Peninsula School District has given layoff notices to 15 employees in non-teaching positions. The district will cut the hours of 31 more as it trims $12 million from its 2023-24 budget. The district must cut payroll because enrollment remains lower than before the pandemic: 5% lower than in 2019. Also, grants that helped schools weather
Eleven members of Gig Harbor High School’s speech and debate team qualified for the National Speech and Debate Tournament, to be held in June in Phoenix. In January, coach Chris Coovert predicted up to seven Tides debaters might make the cut, but his team greatly exceeded his expectation. The 11 Gig Harbor debaters qualified during
The Peninsula School Board on Thursday approved a plan to cut $12 million from next school year’s budget by eliminating 40 staff positions, none of them teachers. The district needs to make the cuts, Chief Financial Officer Ashley Murphy said, because of lower enrollment coupled with the end of pandemic aid. School districts around the
The $6,000 donation was one of several items deemed routine business. The gift “to pay off delinquent lunch accounts” at Peninsula High School was accepted without discussion or debate as part of the Peninsula School Board’s Feb. 9 consent agenda. The donor was none other than “Captain Seahawk,” a Gig Harbor resident who raises money
Kara Beloate, an English teacher at Peninsula High School, isn’t banning her students from using ChatGPT as part of their school work. She’s encouraging it. Released in November by OpenAI, ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot that has creating a buzz for its uncanny ability to engage in dialog and to create original written content
Peninsula School District is bracing for an estimated $12 million in budget cuts next year, stemming from reduced enrollment and the end of a pandemic school finance rule. The district announced the impending cuts Tuesday. The news came just two weeks after district officials and school supporters on Feb. 14 cheered the passage of a
Allegations of a racial slur at a Jan. 11 girls’ basketball game between Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools are unsubstantiated, according to an investigation initiated by Peninsula School District. Following the game, administrators at both high schools received reports that a member of the Gig Harbor High team used the N-word in a comment
Leila Jeneby and Jasmine Lopez felt an instant bond when they met this fall at Gig Harbor High School. Jeneby, a sophomore, had recently moved from Seattle. Lopez, a senior, gave her a tour of the school. Jeneby was surprised there was no Black Student Union among its list of clubs. “When she asked me
Voters gave the Peninsula School District two Valentine’s Day gifts. By comfortable margins, voters approved both a local levy to replace an expiring one and a security and technology levy. The Pierce County Auditor’s Office posted preliminary election results shortly after 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Special Election results The three-year Replacement Educational Programs
Students at Harbor Ridge Middle School entertained their peers Friday with a performance of “The Lion King Jr.” The beloved musical (adapted for youth actors) came to life through familiar songs, dramatic moments and silly punch lines from comic characters like Pumbaa the Warthog. It was the culmination of six weeks’ work for the cast
