Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District families are in their eighth week without bus service as the Mat-Su bus strike continues.
PALMER, Alaska - Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District families are in their eighth week without bus service as the Mat-Su bus strike continues.“Being so prolonged is really the issue,” Lisa Foley, a Willow resident, told Alaska ’s News Source. Foley is a mom to three students in the district who attend school in Houston: a ninth-grader, eighth-grader and seventh-grader. She told Alaska ’s News Source that due to vehicle troubles, her family is down to one car and needs it for work. Because of the ongoing bus strike and the car situation, she said, her children have missed numerous days of school. “They get to school maybe once every two weeks for a couple hours as we’re able to make it work,” Foley said. “I’ve talked to the school and what they do is prepare packets for the kids and they’re assigning online work. So we’re juggling it somewhat, but it’s not the same as being in class.”
“They’re not top of the charts necessarily, but yet F’s and D’s are rarely seen in a grade report. And my son just told me the other day he had three of them on there,” Foley said. “And it’s because he’s not able to get to school, be there for the in-class instruction that’s counted, and also his assignments get turned in when we’re able to get to the school. And so they’re not following the same guideline as the teacher’s assignments.
She is not the only Mat-Su Borough parent being affected by the strike. Christine Guay, a parent to a pre-K and fifth-grader, told Alaska’s News Source that she was undergoing breast cancer treatment during the bus strike. “I just finished my last part of treatment last week, so thankfully we won’t have to deal with this anymore going forward,” Guay said. “However, between all my appointments and everything, our fifth-graders had to miss some days because just logistics on, I don’t know if I’m going to be home from treatment on time.”
“It’s such an impossible situation to be put in and something you don’t really think is ever going to happen,” Guay said. “Like, oh, am I going to have to miss my immunotherapy today? Maybe I’ll reschedule it. I don’t know if insurance is going to like pay for a different day because it has to be on a certain schedule. So I guess I’m going to like cancel school instead.”
Shelby Axberg, a stay-at-home mom from Wasilla, said her family’s morning and afternoon routines have completely changed due to the strike. She said her family now leaves an additional 30 minutes early for school. “It really makes life so stressful,” Axberg said. “In the mornings with traffic being stuck out onto the main roads from both the middle school and the elementary school, to all of us parents having to hustle and bustle and get our kids dropped off soon enough so they’re not late for school, or they’re not left at school.”
Axberg said that her family has had to spend more money on gas during the strike. She said she is now making four total trips to schools. Axberg said since the strike began, neighbors have stepped up to help carpool children to school. “I know that that’s forming extra bonds that we wouldn’t have, right?” Axberg said. “And I know if my daughters catch a ride with someone that we know and we’re close with, that’s always so thankful.”
Durham School Services told Alaska’s News Source it was unable to accommodate an interview on Monday. Durham School Services said in a statement that it is set to meet with Teamsters Local 959 on Tuesday and will continue the bargaining process. “We remain committed to reaching an agreement and getting our drivers back to work before the end of the school year,” Edward P. Flavin, an external communications representative for Durham School Services, said.
Alaska’s News Source also reached out to Patrick Fitzgerald, the political coordinator for Teamsters Local 959, who declined the interview. Fitzgerald told Alaska’s News Source by phone that Teamsters Local 959 had an informal agreement with Durham School Services to no longer do any media engagements or press releases. MSBSD officials told Alaska’s News Source that Superintendent Randy Trani was not available on Monday for an interview.
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MAT-SU BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT BUS STRIKE MSBSD BUS STRIKE MSBSD SCHOOL BUS DRIVER STRIKE VALLEY BUS STRIKE IMPACT ON FAMILIES MSBSD FAMILIES ALASKA EDUCATION ALASKA ALASKA BUS STRIKE Alaska News Ktuu Palmer News
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