School board prepares for final sessions of school year

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) school board is gearing up for the last sessions before the end of the 2024-25 school year.

The MSBSD will first recognize student academic and athletic achievement on May 7 at 5 p.m. ahead of the regularly scheduled school board meeting at 6 p.m.

On the agenda, the administration will present a revised budget following Governor Mike Dunleavy’s veto of HB 69, legislation that would have allocated $1,000 to the base student allocation (BSA), which is a basic per-student funding amount for public schools.

While the governor and the Alaska legislators iron out a new BSA, finance officials with the district are proposing revised budgets that will amend the budgets for the General Fund, Student Transportation Fund, Nutritional AK Foods, Food Service Fund, Renewal and Replacement Fund, and the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Fund.

All the budget amendments presented incorporate projected revenues and expenditures throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.

Also, policy change regarding the use of cell phones during school hours will be introduced that would prohibit the use of non-school issued wireless telecommunications during regular school hours, including lunch, and passing periods.

A student whose physician has determined that she or he must possess a wireless telecommunication device for a health-related purpose may provide documentation of that health-related necessity to the school administrator.

If students are found violating the change, school officials may seize from a student any wireless telecommunication device, consistent with Board policy. In the course of the investigation, school officials may search information contained on the device, including but not limited to, text messages, call logs, audio and video recordings, and digital photographs, in accordance with limitations imposed by state and federal law. Specifically, school officials may not search students’ cell phones, to include accessing and reading of student text messages and digital photos, unless school officials (1) have a reasonable suspicion, based on objective and articulable facts, that the search will provide evidence that the student violated Board policy or a school conduct requirement, and (2) the scope of the search is reasonably related to the objectives of the search and not excessively intrusive in light of the nature of the infraction.

There will be several board policy changes proposed that involve the Mat-Su Central School (MSCS), including removing the Academic Advisory Council (AAC), which is permitted by the school board to make policy and budgetary recommendations to MSBSD Administration and school board that define the MSCS philosophy, mission, vision, policies, administrative regulations, practices, and procedures in accordance with State law and regulation. The AAC is made up of parents and families of students attending the school, along with school staff, one appointed School Board member, and one Superintendent designee from the District.

Instead, the policy change supports a Parent Teacher Association, Parent Teacher Organization, or similar organization at Mat-Su Central School, similar to those at other District non-charter schools.

Additional policy changes proposed for the MSCS include overhauling the hiring process for the principal, assuming that the board approves removing the AAC, which currently is integral in selecting candidates for the principal for the school.

Instead, in a separate policy, the MSCS principal selection would be based on an interview committee making recommendations to the Superintendent for principal and assistant principal vacancies.

The school board is expected to approve the Educational Choice Diploma at MSCS, which would allow students to earn a high school diploma by completing at least 25.5 credits instead of the required 26.5 credits required by the MSBSD.

Also on the agenda is a resolution to approve travel to Saroma, Japan in support of the sister-city program for students from Palmer High School and Palmer Junior Middle Schools.

There is also a proposal for the creation of a career connected education foundation as a school connected organization for the district. The idea being that the foundation would act as a separate non-profit organization, raising funds to enhance and enrich classroom and district-wide initiatives related to Career and Technical Education.

The May 7 school board meeting will be held at the MSBSD Central Administration building in Palmer.