The proposed closures will impact about 650 students.
PALMER — Mat-Su School District officials plan to close three schools as part of an effort to cut costs amid a projected $23 million budget shortfall next year. Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District administrators will propose closing Larson Elementary School near Wasilla and Glacier View School at the end of the current school year.
District officials declined to confirm the location of the third school targeted for closure because its staff and teachers have not yet been notified, they said. A meeting at that school regarding the planned closure is scheduled for Tuesday, district spokesman John Notestine said in an interview.Teachers at Glacier View and Larson were notified of the plans in a meeting Monday, and an email update was sent to school families, he said.If the closures are approved, the district will redraw its boundary maps, and affected students will be assigned to new schools depending on current enrollment at each facility, he said.Students who attend Larson will be sent to Tanaina, Shaw and Finger Lake elementary schools. About 10 elementary students currently at Glacier View will be bused more than 40 miles to Sutton Elementary School, and any secondary students will be brought to Palmer, Notestine said. Teachers and most school staff may be reassigned, while some staff, such as custodians, may be let go, officials said.The district plans to announce additional program cuts later this week ahead of a budget briefing scheduled for the March 4 school board meeting, Notestine said. The board is expected to vote on the plan during a regular meeting March 18.If approved by the Mat-Su School Board, the closures are expected to save as much as $4.5 million next year, or $1.5 million per school, district spokesman John Notestine said in an interview Monday. While operating each school costs substantially more than the expected savings — Larson’s 2025-26 budget is about $4.3 million, for example — closing a school does not recoup its full price tag because students and staff must still be relocated, district officials said during a “If you disperse those students to neighboring schools, those neighboring schools are going to need additional teachers to support those students, additional special education assistance, a special education teacher, those kinds of things,” Assistant Mat-Su Superintendent Katie Gardner said during a Dec. 17 school budget working session. “You’re not able to save the full cost of that elementary school that you might close.” Officials with a union that represents about 1,000 non-certified district employees said they expect to work with the district on any employee changes triggered by the closures.“Any staffing changes must follow the negotiated agreement, including seniority and reassignment rights, and we will be directly involved in every step of that process,” Classified Employees’ Association President Rick Morgan said in a statement. If approved, the buildings will be handed over to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and the district will no longer be responsible for utilities or upkeep, Gardner said during the December meeting.Amy Bushatz is a former Anchorage Daily News reporter who is founder and editor of the Mat-Su Sentinel, an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan online news source covering the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Contact her at abushatz@matsusentinel.com or go to matsusentinel.com.
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