A University of Alaska Anchorage program that strives to educate Alaska Native students in science, technology, engineering and math is proposing to take over Mount Edgecumbe High School, the state-run boarding school in Sitka.
The proposal to transform the public school into one operated by the university and staffed with professors is now just an idea. It would need legislative action and support from the university president and its regents.
But a presentation to legislators last week on the proposal by Herb Schroeder, founder and vice provost of the university's Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, or ANSEP, has already sparked criticism from Mount Edgecumbe's superintendent, who said he was caught off-guard by the plan.
"The frustration is that there has been absolutely no communication to find out what we are about and what we really do," Bill Hutton, Mount Edgecumbe superintendent, said in an interview Monday. "Adults are all scared for their jobs and students are all scared because they're not sure whether or not they'll be able to come back."
Schroeder said in an interview Monday that his proposal for a revamped school, "Mount Edgecumbe ANSEP Acceleration High School," would focus on getting students graduated in three years. The school would offer college classes and college-prep classes taught by university faculty, so students would graduate high school with enough credits to earn their undergraduate degrees in three years as well, Schroeder said.
"By doing that you cut a whole year off university costs," he said.
A statement from ANSEP on the proposal said that the high school's curriculum would allow students to earn college credits for general education requirements. It would also allow students to earn credits toward specific degree programs, including elementary education, engineering, business management and psychology.
"The pushback we get is that kids can't handle this, but we're already doing it," Schroeder said. "We know beyond doubt that the students are fully capable."
Schroeder was referring to ANSEP's five-week, summer Acceleration Academy where high school students live at the university's Anchorage campus and take math and science courses for college credit. ANSEP also hosts programs for middle school students and provides support for students through their doctoral degrees.
Schroeder's high school proposal provides a one-year transition to the new ANSEP school. During the second year, the school would admit freshmen under the new curriculum. Students already enrolled at Mount Edgecumbe would continue their current path to graduation, he said.
But Hutton said Mount Edgecumbe is already a successful program on its own and already has students taking college credits at the neighboring University of Alaska campus in Sitka.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs established Mount Edgecumbe in 1947 to educate Alaska Native students. The school was controversial because it required students to leave their homes, but it also educated generations of Alaska Native leaders. In the 1970s, an Alaska Supreme Court decision forced the state to build a system of schools in rural villages, requiring Mount Edgecumbe to adapt to the new environment.
In the 1980s, the school closed for two years and reopened under management of the state education department. Today, it still gives enrollment preference to rural Alaska students who have limited opportunities at home, "whether it be academic, athletic or leadership," Hutton said. The school currently enrolls about 400 students, he said.
Schroeder said that under his proposal, the school would still serve the same population.
But Hutton said that not all students start at Mount Edgecumbe with the skills their grade level would suggest, or ready to take college-level classes. This school year, the high school had 15 of its ninth-graders ready for the standard algebra one curriculum, while another 83 students had to catch up with two semesters of algebra instead of one.
"We feel good about taking kids like that when they come in and being able to move them to substantially greater heights," Hutton said.
Under Schroeder's proposal, all current employees at Mount Edgecumbe would become university employees. University staff would evaluate the high school teachers to determine if they're qualified to become university faculty. Teachers considered underqualified could possibly lose their jobs after a transitional year, Schroeder said.
"Is Mount Edgecumbe for the teachers or for the students?" he said.
Schroeder maintains that the new program would save the state nearly $6 million a year, calculated from money not spent on a fourth year of high school and a fourth year at the University of Alaska.
"It's a zero fiscal note for the state. So the money that streams to Mount Edgecumbe now will just stream to this campus of the university," he said. He said the high school would continue to support athletics and other extracurricular activities.
Rep. Wes Keller, the Republican chair of the House Education Committee, said last week's meeting on the proposed high school was informational. He said he still had to speak to committee members and determine if they wanted to support legislation to establish the new school.
Robbie Graham, the University of Alaska's associate vice president of public affairs and federal relations, said in a brief statement that the university president, Jim Johnsen, had expressed support for the full-time acceleration high school in a letter to the governor and lieutenant governor.
But, "he pressed the need for due diligence," noting that the proposal was not yet formally proposed or examined by the university or its regents, Graham said.