative coordinator roles.

The Unalaska City School District has filled nearly all vacant teaching positions for next school year.

Unalaska City School Board members voted unanimously to reelect Jolene Longo as board president Wednesday. Longo was elected to the board in 2020 and this will be her second year serving as president. The board also swore in newly elected members Bob Cummings and David Gibson.

The final results for Unalaska’s Municipal Election are in and they confirm Darin Nicholson as City Council seat C winner. It was the only race in this year’s election that was undecided based on preliminary election results. City officials canvassed 37 absentee and questioned ballots Friday morning. 32 of those were tallied by the canvas committee, while 5 were deemed unqualified and were not counted.

The superintendent of Unalaska’s schools, Robbie Swint Jr., has resigned. The school board accepted his resignation in a unanimous vote at a meeting Wednesday night. According to a statement from the board, Swint is moving off the island to be closer to his family. Swint said he is sorry that he won’t be fulfilling his commitment to the district. He was just over a year into his three-year contract. But he feels that he wasn’t supported by the school board and wants to put his family’s needs first. “I don't want to say any derogatory thing against anyone,” Swint said. “I will just say I don't believe it was a good fit for me for a number of reasons. And so that's why I submitted my resignation.”

The filing period to declare candidacy in the 2022 Unalaska Municipal Election has closed. In all, eight people signed up to run in the Oct. 4 election.

The City of Unalaska will hold a Local General Election on Oct. 4. On the ballot this year is Mayor (presently Vince Tutiakoff), two City Council Members (seats held by Darin Nicholson and Daneen Looby), and two School Board Members (seats held by Bob Cummings and Nicole Bice). Deadline to declare candidacy is Monday, Aug. 22, 2022

The Unalaska City School District has the blessing of the school board to hire an assistant or associate principal for the 2022-2023 school year.The last time the district filled that position was about 20 years ago, according to High School Principal Jim Wilson, who spoke in support of the new position at a school board meeting last week.

The Unalaska City School District says Superintendent Robbie Swint Jr. committed no wrongdoing following a complaint filed by a former elementary school principal who departed abruptly after a few months on the job.That comes after the district released details to the public Tuesday about its investigation into an internal complaint made by former principal LaVettra Clayton, who left the district last month after being put on paid administrative leave.

All of Unalaska’s candidate races were decided in Tuesday’s Municipal Election.