Mat-Su School Board: October 21, 2026 - MSBSD School Board Meeting

And then go ahead and try saying something into it.

Uh, soccer. There you go.

Good evening everyone. I'm calling to order the regular school board meeting of October 21st, 2026. And I will ask Vice President Shane to determine a quorum, please.

Member Larson. Present. Member Pitcher. Present. President McCollum.

Present. And I myself, Andrew Shane, am present. We have a quorum. Thank you. Um, and Member Pitcher will read the board goals, please.

Matanuska Susitna Borough School District vision, mission, and goals. Vision: Matsu Borough School District will be a model of excellence in teaching, learning, and engaging all students. Mission: Matsu Borough School District prepares all students for success. Goals: improve academic excellence through merit and intelligence, develop excellent educators and leaders, use innovative practices to improve the education system, base all decisions on the needs and best interests of students, parents, and community promote safe and healthy environments, ensuring equality of opportunity and fair treatment.

Thank you, and we'd like to invite you to stand and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Okay, that was the best pledge we've had in a long time. Thank you. And now we're going to recognize our moment of silence and invite you to join us in that as well.

Okay, thank you. We are ready to go to item 1.2, approval of the agenda. May I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda? Motion to approve the agenda as it's written. Second.

Is there any objection to approving tonight's agenda? Okay, hearing none, the agenda is approved. We're on item 2.1, administrative reports, Knik Elementary School.

As you know, this is the best part of all of our meetings. We have Knik Elementary and Principal Gober from Knik. I think— are you going to kick it off and introduce the students, or are they just going to introduce themselves?

All right, go for it. The microphone is yours. You got to hit the button to turn it green.

So good evening, members of the school board, superintendent, families, and our students, of course, that are here to present tonight. My name is Denise Gober. I'm the principal of Knik, and to my right is Jody Casey, who is our PE teacher and also our student council advisor. We're super excited to be here tonight and showcase our students and the great things that they have in plans for our school connect tonight. Um, our goal is making a welcoming culture and environment for all our new families.

As many of you know, we've taken in a large majority of the Meadow Lakes students and their families, and our goal, intentional goal, is to make sure that they feel welcomed, supported, and belong at our school. We want Knik to be their new home. With that said, I'm going to turn this over to Ms. Casey right now, who's going to talk about a little bit more about our student council, and we do have a slide to introduce all of our kiddos here.

All right, thank you. Um, we have our— we started our student council last year and then it has blossomed into what it is this year. And just as a forewarning, we just had elections on Friday, so everybody was amazing and stepped up and we put this together in the last couple days. And the families, thank you for getting them here. We really appreciate it.

So, um, if you can go to the next slide.

Oh, I have a clicker.

Oh, never mind, I'll go to the next slide. So, um, this is just like, um, a little bit of building, like when we brought in, uh, I mean, we take Goose Bay kids because we get them from Goose Bay, and then we have our original, uh, kids, and then the Meadow Lakes kids. Like, we basically have blended very nicely, and we, um want to make sure everybody's inclusive. So that's one of our main focuses of student council this year, is making everybody feel welcome and they're part of our Knik family. So, um, uh, the core focus of our student council this year is, uh, students' voice, like they having a voice, like from them, like what their expectations of the school are.

Um, our school culture and climate, which is extremely important, that has to go with directly with our Knik motto and our action plan of We have the Knik King, so it's kindness, integrity, nurturing, growth mindset, and safety. And we actually have awards on these on our monthly assemblies, which our student council is going to be helping with. And then the last part of our focus this year is kindness and service. And all the, the amazing ideas that have come from our student council have been good, and you'll be hearing about some of those from them.

The next part, you guys can see all these, right? Okay, so, um, we have 15 members on our student council. We have 2 officers from 4th grade, 2 officers from 5th grade, and then the other 3 are all representatives for each grade level. And then the 3rd grade, we have 5 representatives. So it's kind of also like a mentoring from the 5th and 4th grade because we have 2 returning members from last year.

So they've done a good job of helping the 3rd grade. They will do a good job of helping the 3rd graders. So, um, and then the next one, this is just a list of our student council members. So our officers are Bella Gaines and Phoebe McGee, who are both here. Um, our 4th grade officers are Mia Robinson and Malina Cofoid, um, who are also here.

