School Board Discusses Budget

The Mat-Su School Board held their bi-monthly meeting at the Talkeetna Elementary School on Tuesday evening. The meetings are generally held in the lower Valley, which translates to a three-hour round-trip journey. The long driving distance makes it difficult for Upper Valley parents with school-age children to attend school board meetings.

Around thirty residents attended. Su-Valley High School President, Miles Osmond, and Vice-President, Liam Kaso, gave a presentation to the school board. They highlighted some of the current achievements and challenges of the local junior/senior high school. Trapper Creek Elementary School presented a brief
slideshow, and local parents were given the opportunity to speak to the board.

The main topic on the agenda was to revise the school budget. The budget is adjusted each fall to reflect unexpected legislative activity. This year one of the main adjustments to the budget was to remove funds due to the veto of the Alaska Reads Act by Governor Mike Dunleavy. The bill sought to establish a reading program to provide direct support for intervention services for the lowest performing 25% of schools. The
bill also sought to support below proficient readers in any Alaskan school district.

After the budget revision line items were discussed and the revised budget passed, Superintendent Randy Trani made a presentation on the benefits of Career Technical Education (CTE) in schools. Trani pointed out that students who take at least two complimentary CTE courses have a 98% graduation rate. His team is following the data closely and he plans to expand CTE course availability in the same manner he has
expanded Advanced Placement (AP) courses in schools. Trani acknowledged, though, that it may be difficult to implement the CTE program robustly at Su-Valley High School, as the school district lacks the funding to significantly expand capacity at its smaller schools.