School district looks for input

MAT-SU -- What makes a good school? What is quality education? The Mat-Su Borough School District will ask people from around the Valley to share their views on these and other questions at two town meetings in December.

"If we focus on what we want to provide for our children and look at what they're getting, and if we ask ourselves, 'Is it what we had? Is it what we expect? Is it what we hope for our grandchildren to have?' I think the answers to those questions would be no," said Chief School Administrator Bob Doyle at last week's school board meeting.

He said the meetings won't be about budget cuts or shortfalls. They will be about establishing common goals and finding ways to reach them.

"If it weren't about adults and if it wasn't about money, what would we want," Doyle asked.

The meetings are scheduled for Dec. 4 and Dec. 11. The locations haven't been determined yet, but the district's public information specialist, Kim Floyd, said one will target people in the core area and the other will target people in the outlying areas like Willow and Houston.

Floyd said the meetings are a chance for people to talk about what's good for children and what's good for our community. She said the district hopes the meetings will attract people from all sectors, not just people with school-age children.

"It's not just a parent issue: It's a quality of life issue; it's a business issue. Education is critical to the economic health of a community," Floyd said.