School board accepts fresh fruit and veggie grant, rejects alternative school coalition, refugee grant

Among the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) school board agenda items voted on during the November 20 meeting was whether to accept Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Grant. The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the State of Alaska, and provides all children in participating schools with a variety of free fresh fruits and vegetables during the school day. Some of the goals of the program include providing education on produce, expanding the variety of fruits and vegetables children experience, increasing children's fruit and vegetable consumption, and impacting children’s present and future health.

This is a Federal competitive grant in which schools with the highest free and reduced price enrollment are given priority for participation at the State level. To be selected for the FFVP, a school must be an elementary school, represent the highest percentage of students certified for free and reduced price benefits, participate in the National School Lunch Program and complete an annual application. MSBSD has 19 schools selected for participation this school year.

The board approved accepting the grant, noting that there are monthly reporting requirements and monthly requests for reimbursement, which are limited to the expenditures occurring under the grant not related to any student data. No matching funds are required. The total grant award is $340,921.88.

The Alternative School Coalition Grant was the next one voted on, in which the Alaska Alternative School Coalition, defined as those serving high-risk students, provides a spectrum of critical educational services to some of Alaska’s most vulnerable youth populations and prioritize mental health and substance abuse as key areas of focus. Within the MSBSD, schools such as Mat-Su Central and Burchell are schools included in the coalition.

Funds from the grant support activities such as a part time tutor advisor, conferences for employees, academic excellence field trips, transportation support for families, support materials, graduation materials, social seminar supplies, and student of the month awards. The specific grant budget does not include grant activities which relate to mental health curriculum or training.

This is a non-competitive grant and is awarded annually, and the total grant award amount: $62,400. The board was in a split decision after Member Ole Larson had to depart before voting, and as the vote was a tie, with members Thomas Bergey, Ted Swanson and Andrew Shane voting in support of the grant, while Kathy McCollum, Kendall Kruse, and Brooks Pitcher were opposed. MSBSD school board rules say the motion fails. There was no discussion from members as to why the motion failed.

Another proposed grant acceptance vote that failed was the Refugee School Impact grant. The Refugee School Impact (RSI) program provides grants to state and state-alternative programs to support school districts impacted by school-aged refugees and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)-eligible populations.

There are currently 126 Ukrainian refugee students in the MSBSD, and funds impacting those refugee students and their families are operated and distributed by the Catholic Social Services (CSS) from the ORR. CSS is the only organization that resettles the refugees in the state of Alaska. “.”

Some board members had issues that the grant would be applied to families as well as students. For example, the grant would have aided in refugees acquiring an electrician certification.

The central goals of the program are to ensure that ORR-eligible children are prepared to succeed in formal schooling, promote access to childcare, strengthen academic performance, and aid the social adjustment of newly arriving refugee youth and their families.

The grant would have helped create a community school at Wasilla High School since the majority of the Ukrainian refugees live in the central to the western side of the Mat-Su Valley

Other activities designed to support the successful integration of school-aged children and their families, including resources to serve new populations

The sub-grant is given to districts in Alaska that have received a threshold amount of refugees through Catholic Social Services. Districts submit a grant proposal within the dollar amount allowed and once approved, the funds may be spend only for eligible students. The total grant award amount would have been $76,289.17, however the motion to accept the grant failed, with members McCollum, Shane, Pitcher, and Kruse voting no and members Bergey and Swanson voting to approve the grant.

The next meeting of the MSBSD school board is scheduled for December 4 at 6 p.m at the MSBSD Administration Building in Palmer.