In a cascading show of support for the Hutchison High School community, parents, teachers and a student testified against the proposed reorganization of the school, an idea introduced for the first time publicly to the school board last Monday in a work session.
“We do not break what’s not broken. Please go back to the drawing board on this. Without data or community sport, it’s not a real plan anyway,” Hutchison Librarian Rachel DeTemple said.
The board was proposed a plan by administration to begin transitioning the Career and Technical Education (CTE) focused, full-time school back to a part-time model, phasing out the ninth grade and opening up enrollment options for other high schools in the district. The plan came from a committee that met over the past two years with the goal of growing the reach of Hutchison for students across Fairbanks. The transition is set to begin at the start of next school year.
Multiple staff members testified they received no clear communication from the district around the plans for the reorganization and no asks for input. Parents and students were notified by email immediately following the Jan. 26 work session.
Portland Law spoke about the well-rounded educational experience her daughter has received at Hutchison and how it motivated her younger children to enter the lottery for the school.
With the proposed new model, Hutch would phase-out the core class teachers, expanding the CTE options and having students bus back and forth from their area school to attend block classes for their career area of choice. Testifiers pushed back on the notion that core classes like math, science or language arts were separate from the others offered at Hutch.
“The vitality and life of Hutch come from the very fact that students are never required to leave the school to obtain any part of their educational experience,” Law said.
Math teacher Amy Wilt seconded this point, saying she’s proud to have the opportunity to teach students math thats applicable to the trade they’re learning. Whether its calculating piston displacement, creating hexagonal flower planters or tack welding a large piece of steel, Wilt has supported her students in their fields with her core lessons.
“All classes are CTE classes,” Wilt said.
Another concern brought up was the statistic used by the borough about the graduation rate. In the presentation to the board about the reorganization, the district presented the statistic: between 2019 and 2023, only 45% of graduates completed all four years of a specific pathway.
This was one of the reasons given to phase-out ninth graders from the school.
“When did the freedom to explore academics and careers become an unfortunate statistic? We literally teach classes called career exploration. Is there a cutoff age for exploration?” Hutchison English Teacher Robert Wighs said.
More than anything the group appealing to the board wanted to be included in the plan for the school’s future, to have a say in how it evolves. The shock of hearing it unexpectedly and determined sent shocks through the community.
“Parents hearing about this change are deciding right now not to send their kids to Hutch because they do not have trust in what’s to come. Staff members are eyeing the exits because they don’t trust that they’ll have jobs for much longer,” DeTemple said.
Last to testify was Hutchison sophomore Zoe Law who got emotional when talking about her younger siblings not being able to experience the same education she has.
“I’ve been supported by so many teachers and our counselors constantly push us to do better,” Zoe Law said. “Hutchison’s community is truly a special one, and one that wouldn’t remain if these changes are made.”