Mat-Su Assembly asks for post-Labor Day school start, faces reconsideration

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly voted 5-2 Tuesday, Oct. 6, to ask the Mat-Su Borough School Board to start classes at every borough school the day after Labor Day, beginning in 2027.

It is only a request. Members on both sides said the calendar is the school board's decision. The vote may not stand.

Assembly member Dmitri Fonov, a yes vote, emailed the clerk at 10:48 pm seeking reconsideration: "it is critical that we hear from parents, teachers, and the many other groups who will be directly affected." Clerk Lonnie McKechnie said the next morning it will be on the Oct. 20 agenda.

Michael Bowles, Stephanie Nowers, Dee McKee, Bill Gamble and Fonov voted yes. Maxwell Sumner and Ron Bernier voted no.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District opened Aug. 13 this year for grades 1 through 12 and Aug. 20 for kindergarten and pre-K. It closes May 19, 2027. The day after Labor Day fell on Sept. 8 this year, 26 days after the opening for most grades. In 2027 it falls on Sept. 7.

Bowles, the sponsor, called it "more of a conversation starter," prompted by bus cancellations and a farm tour where farmers said their teenage help had gone back to school. The board, he said, could "say go kick rocks."

The resolution also cites farm labor, tourism businesses keeping student workers, FFA and 4-H students who miss the Alaska State Fair, August subsistence and personal-use fishing and hunting, and bus drivers who work in tourism until Labor Day.

McKee, a former Mat-Su teacher, spoke in favor. Gamble, also a yes vote, warned it would "push the end of the school year back to June," into fishing season, with snow days added at the end. The resolution leaves the end date to the board. Sumner said he could have called every school board member in less time than the debate took.

McKee pulled the item from the consent agenda and moved it. A first motion to end debate failed 4-3, short of the five votes required. Fonov proposed waiting until after the next joint Assembly-school board meeting, which the clerk gave as Dec. 8. Bernier's motion to postpone to Dec. 15 failed 3-4, with Sumner, Fonov and Bernier in favor.

The only public speaker on the item, caller Esther Huddleston, thanked Bowles during audience participation. She said letting students out in June makes more sense than May, when it is still too cold, and that high schoolers miss fair work, leaving church fundraiser booths to retired seniors.

For Oct. 20, written comments go to [email protected]. Residents can also testify in person at the Assembly Chambers in Palmer or by phone at 1-855-225-2326, three minutes each, the agenda says.