Lawmakers held a series of hearings with officials from Mt. Edgecumbe High School, the largest state-run boarding school in Alaska, following a tumultuous year of budget and staff cuts, administration changes and a wave of student disenrollments.
Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, opened his remarks at a Feb. 12 Senate Finance Committee hearing saying lawmakers need to air the school’s “dirty laundry” so they can help fix the school’s finances and make needed repairs.
“The goal here is to improve Mt. Edgecumbe High School, and we can’t do that without accurate information,” he said.
Stedman was among a delegation of legislators that made an impromptu visit to the school on Feb. 6, after the news of a mass student disenrollment after this winter break. Lawmakers reported they found leaking roofs, classrooms and buildings in disrepair, rodents, and outdated dormitories. They also met with students to hear about their concerns.
After the visit, Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, reported at a Senate news conference the conditions of the facilities were “deplorable.”
Hoffman, who also serves as the finance co–chair, did not mince words to school officials at the hearing. “I could say that if I were a parent, I wouldn’t let my child go to school there,” he said. “The condition of that school speaks for itself. ”
Mt. Edgecumbe High School is based in Sitka, which typically enrolls around 400 students, the majority of whom are Alaska Native from rural communities without local high schools. As of February, enrollment dropped to 311 students, officials said.
Superintendent David Langford, newly hired in July, told lawmakers that administrators were concerned that roughly 25% of students had disenrolled, but said they could not identify a common reason to explain why.
“So far, all the data of all the 100 students that have left this year, we can’t find any trends,” he said. “Like we didn’t have any majority of the students saying ‘it was the food’ or ‘it was the dorm,’ or was this or the other thing. But all those were issues that we’re working to rectify.”
Lawmakers put questions to Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, which administers the school, along with the governor-appointed Alaska State Board of Education.
To explain recent events at the school, Bishop painted a picture for lawmakers of a “right-sizing” effort led by DEED after COVID pandemic relief funding ran out in 2024. She said Mt. Edgecumbe had a $1.6 million budget shortfall that forced a series of cost-cutting measures throughout 2025. The state sold off a parcel of land on the campus property for $900,000 to help fill that gap.
But Bishop said last year, the DEED and the administration cut four teachers, one administrator and two support staff positions. They also made cuts to student activities, travel and maintenance funding — plus a change in the superintendent and contractors running the student dorms and food service this year.
Langford testified that when he arrived in August, he wasn’t sure the school would open. But DEED and administrators made a series of emergency repairs and deep cleaned the kitchen facilities and dorms, replacing years-old mattresses, dorm furniture and upgrading the kitchen including all cookware.
Legislators asked how school facilities had been left to deteriorate so badly, who was responsible for advocating for the school repairs, and how officials planned to make improvements.
Hoffman said it was obvious from legislators’ visit that there is more work to do.
“It seems every time we go down the path, there are more and more and more issues that aren’t being addressed,” Hoffman said. “I’m glad we’re addressing the immediate needs, but there’s long term needs that need to be addressed that aren’t being addressed by the Department of Education.”
Bishop acknowledged that the effort is ongoing. “So in right-sizing the ship, it’s moving forward. I absolutely agree with you. Is Mount Edgecumbe where we want it to be? Absolutely not. I believe, with the leadership that is there and support for this school, that we can get there.”
Hoffman pointed out the school lost Americorps support staff after the Trump administration gutted the program last year. Mt. Edgecumbe lost three staff who served in major support roles for students for after-school activities and outings into town.
“The primary role of these people was to do nothing but be with students in the evening,” said Langford. He added that he tried to hire staff back this year, but it was too late. “So in terms of students going home, I would point to that as one of the biggest impacts that could have been prevented.”
In a state Board of Education meeting in December, parents, alumni and current and former staff from Mt. Edgecumbe testified that because of changes in the dorms, loss of staff and teachers and reduced activities, students’ quality of life suffered, and morale plummeted last fall. A local healthcare provider testified to members of the board that in the previous month, eight students were hospitalized for suicidal ideation — an unprecedented number, she said.
Ilana Kalke, a junior, was one of two Mt. Edgecumbe students that testified to lawmakers last week. She said there is a disconnect between the new contractor running the dorms, the NANA Corporation, and staff and students.
“It seems like they have trouble communicating, which impacts us, this leads to inconsistent application of rules,” Kalke said. “There’s been trouble communicating, getting rides, and just like less collaboration, which affects rec activities.”
Kadyn Cross, a sophomore, testified in support of the school and told lawmakers that supporting the school supports students like him, who are coming from small villages like his community of Koyuk, on the coast of Norton Sound.
