Water shutoff at Tanaina Elementary inspires parents to push for improvements

WASILLA — Tanaina Elementary School students were left without running water on Thursday, using staff-provided water bottles for hand-washing, and getting assistance from staff and janitorial personnel for flushing after using the bathroom. The water was turned back on by the end of the school day.

“This is something that happens a lot in homes and buildings in Alaska,” said Catherine Esary, public information officer for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.

When asked whether the water shutoff was caused by frozen pipes, or any cold-weather related cause particular to Alaska, Esary said that wasn’t necessarily the case and she didn’t know what the cause was, but would seek an answer from someone who would.

Michael Brown, executive director of operations for the district, followed up, saying the cause had been a motor burnout in the school’s water pump. The failure was discovered in the morning before school started, he said, and a crew was onsite working on the problem right away. A temporary pump was installed by early afternoon. A permanent pump had been ordered and would be installed during the winter break.

Gary Richardson, a parent of a child at the school, said he was concerned that parents weren’t notified of the problem right away, and that their children had to get assistance from an adult for bathroom uses.

“Whenever they used the bathroom, they had to rely on staff or a janitorial member to come in, take a bucketful of water and fill the tank and flush the toilet,” he said. “It’s a dehumanizing process to have happen to our kids.”

Esary said that student safety is a top priority for the district, and that children had access to safe drinking water and water for handwashing during the water shutoff.

Brown said there have been previous water shutoffs during the year, although he wasn’t sure exactly how many, and noted that they weren’t necessarily related to the water pump motor burnout, or indicative of a problem with the entire water system generally.

He added that the borough has an adequate preventive maintenance program in place at its 47 schools, and that sometimes, mechanical failures happen.

But for some Tanaina parents, Thursday’s water shutoff is a tipping point that follows existing frustrations with maintenance at the elementary school.

The first notification that some parents got about the shutoff was not from the school, but on Facebook. By the end of the day Friday, some parents were using the social media site to organize a group to advocate for capital improvements at the school, laying out plans to coordinate with each other, school staff and the school’s principal, Cheri Mattson, on a list of specific items.

“We’re friends with a number of people that live in the Tanaina School District who take their kids to other schools because they see that there’s issues at Tanaina,” Richardson said in a phone interview Friday. “It’s not so much the principal or even the teachers, because the principal and the teachers are great. But the school is rundown. It’s been underfunded, and it’s a stepchild.”

When asked if Tanaina was in need of greater investment for improvements, Esary replied that each principal in the district makes requests for capital improvements to their schools before the final budget is approved each year. Esary responded to media request for comment on the water shutoff after the Frontiersman left a voicemail message for Principal Mattson.

“The school is safe,” Esary said. “We welcome parental and community involvement.”

Amanda Coates, a Tanaina Elementary School parent, said she and others are working to organize small committees to work on a list of specific issues at the school, gather parents’ signatures for a petition, and are planning to attend the next school board meeting to advocate for capital improvements.

“There are for more improvements that need to be made at the school other than water,” Coates said, and added, “This should be a major priority for the Mat-Su district.”