Goose Bay school plans progressing

August 22, 2006

By Michael Rovito/Frontiersman

As Goose Bay Elementary School teachers and one librarian looked on, the Mat-Su Borough School Board on Wednesday unanimously approved changes to the design of a new school being built next to Goose Bay.

However, the board failed to agree on what grades the school will serve.

The grade designation issue at times raised audible reactions from the Goose Bay teachers in the audience. The debate pits the benefits of a kindergarten-through-second-grade school versus a kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school.

Some board members said it makes no sense to build another K-5 school right next to Goose Bay, which is K-5. Others, most vocally chief school administrator Bob Doyle, support that plan.

Doyle said by putting one principal in charge of both schools, with two assistant principals in charge of one school each, the system could work.

Patty Sullivan, of borough public affairs, said many opponents of the K-2 school designation cite the lower grades' lack of testing, which, she said, could cause the school to fail its federal Adequate Yearly Progress report.

Voters previously approved $17 million for the Goose Bay project, but a new design that breaks from the typical construction might lower that price and subsequently lower the school's bonded indebtedness, according to school board documents.

The next step is for the Mat-Su Borough Assembly to approve the plans, which Sullivan said most likely will happen, then construction can begin.

The new school is expected to take 10-12 months to complete, Operations and Maintenance Director Scott Schwald said, and is on a fast-track construction schedule straight through the winter.

During construction, school officials will seek out public opinion about the school's grade designation, Schwald said.

Contact Michael Rovito at 352-2252 or michael.rovito@ frontiersman.com.