MSBSD can’t ignore crowding

The math seems simple.

Wasilla Middle School and Wasilla High School are bulging, over capacity and in need of relief. With Mat-Su School District projections showing WHS expected to be nearly 10 percent over its capacity of 1,166 students next school year and WMS nearly 6 percent over its capacity of 825, the district hopes to funnel some of that overcrowding to buildings that have more room.

A recommendation from a Colorado education consultant would shift 180 students in the Meadow Lakes area who attend Wasilla schools to Houston, where Houston High is projected to be 155 students under its capacity and Houston Middle, which is expected to have room for 213 more.

With the only schools in the fastest growing section of the Valley — the Knik-Goose Bay and Fairview areas — being elementary and already at or over capacity, the impact on Wasilla secondary schools will be significant. Until school construction south of Wasilla can catch up, those students are Wasilla-bound, as are those in Meadow Lakes who choose Wasilla over Houston in the first place.

By changing the attendance area boundaries, the district can address an immediate need of handling some of Wasilla’s overcrowding. And portable classrooms aren’t an answer anymore. At Wasilla High, officials will place a 12th portable on that campus for the next school year.

While we’ve been quick to take the district to task on other issues, this is one that, while it won’t please those in the Meadow Lakes attendance area who don’t want to attend Houston schools, is necessary. In fact, some of the emotions coming from those who could be affected by such a change is overreaction.

Those who are already attending WMS or WHS will be grandfathered in, while those who aren’t can still apply for an exemption to attend. The district’s history on granting such exemptions is extremely liberal. The main change, we’re told by school district officials, is that those who want to continue to pursue an attendance boundary exemption won’t have free transportation from school buses.

At a recent school board meeting, parents, students and even a couple of board members complained about how changing the attendance boundaries could mean longer bus rides for some students.

“On a snowy day, you’re looking at a two-hour commute on a very dangerous road,” board member Neal Lacy said. “When parents get wind of this, there’s going to be an uproar.”

That may be true, but they should already be in an uproar about how some of our district schools are grossly overcrowded. While MSBSD schools have been very accommodating in the past in granting exemptions for students to attend about any school they wanted, that’s a luxury we can’t afford at all our buildings anymore. It’s not fair to the teachers, administrators and especially students to force them to pursue the best quality education our district can provide while jumping from portable to portable and cramming into increasingly crowded classrooms.

Telling families that they may have to adhere to their set attendance boundaries may be unpleasant and a last resort, but should be met with acceptance, not anger. If you want to preserve the status quo, then give the district ideas on how it can alleviate the crowding in Wasilla. Another unfortunate truth is most of those solutions require new construction, bricks, mortar and more classrooms. Knik-Goose Bay is prime for a new middle and high school, and that may happen in the not-so-distant future.

Until then, the MSBSD is obligated to pursue every alternative to help ease the overcrowding in Wasilla — whether we like it or not.