Mat-Su officials prepare for school closures ahead of borough budget debate
The shutdown plans could include an early end to the school year for students at the three schools.
What you need to know:
- The district is moving forward with closure plans for three schools while waiting to see whether the Mat-Su Assembly provides enough funding to keep them open.
- Closure planning could include an early end to the school year for students, officials said. District officials also announced updated school boundary maps that will be used if the closures go forward.
- Whether the schools ultimately close depends on funding from the Mat-Su Assembly. A final budget decision is expected by mid-May.
- Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.
PALMER — Mat-Su school officials are actively preparing to shutter three schools in May, even as they await a decision on whether the Mat-Su Assembly will provide enough money to keep the buildings open next year.
“Everything we are doing right now, we are facilitating communication based on closure,” Deputy Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District Superintendent Katie Gardner said in an interview Tuesday.
School district officials plan to close Meadow Lakes and Larson elementary schools and Glacier View School at the end of the year as part of a series of budget cuts needed to make up a more than $20 million funding shortfall for the upcoming year.
District officials said last month those closures can only be avoided if the borough provides at least $7.5 million beyond the about $80 million Mat-Su Borough Manager Mike Brown plans to propose for the district in his annual budget plan, set for introduction Thursday. An official funding request approved by the school board last month also includes an extra $2 million to shore up the district’s savings account.
If the district does not get that money, the impending closures could also trigger a last-minute announcement ending the school year early for students at the three schools, Gardner said Tuesday. Teachers need paid time to clean out their classrooms and remove any personal items — work that requires hours in the building without students, she said.
If the closures go forward, school at those locations could end as soon as May 18, two days before the last day for the rest of the district, she said.
A decision on whether the district will take such a step has not yet been made, she said. Any early closure plan cannot be finalized until the Assembly takes a final vote on the borough’s fiscal 2027 budget, which could come as late as May 14. Parents and staff would be notified of the closure plan as soon as possible, she said, but may only have a few days to prepare.
School officials last week released new boundary maps that could be used to redistribute students who live in the areas around Larson and Meadow Lakes.
If the schools close, most Larson students will be reassigned to Tanaina Elementary School, while those who live on the eastern edge of the current boundary will be reassigned to Finger Lake, officials said. About 70 students who live directly next to or south of Larson will be assigned to Cottonwood Creek, they said.
Students currently in the Meadow Lakes boundary will be primarily reassigned to Knik and Goose Bay elementary schools. Students who live west of Meadow Lakes will be reassigned to Big Lake Elementary School, they said.
A decision has not yet been made on where a special needs program based at Meadow Lakes will be located if that facility closes. Students currently assigned to that program will follow it to its new location, officials said.
New boundary maps were not released for Glacier View. District officials said those students will be bused to more than 40 miles to Sutton Elementary school or more than 50 miles to Palmer for middle or high school.
Whether funding comes through to keep the schools open will ultimately be up to the Mat-Su Assembly, which has not indicated broad support for such a step.
Assembly member Stephanie Nowers said she would like to find a way to keep those schools open for one year so the district and Assembly can establish a formal school site closure process that factors in public comment.
But the other six members have not said they support such a sizeable boost to the district’s budget. For example, Assembly members Dee McKee and Ron Bernier spoke during public comment at a school board meeting early last month and asked to avoid closures, but did not pledge to approve increased funding.
“I think we should be able to find some funding somehow. We need to kind of think outside the box,” Bernier said during the March 4 meeting. “Has anybody approached the Mat-Su Health Foundation for grants, that type of stuff? And, you know, the power of prayer — really the power of prayer.”
The Mat-Su Health Foundation approved a $1.69 million one-time grant to the school district to be used to pay for school nursing staff. An initial Mat-Su budget plan called for cutting such staff in half and requiring the remaining nurses to work at multiple school buildings.
Other planned cuts include reductions for student sports and activities, with most specific changes left up to administrators at each school. The district also plans to eliminate all middle and high school librarian positions, elementary school instructional coaches and some records specialist positions, according to budget documents.
-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com
This story was updated April 8 to clarify the source of a statement regarding the funding district officials say they need.