Veto keeps promise, highlights pressing need for borough

Among the many duties we have as a newspaper is to point out when an elected official has failed to keep a promise. It only follows, then, that we should also similarly highlight when a promise is very conspicuously kept.

On Aug. 1, we saw an example of such a promise being kept when Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss vetoed a proposed ordinance that would have begun the process to put a $15 million bond on the October ballot to construct a permanent home for Fronteras Charter School.

DeVilbiss seemed apologetic in wielding his veto pen. He said he hated to do it, but he gave his word. He is a supporter of charter schools and, he said, had lobbied in Juneau for funds to build permanent facilities to house the schools.

But, DeVilbiss said, when Mat-Su Borough voters chose in 2011 to approve $215 million in bonds for schools, he was among the many advocates promising there would be no school borrowing for five years, the term of those bonds.

It was that promise his veto kept. Kudos to you, Mayor DeViIbiss. Further, we join the assembly and mayor in saying that there needs to be some kind of solution to this problem. The borough has only one charter school in a permanent facility — Academy Charter School in Palmer.

The rest rent facilities. And while a rental agreement works for a business — it gives flexibility if a business owner wants to move and maintenance falls on the owner, rather than the renter — we don’t believe it works for schools.

Schools don’t generally move once they’ve opened their doors. And the money paid in rent would be better spent paying down a bond and netting the borough another valuable real estate asset rather than contributing to another property owner’s bottom line.

Of course, there’s another argument to be made that charters are risky endeavors and the borough doesn’t want to be stuck with an extra school buildings if a charter fails.

We see no reason why charters can’t inhabit rented space for the first five years, and after they’ve proven their staying power, qualify for construction of a bond-funded school. Failures of charter schools are a rare occurrence, and the borough has six of these schools, all of which have been around for multiple years.

Charter school supporters say there’s no reason charter students should have to settle for fewer amenities than traditional students. Fronteras students, we’re told, have recess in a gravel pit and don’t have a gym. Perhaps. But that’s a school choice these families made when they applied for their students to attend a charter school.

“School choice” as a concept is great. The Mat-Su Borough School District already offers lots of educational choices for parents and students. But it seems important for parents who choose charter school, or other alternative programs, to know going in that these small, specialized schools do not offer the same amenities as a traditional public school.