School arson investigation wraps up

MAT-SU -- Alaska State Troopers say they have a suspect in the December fire at Tanaina Elementary School, but not enough conclusive evidence to make the person's name public. In the meantime, parents say the teacher who was reportedly at the scene of the fire is no longer working at Tanaina.

Mat-Su Borough School District officials will not confirm that a teacher has been placed on administrative leave, saying that without a formal criminal case, the matter is of a personnel nature and therefore illegal to discuss publicly.

At the same time, troopers say they cannot comment on whether or not the suspect is a teacher at the school, or even if the suspect is an adult or child. Last Friday troopers served a search warrant at the suspect's home and this week are referring the results of their investigation to the Palmer District Attorney's office.

Troopers say they won't make an arrest in the case but instead are deferring to the district attorney. As of earlier this week, no charges had been filed.

While officials remain tight-lipped about the situation, parents at the school say they remain frustrated with the handling of the case but are relieved the particular teacher they raised concerns about is no longer in the same building as their children.

"Right now we don't have this teacher present at our school and as far as we know we're not expecting her back," said LaVancha Lankford, who has two children at Tanaina Elementary.

Lankford described a sense of relief at the school that the matter has been somewhat resolved, but said parents are still not entirely satisfied. According to Lankford and others at the school, a teacher, who is not being named, was seen fleeing the scene of the fire in an "agitated state" and later reportedly sought treatment at AIC for burns.

"I'm frustrated because they are letting someone get off the hook here," Lankford said. "They set a fire with 500 kids in the school, they have evidence on their body and they flee, but they [the officers] don't see that this is enough to charge somebody, even with a misdemeanor."

Lankford said she feels the district must have some information on the case, in order to place the teacher on leave.

But whether that information is enough for a conviction remains to be seen.

"There is still not sufficient evidence to conclusively label any particular individual as a suspect, although in our minds there is one particular suspect who seems to stand out," trooper investigator Leonard Wallner told the Frontiersman this week.

"Yes, the fire was intentionally started," Wallner said. "It does not appear the fire was meant to destroy the building, not in any way. And it does not appear the fire was meant to harm anyone in the school."

Wallner described the fire, which ignited in a shower stall that had been converted into storage near the gymnasium, as an attempt at a distraction. "Which it was," Wallner added.

The fire forced the evacuation of nearly 500 elementary students, along with faculty and staff. No one was seriously injured and the school sustained minimum damage, as the flames were quickly contained by the building's sprinkler system.

"There were other matters going on at this school that day that basically by creating a distraction, it halted the process of these other matters," Wallner said, but he

was unwilling to further describe the situation leading up to the fire.

With the trooper investigation wrapped up, the school district will begin what it is calling a "review" of the fire and consequential response.

"We are confident the state troopers covered all the bases with their investigation," said district public information specialist Kim Floyd, "so now we will be conducting our own review to cover the entire response effort … Our review will include some discussions with a variety of individuals who were on the scene at the time of the event."

Tanaina principal Scott Daugherty told the Frontiersman he could not comment on the fire or the personnel matter of the specific teacher allegedly involved.