“MEHS is already producing future educators, leaders and contributors to Alaska’s communities. But we can’t do that without stable funding for staff, updated facilities, student activities, and real maintenance, especially maintenance, which is stretched thin right now,” he said. “I’m not here with data charts. I’m here as one student who moved from a small village to a school that changed my trajectory fast. And I’m one of hundreds. MEHS isn’t just a school, it’s a place that grows people who go back to their communities and strengthen them.”
Lawmakers slam Gov. Dunleavy for years of vetoing funds for repairs
Lawmakers criticized Gov. Mike Dunleavy for vetoing funding for Mt. Edgecumbe year after year — most recently last year vetoing $2.7 million for a new roof and windows on the girls’ dorm.
Since the start of Dunleavy’s term in 2019, the governor has vetoed funding allocated for Mt. Edgecumbe, including maintenance of the aquatic center and student services. He vetoed funds to replace the dorm windows for three years in a row. Over six years his vetoes totaled over $22.4 million, according to state data.
Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, expressed her frustration at a Senate news conference last week, reading out a list of the vetoes. “We continue to advocate for school repairs and to address school infrastructure across the state,” she added. “And it seems that we do not have a governor who wishes to lead. It is incredibly frustrating.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office responded to questions about lawmakers’ criticisms by email on Tuesday, noting the governor had approved $15.3 million for repairs and maintenance for Mt. Edgecumbe since 2019, including for bathroom and kitchen upgrades, asbestos and lead abatement and some funding toward replacing dorm roofs.
“The challenges Mt. Edgecumbe is currently addressing stem from years of low prioritization of needs. With the new leadership of Superintendent David Langford, under Commissioner Deena Bishop, emphasis has been placed on realigning the budget to remedy maintenance issues,” said Jeff Turner, Dunleavy’s director of communications.
Turner said that even with the governor’s vetoes, Mt. Edgecumbe maintenance and repairs are underway.
“Without the vetoed funding, Mt. Edgecumbe has reprioritized and has updated culinary equipment, furniture, and scheduled three buildings to be re-rooved this summer — with more to come. Budget management has now been placed at the forefront, allowing existing funding to begin remedying what was thought to be unattainable without further allocation,” he said. “This is a textbook example of results obtainable when accountability is highlighted.”
Legislative action for Mt. Edgecumbe repairs
On Wednesday, the Senate passed a new bill, Senate Bill 146, that would add Mt. Edgecumbe to the state’s school major maintenance list to be eligible for state grants for construction and maintenance projects. Currently Mt. Edgecumbe is maintained using funds through the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Services, as a state-run facility.
The bill would also do away with the $70 million cap on the Regional Education Attendance Area school fund — for schools that rely solely on state funding as they’re located in rural areas without municipal funding — and allow those funds to be used for Mt. Edgecumbe projects, including teacher housing.
A similar bill was passed last year, but Dunleavy vetoed it. Senators said they are hopeful there will be more support this year, and the bill now advances to the House.
“I’m hoping that there’ll be broad support in the legislature like there was last year, and we’ll put it back on the governor’s desk, and hopefully the governor will reconsider,” Stedman said.
Moving forward, Stedman said the Finance Committee is gathering information on critical repairs and maintenance needed, projects in progress and items to be added into next year’s budget, including funds immediately available to replace items like washing machines and mattresses.
“We’ll be monitoring it,” Stedman said Tuesday. “There’s a good percentage of the (Capitol) building here that got its attention, because it’s embarrassing for everybody.”
One superintendent, two Southeast Alaska school districts
Lawmakers questioned Langford, the superintendent, last week on his role currently running two school districts this year — both the Mt. Edgecumbe high school and the Chatham School District, which serves approximately 175 students across rural schools in Angoon, Gustavus, Tenakee Springs and Klukwan.
Langford and Bishop testified that a former Wasilla Republican Senator, Mike Shower, approached Langford to run both districts. Langford said he considered only with the permission of the Chatham School board, and then accepted both roles.
Bishop said at first she was skeptical of the arrangement, but changed her mind. “I initially said, ‘Yeah, no, thanks. This is, we’ve got big, big issues to solve.’ Then they started talking to me, and I said I would not go and poach someone else’s superintendent.”
She said she was convinced by Langford’s experience in education consulting, and his history with Mt. Edgecumbe, starting as a teacher in 1985. She said he has valuable leadership experience as a superintendent and running district finances.
Langford said the board of the Chatham School District is conducting quarterly reviews of his performance, and the State Board of Education conducts annual reviews on his tenure at Mt. Edgecumbe. He said while there are disadvantages of not being on the ground in the Chatham School District, he has access to DEED officials to the benefit of both districts.
He said so far, the arrangement is going well. “I think it’s very exciting to work with you and all the staff at Mount Edgecumbe,” he told lawmakers. “To try to remake Mt. Edgecumbe and bring it back to the greatness that I think it once was.”