SVHS likely to stay closed

Official: Any use

of school ruled out

August 26, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - The final announcement won't come until 5 p.m. tonight, but a Mat-Su School District official made it clear Thursday night that Susitna Valley Jr./Sr. High School will not be open for students this coming school year.

"We've done what I think to be a very thorough analysis of our options," George Troxel, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, told members of the Mat-Su Borough Assembly during a special meeting Thursday. "Any use of the building was ruled out because of safety concerns for the students."

A firestorm of controversy erupted over the last 10 days regarding the fate of an estimated 188 Su-Valley students. On Aug. 17, the school district discovered dangerous design flaws in the Su-Valley roof. Those revelations came to light when architectural firm BurkhartCroft issued a through assessment of the school's roof.

BurkhartCroft was originally hired in February to find a solution to a lesser problem regarding snowslides that, for years, have careened off the Su-Valley building. In the process of investing solutions to the snow-shed, they uncovered the fact that the roof was improperly designed to hold normal snow loads without compromising the building's structural integrity.

On Monday night, school officials met at Talkeetna Elementary School with Trapper Creek and Talkeetna area residents to get suggestions about how to proceed in light of the fact that the Su-Valley school was deemed unsafe.

Many area residents lobbied for keeping portions of the flawed school open, while construction crews work to repair the roof. After reviewing as many as eight different options, the district indicated that liability and student safety concerns outweighed the benefits of keeping students at Su-Valley this year.

Thursday night, school officials indicated that the best option is to relocate Su-Valley students to Trapper Creek Elementary School. On Sept. 6, the borough assembly members will take up the question of whether to approve $432,000 out of reserve funds to build six portables to help Trapper Creek Elementary operate as a high school for one year.

While details of the plan still need to be fleshed out, School Board President Mike Chmielewski indicated to Borough Mayor Tim Anderson that the basic plan for Su-Valley students is clear.

"The direction seems clear to us - Trapper Creek," Chmielewski told the assembly, "We have had the meeting with the public, we have reviewed their information, and we will be presenting it to them."

On Monday, the district indicated that the expected 17 Trapper Creek students would attend Talkeetna Elementary School for one year, until the Su-Valley school is repaired and they can return.

Troxel said the district considered the option of keeping Su-Valley students on their school grounds, but it would have entailed building 12 additional portables. Even then, he said students wouldn't have access to a bathroom or cafeteria without crossing the busy Parks Highway to use the Talkeetna area senior center.

Assembly Member Betty Vehrs told Troxel that Trapper Creek residents were concerned the school district might close their elementary school down for good next year, rather than let the kids return when Su-Valley is repaired.

While the district did explore shutting Trapper Creek two years ago, due to low enrollment, Troxel said the district has no plans to close Trapper Creek Elementary now.

"It has never been a part of the conversation to close the school," he said.

School officials will hold a public meeting tonight at 5 p.m. at Talkeetna Elementary School to present their solution to the community.

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266, or joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.