Close Trapper Creek School to balance district's budget

Spectrum, by Carol J. Boquard

We know that Mat-Su Borough School District is in financial crisis. After years of underfunding there is little left to cut without negatively impacting thousands of students. I urge the school board and Valley legislators to work together for a reasonable solution.

Although many of the cuts are horrific, the proposal to change the elementary school day to 4:05 p.m. seems the harshest. The transportation solution proposes school day changes across all schools. It will save $650,000 or roughly 13 teaching positions. There is no denying this is a huge savings. But what is the human cost? Is 3:30 to 4 p.m. really optimal learning time? What about high school students? Research has shown repeatedly the need for adolescents to have adequate sleep. In a recent Anchorage Daily News article on Feb. 7, a Rhode Island study concluded 85 percent of teens were sleep deprived over 10 hours per week. It also found these teens suffered from poorer grades, depressive mood swings and lower self esteem. Now we want high schools to start 15 minutes earlier. Why not switch elementary and high school times if these cuts must occur?

It is my understanding that the budget of Trapper Creek Elementary is in excess of $600,000, or almost the same amount saved by the new schedule. In other words, closing Trapper Creek would also give us 13 additional teachers or allow us to keep current schedules. Since Trapper Creek has only 26 students, wouldn't it make sense to bus those students to Talkeetna where there is more than sufficient room and nearly adequate personnel to accommodate them? After all, we in the core area have boundary changes almost yearly. Yes, the impact on 26 kids and their families will be difficult. Loss of a neighborhood school is serious. A longer bus ride is a problem. But will it have the same impact as rescheduling 14,000 students? I think not.

Last year Mr. Doyle and several board members tried to address the funding inequities of large and small schools and recommended closing of Trapper Creek. The residents stormed the school board meetings and cuts were restored. Does the squeaky wheel get the grease?

At a cost of more than $19,000 per student, this school is a luxury we can no longer afford. The Colony-area elementary schools spend roughly $7,000 per student. Middle and high schools spend $7,000 to $8,000 based on last year's figures.

Whoa! Wait a minute! That can't be right.

Do you mean to say the kids at Trapper Creek are worth double to triple what the core area students are worth? Isn't this grossly inequitable? My eighth-grader at CMS has 40 kids in her math class and she had to take the Benchmarks last week. Many other classes have more than 35. This is totally unacceptable.

Simply put, it seems Trapper Creek gets a Cadillac. We in the core area are left with rent-a-wreck.

The whole issue of small school funding should be examined. Glacier View has about 50 students with approximately five teachers. That's less than a 10 to 1 ratio. Colony High has 50 students in several classes. Is this fair? It would seem to me that kids in the core area are getting a raw deal. They have the largest classes, their parents pay the highest taxes and still they have more kids per classroom than several entire schools!

If the folks in Trapper Creek insist on keeping the school, I would propose they live within their means. Twenty-six students would generate one full time teacher in other schools. An additional tutor/aide could be hired to teach, answer phones and other duties as assigned. Perhaps all students could register with correspondence. That would provide a multi-level curriculum and allow more time for small group instruction.

To reduce administrative costs, a principal from another site, perhaps Talkeetna, could be the supervisor with weekly visits. I believe Midnight Sun has a similar arrangement with Carol Kane, administrator of record.

Those of us who live in the Colony area have chosen proximity to schools, arts and athletic programs as priorities for our children. The issue of inequitable funding for large/small schools and entire districts is a statewide concern which our legislators need to address. I have written to all the Valley legislators and spoken to Vic Kohring and Carl Gatto. It is unfortunate that we have to "rob Peter to pay Paul" as it were, especially when Alaska has $27 billion in the permanent fund. The people of Trapper Creek deserve their own school but our current budget cannot allow it.

Carol J. Boquard is a Colony Middle School parent.