Alternative high school seeking new location

April 3, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - The property lease is running out for Valley Pathways, an alternative high school in the Mat-Su Borough School District. The school, which sits just outside Palmer along the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, is located on the land that Wal-Mart has surveyed for a possible new store.

By June 30, 10 portables that house the school's students and staff must be relocated to another site.

On Tuesday morning, the borough School Site Selection Committee agreed to endorse property on the school district's administrative headquarters site in Palmer as a possible relocation point.

The administrative building is located on the former site of Sherrod Elementary School. Under the new proposed location, Valley Pathways and its roughly 200 students would be situated between the district's administrative headquarters and Swanson Elementary School.

Before that can be done, however, the city of Palmer's planning commission must first issue a temporary, six-month permit, allowing the portables to be relocated. For the long term, the district wants to establish the school at a permanent location in Palmer.

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266, or joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.