Students address school board about animal issue

A group of Wasilla Middle School students showed up at last week's school board meeting in hopes of saving their worms, birds and other classroom animals.

The students told the Mat-Su Borough School Board Wednesday evening that rather than punishing all students because of a few situations in which animals haven't been properly cared for, the board should discipline those teachers who haven't followed the rules.

"We are a very responsible class. We clean and feed our animals, and they never stink," said sixth-grader Brittany Haynes.

She and others from Debra Petersen's science class described their year-long projects involving animals, including one in which they measure and observe worms as they grow. The Wasilla Middle classroom has also been a home to crickets, fish and birds.

"Our birds are part of our family; we love them very much," student Brandolynn Shuart said.

Last month, the Mat-Su Borough School District administration recommended a policy change after animals were observed running loose in schools. In some cases, the administration discovered, custodians had to wear masks and gloves in order to clean up neglected messes.

The district's risk manager also said there was a risk of psittacosis and salmonella, two diseases carried by animals, especially when children eat their lunches in the classroom.

The district's new policy would have banned wild animals, ducklings, baby chicks, turtles, parakeets, parrots, pigeons and other birds. It also would have limited classrooms to having two caged animals at one time, and all animals would have to be tied to a specific curricular need and time period.

The school board postponed a final decision on the policy until its Dec. 5 meeting. While they narrowly rejected the administration's recommendation in a 4-3 vote last month, some members indicated at last week's meeting that they might support some change in light of the health concerns.

Wasilla Middle teacher Debra Petersen said that when her students read in the Frontiersman that the school board was considering limiting animals in the classroom, many of them were quite upset.

"They wanted to know why don't teachers have to listen to their bosses," Petersen told the board. She said schools teach that students have to follow the rules or suffer the consequences.

"If we require complete accountability from our students, we must require complete accountability from teachers," she went on to say.

Petersen said one of her students suggested that teachers be put on a step discipline plan like students in the Mat-Su school district, moving up a step each time there is a problem. The district might not be able to simply call up the teacher's parents as a final punishment, Petersen said, but all students wouldn't have to lose out on an opportunity just because of the misconduct of a few classes.

Petersen said that as a teacher, she has found animals to be an invaluable tool.

"That's what I have that I can hook them with," she said. She described students with marginal interest in school who have since developed near-perfect attendance and a love of learning, in large part because of the animals.

"I don't want to lose that advantage by losing animals in the classroom," Petersen said.

Her students also wanted clarification about how a new policy would be implemented.

"Do fish, crickets and worms count as caged animals?" Brittany Haynes asked, referring to the part of the policy that would have restricted classrooms to having two caged animals.

The class also pointed out that concern about students eating in the same rooms as animals is only applicable at the elementary school level. At middle and high schools, all students eat in the

cafeterias.

During the same meeting, the board received a packet of information from the administration about animals in the classroom, including the policies of other Alaska school districts. Anchorage, for example, has banned all birds, rats, ferrets, turtles, wild animals and reptiles from the classroom.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation recommends that districts not allow birds in elementary classrooms and only in high schools when special care is taken in handling them, in order to prevent psittacosis infections.

DEC also advises keeping ducklings, chicks and pet turtles out of the hands of children under the age of 6. Because young children sometimes suck their fingers or put their hands in their mouths, according to DEC, they would be prone to be catching salmonella from these animals.