Recruiting resumes in borough schools

PALMER — Recruiting activities in the Mat-Su Borough school system resumed after a brief hiatus inspired at least in part by a statewide sex crime scandal.

In all, the suspension of most recruiters — Coast Guard recruiting was allowed to continue — lasted six days. Recruitment suspension remains in effect for the Anchorage school system, named in documents leaked to several Anchorage-area media outlets.

School system officials met Tuesday with representatives from various branches, some of whom traveled from as far away as Seattle to attend the meeting, in a review that focused around four areas, according to a borough schools press release.

The review shed some light on standard practices within the various branches, as well as how each branch’s approach differs.

For example, each of the different branches adheres to a different set of guidelines for training recruiters to avoid sexual harassment. The Army uses Sexual Harassment and Response Prevention (SHARP) that focuses on ongoing training, while the US Marine Corps has an eight-week course followed by monthly training sessions. The Air Force maintains public recruiting sessions. The Navy provides its recruiters with cards containing prohibited recruiting practices, according to the release.

In addition, the US Army National Guard is planning to establish a statewide hotline to examine recruiting complaints, according to the release.

School officials were trying to balance the safety of the students with a partnership school officials valued, said district public information officer Catherine Esary. Officials have no specific complaints about particular recruiter or untoward behavior by any recruiters in local schools, Esary said.

The meeting did not result in significant policy changes, Esary said.

“I don’t think this is something new,” she said. “There wasn’t really anything changed other than they’re going to create a public hotline.”

Asked why the pause was even necessary if no new changes resulted, Esary said the review was specifically to review military practices and procedures.

“It was just a pause to do exactly that, to review the military’s practices,” she said. “Nothing really has changed. We (school officials) weren’t necessarily looking for something to change.”

The Mat-Su suspension occurred the same week an ongoing suspension in Anchorage schools took effect, after documents from a federal Office of Complex Investigations report were leaked showing recruiters behaving improperly toward high school students in Anchorage.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com.