And then we also have for our 5th grade representatives Ronan Kelso Nobel Nichols and Micah, uh, Párez. And, um, then for 4th grade, we also have Kindley Dykstra, Braxton Ficklin, and Aubrey Whitney. And then our 3— our 5 3rd grade representatives, um, are Laywen Crockett, Lincoln Elkins-Hamilton, Sienna Humphrey, Ellie Nakina, and Declan Miller. So, and they are all new to Knik from either Meadow Lakes or Goose Bay. So it's pretty cool.

And then I have, we have a short video that will, basically it's, they put together, they answer some questions about all of our themes that we have. And then I will have them come up and they all have, they're gonna introduce themselves. And then also they are going to talk about each theme. So, you guys hit the video?

Oh, okay. I wanted to represent my classmates because I believe I can help improve the school, uh, and make sure our— the school is a happy environment and help encourage others. I want to represent 5th grade by making the school safer and so that kids feel included. I sold a big promise and ideas to make more clubs and fundraising so the fundraising can fund the clubs for Knik. With Knik Student Council, I feel that families belong to Knik because it because we can make school a better place if we work together.

I wanted to represent Knik by making it a better place and, and showing all my ideas to my classmates. I love Knik because I can walk in being myself and still fit in more than ever. Knik can show kindness by giving back to our community by picking up trash if it's at school or not at school, to create a clean environment. The student council is going to help new students and new families that they belong here by giving them a welcome packet to help introduce them to the school. My promise was that I want to make longer lunches so everyone can finish.

Helping to make— show kindness and give back to our school and community? Well, we can help people that get bullied by their differences and show that in kaniv. And we also want to include people in games and activities, show sportsmanship. I wanted to be in student council because I thought it was going to be funny and help people, teach kids around the school. Why I want to represent my classmates is I have a lot of good ideas.

KNACK is special to me because I have lots of, lots of good friends from Goose Bay. I wanted to represent my classmates because I wanted to help people that struggle, and I love KNACK because of all the kindness. I wanted to represent my classmates because I have really good Goodbye.

So, um, now to talk about like why they ran and what they talked about why they ran and what they love about Connect. So they're going to continue with that and we're just going to have them, um, we're going to start with, uh, Bella, and she's going to talk about, um, the student voice, and then followed by Phoebe. So they're going to introduce themselves and then talk about the student voice and what they have to offer.

My name is Bella. I am A student council officer for 5th grade at Knik Elementary. Knik is special to me because people are kind. I want people to hear my name and not feel left out. I want people to feel like they are welcome.

Student Voice is dedicated to making sure every student has a say through monthly class classroom meetings led by student council members, and a central idea box for school improvements and, and student council event updates. During monthly PEP assemblies.

Then next we have Dee McKee coming up to also talk about— introduce herself and talk about—. Hi.

My name is Phoebe McGee. I'm a student council officer for 5th grade at Knik Elementary. With being an officer, I want to represent my 5th grade Knik family because I want to make Knik a better place. I want to show all my ideas to school, to my school. Knik is special to me because I can feel like I belong by just being myself.

For my campaign, I made a suggestion box for anyone who has ideas for clubs, field trips, and ways to improve our school. I did this so everyone can have an offer— opportunity to add something new.

All right, and next we have Ronan Kelso to talk about, um, to introduce himself and talk about the school culture and climate.

My name is Ronin Koso. I am a student council representative for 5th grade at Knik Elementary. I want to represent 5th grade by making the school safer and making kids feel included. What makes Knik special is that the people are nice. School culture and climate focuses on making sure every student feels seen, welcome, and supported.

This is achieved through lunch and recess buddies, friendship bench monitors, welcome ambassadors. Student council members are committed to modeling our King's traits daily in their interactions with others.

And then next we have Nobel Nichols to talk about, um, also about culture and climate and introduce himself.

My name is Nobel Nichols. I am a student council member representative for the 5th grade at Knik Elementary. I want to represent my classmates so I can help improve the school, make sure it's a safe place, and also make sure that our school is a happy environment. The thing I like about Knik is how we support others. A happy environment looks like greeting others, helping them up if they trip, and making sure they feel welcome.

It can also be important that our school itself is welcoming. By keeping the environment clean and safe. This can be done by following our Knik King characteristic traits.

And then next we have, uh, Melina Kofoid. She's going to talk about the kindness and service and herself.

My name is Melina Kofoid and I'm a student council officer for 4th grade at Knik Elementary. I want to represent my classmates by making more clubs and giving students more opportunities to find something they are interested in. I would also like to improve our school by adding resources to keep our environment clean for not only students but for our community. Kindness and survey, focusing on spreading kindness and serving our local community through student-led initiatives that are driven by school and community, and community value. They need to be in— intensified based on reviews of the climate and culture surveys, school data, and students' input obtained during monthly student council classroom meetings.

