Students take center stage at joint MSB meeting

In a setting that would have many grown adults would falter, a chorus of young voices filled the Mat-Su Borough (MSB) Assembly chambers on March 24, testifying directly before a joint session of the Assembly and School Board regarding the district's desperate need for increased funding.

Several students brought their personal perspectives to the fiscal crisis plaguing the school district, pleading to members of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) and the MSB Assembly to prioritize funding, detailing how proposed budget cuts—including potential school closures—would diminish their educational quality.

Fourth grade student Thayer Meade, who attends Larson Elementary, along with his sister, and is following in the footsteps of his older brothers who previously attended Larson, spoke to the members about how the school has helped him achieve milestones in his education journey, complicated by autism and ADHD.

“I came to Larson unable to read and was struggling a lot to be able to stay in class without my anxiety taking over,” the boy said without pausing. Meade said that can now read well enough that he has made the school’s Battle of the Books team two years in a row.

“Having different abilities sometimes means that I have to work harder than other kids to achieve the same things. At Larson, I have the support I need to be successful.”

Meade also took his three minutes to speak for the students, who like him, have IEPs and cannot speak like he can. “One of the hardest parts about having autism is…when things change.” He bravely told the members that change is something he struggles with, and school provides routine and with that, a feeling of safety. “I can focus on learning because I am around people I’m used to, (people) I trust. If that goes away, it’s more than I can handle.” Meade said that other students like him rely on routine to help regulate their bodies, using the familiarity of the trails and walking spaces to provide calm, as well as the adaptive fields for physical education.

He asked the members not to close his school, and instead consider redrawing the boundary lines to help more students come to “this special Larson school family we have.”

He was not alone. Standing on a step stool to reach the podium, Maddie Clark, also a fourth grade student at Larson said that she has been trying to understand why her school may be closing while asking what could happen to students with special needs. “They need stability and transferring them to different schools with new people and different surroundings is not going to help them. It is not a simple swap.”

Other young students highlighted the many programs, athletics and academic clubs that have helped them excel while building friendships and a community of encouragement. “These are the kinds of experiences that make learning exciting and help us feel proud of ourselves,” said student Avery Clark.

The students asked the school board and assembly to find the funding to keep the schools open. Alexander Bauman, a young student from Meadow Lakes Elementary which is also slated for closure, put it succinctly: “Money is the problem and everything is expensive, but please give enough money to fund Meadow Lakes Elementary.”

“Education is important because we are your future. When you support our successful schools, you’re supporting us,” said Clark.