Houston Middle most likely to remain closed through school year; At least 10 schools to reopen Thursday

MAT-SU — Houston Middle School will most likely be closed for the remainder of the school year, Mat-Su Borough School District superintendent Dr. Monica Goyette said Monday afternoon.

This news comes after days of evaluating the damage caused in local schools by the powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 that rocked Southcentral Alaska.

“The school that received the most amount of damage was Houston Middle School,” Goyette said as she addressed the public Monday afternoon in a video on the district’s Facebook page.

Goyette said district officials are still sorting details of the plan for Houston Middle students for the remainder of the school year.

“Our best plan right now is to try to relocate portables and allow them to integrate into Houston High School so we can keep the school communities together,” Goyette said.

Houston Middle is among a handful of Mat-Su schools that sustained severe damage during the earthquake. Monday afternoon school district officials released a schedule with the tentative dates that most schools are scheduled to reopen. As of Monday night, the schedule to open 10 different schools is still to be determined. The list includes Colony High School, Colony Middle School, Houston High School, Big Lake Elementary, American Charter Academy, Finger Lake Elementary, Iditarod Elementary, Mat-Su Central, Twindley Bridgge Charter and Knik Elementary. Goyette said officials hope to know more within 48 hours.

There are 14 schools that have been approved by inspectors to open Wednesday for staff and Thursday for students.

“The staff will be returning one day prior to the students to allow them to clean, get organized, plan,” Goyette said.

That list includes Academy Charter, Birchtree Charter, Butte Elementary, Mat-Su Career Tech, Cottonwood Creek Elementary, Dena’ina Elementary, Fronteras, Machetanz Elementary, Mat-Su Day School, Mat-Su Middle College, Palmer High, Sherrod Elementary, Snowshoe Elementary, Sutton Elementary, Swanson Elementary and Teeland Middle.

Staff are slated to return Wednesday and students Thursday at Burchell High, Goose Bay Elementary, Larson Elementary, Mat-Su Central, Meadow Lakes Elementary, Midnight Sun Charter, Palmer Junior Middle, Pioneer Peak, Redington, Shaw Elementary, Tanaina Elementary, Valley Pathways, Wasilla High and Wasilla Middle pending final inspection and approval.

Goyette urges the public to pay close attention to the list which is available on its website, matsuk12.us.

“It changes very rapidly,” Goyette said.

All extracurricular activities remain canceled until school is back in session.

“Student activities resume when academics resume,” Goyette said.

Glacier View, Trapper Creek Elementary, Talkeetna Elementary, Susitna Valley High School, Willow Elementary and Beryozova were open Monday.

Contact Frontiersman editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.