School boundary change proposals stir loyalties

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - School loyalties often run deep for both students and their parents.

Kids grow attached to teachers and fellow classmates. Sports teams create bonds that sometimes last lifetimes and many parents volunteer countless hours, coaching teams and assisting classroom teachers.

Those loyalties were on display Wednesday night during the Mat-Su Borough School Board meeting at Palmer High School. A standing-room-only audience crowded the upstairs meeting room when school transportation officials unveiled a proposal to change school boundary lines. If approved, the changes would require nearly 500 Valley students to change schools next year.

School officials acknowledged that boundary changes are not popular but claim they are necessary in order to move students from overcrowded schools to schools that still have room.

"We are not considering boundary changes because we have a block of time available in the spring," School Board President Mike Chmielewski told the restless audience. "Our intent is to find a way to put all our kids in a learning environment that is safe and successful."

In November, Mat-Su School officials held several town hall meetings to get the community's perspective on how to address overcrowded schools. Chief School Administrator Bob Doyle said adding portables to existing school sites was the preferred option that came out of the town meetings. The second option was to change school boundary lines.

"The borough said there is no funding for portables," Doyle told the audience. "Without boundary changes, class sizes will increase."

The proposed changes were developed by a software program that finds the most efficient bus routes to schools based on roads, number of students and transportation time. Scott Schwald, the district's director of pupil transportation, told the board that the software program provides an unbiased solution.

Parents were not appeased, however, and wanted the board to know that boundary changes will have negative effects. Those who testified before the board expressed concern that their kids would have to take longer bus rides to attend schools that are far from their homes.

Stephen Phillips has a daughter in second grade at Knik Goose-Bay Elementary. He said the student numbers may be high at that school, but parents are very involved in helping classroom teachers. His daughter's classroom receives regular parent assistance.

"In that classroom alone there are one or two parents in there volunteering their time," he said. "I moved into that area because Goose-Bay is so close to our house."

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com