District seeks bonds

June 17, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - With an expected 800 new students next year, the Mat-Su Borough School District is pulling out all stops to secure land and funding for three new elementary schools in the core area.

Wednesday night, Chief School Administrator Bob Doyle joined several school board members in requesting that the borough assembly include a $40.5-million school bond package on the October ballot, for voter consideration.

Under the state's bond debt reimbursement program, the state would reimburse the borough 70 percent (about $28 million) of the total cost for the three schools. If the measure makes it on the fall ballot and voters approve it, the borough would be responsible for paying $12 million for the three schools.

While making his case to the assembly, Doyle said building schools through bond debt reimbursement is nothing new for the Mat-Su Borough.

"This is how schools have been built in this district for as long as I can remember," he said, while noting that with soaring property values, the longer the borough waits to build, the more expensive schools will become. The estimated cost of the schools was originally $13 million but Doyle said those estimates have already risen to $16 million.

To help mitigate some of the construction costs, Borough Manager John Duffy agreed to request land donations for school sites from private donors.

Borough-owned land is very limited in the core area and efforts to find suitable school sites have been difficult. The school district hopes to secure donated land near existing main roads to help reduce stress on bus routes, which would significantly lessen the cost of developing access roads to the schools. The added savings would leave more money for constructing the actual facility.

The school district is looking to build the schools in the Knik-Goose Bay, South Palmer and South Trunk Road areas. Each school would house nearly 500 students. If voters approve the bond package, additional schools could be up and running by fall 2008, at the very earliest.

Currently, the next school to open in the core area will be the new Wasilla area elementary school, which is slated to open in fall 2006.

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