And then we have Mia Robinson to introduce herself and also talk about kindness and service.

Hi, my name is Mia Robinson. I'm student council officer for 4th grade at Knik Elementary. Knik is special to me because I have lots of friends that support me I want to represent my classmates because I want to give them better, a better school and better learning. Students' input is important to our school and helps and make it better. We will also take information we get from feedback surveys and meetings to make changes, adding ideas or items to our school.

Okay, and then to follow up with that, um, how we— what the expectation is, is that they will— we will meet once a month, um, kind of like you guys do, um, and then we will, we will have a, an agenda, a script that they will follow, um, or actually, I'm sorry, we'll have an agenda and then we'll talk about— and then they are each assigned to a classroom because there's 5 grade— there's 5 classrooms per grade level, and they're each assigned to one in their grade level. And then they will take a script back and present what needs to be talked about with each class. And then, um, if there's a vote that needs to happen, like a spirit day, something, then they will get the input and the vote from them, from the class, and then bring that back. So, um, yes, then so they're going to be very, very involved with all of that. And then just a year at a glance.

This is pretty much like what we have planned for the year. It's a lot of interaction, a lot of interactive with them. So this is what stuff that they came up with, stuff that we came up with to throughout each season. So, and then this is us. I just want to follow up, like we are Basically, it's the voice of the students.

So if you guys want to get up and up— so they did pretty much all of this on their own. They came up with all of it, so with help. But this is— and then this is a full picture minus one of our students. No, I think they're all there. Oh yep, of our student council.

So, and then And I think— yep, that's it. So, um, did you guys have any questions or comments for the council members? Are there any questions? Member Shane? Sounds like we've got some, uh, potentially future community leaders down there.

That was awesome. Uh, were you guys, uh, nervous at all doing public speaking? A little bit. That's okay. I'm nervous all the time too.

You guys did an excellent job. You got no reason to be nervous. You guys did great. So just want to say thank you for, uh, coming out and presenting to us tonight.

Member Larson? No. Yep, it's, it's awful nice to see you guys come up here. I really appreciate it. Uh, public speaking is tough, but you had some really good things to say, so it's not so tough.

So Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

And, and I'll just say thank you for coming here tonight. I know it's probably— you have things to do at home and you came all the way out here, and I know because I live out in that area as well, it's a long way for you to come here. And I'm— what I loved most about your presentation is the fact that you all are going back to classrooms and then you're going to share and get their ideas. So all the kids in your school know that they have someone kind of speaking for them if they have an idea or something they need to share. So that is a really great quality, and thank you for representing your fellow classmates.

Thank you all for having us here tonight. I'm super proud of these, these fine young leaders that are growing right now, and I can't wait to see what they do in the future.

All right, thank you very much. And we do— and you guys feel free to, you know, head home, or you can stay and watch, you know, 2, 3 hours later, you know, we might be done.

Um, so on to Item 2.

2.2. Um, our next item is BP 3515 Implementation, and we do have a presentation. And look at that, it's already up.

I do. Good evening, board members. You know, this happened to me last night at the assembly meeting. I had to follow the presentation of the student coloring winner contest, and now I have to follow that incredible presentation by those students. But it is probably the best part of each meeting, and so I'm, I'm happy to have had them go first.

We wanted to provide an update to the school board regarding the progress on the implementation of the changes to board policy 3515, which is uh, the policy that allows for the concealed carry program in schools. I will say that of course, um, there are a lot that our team in Business and Operations is doing to get the school year up and running. And so really, for most of August and September, we're focused on making sure that schools are ready for students. But we have been keeping in mind the progress that is expected to make sure that we're ready to implement, uh, this new program, uh, later this year. And so we wanted to provide an update on some of what is ongoing, and then we will plan to give regular updates to the board throughout the year so that you can see some of this progress.

One of the things that I'll also mention is that, um, uh, some of what was done over the summer months, particularly related to, uh, the, the passage of the policy and working through all of the insurance components, Those have already been completed. I don't have them on the presentation. I believe the board's aware that we had all of that completed. So really, this is just all of the things that are happening from this point moving forward. Uh, there is a lot that is in progress, um, and one item that really hasn't been started because it is, is pretty dependent on all of these other pieces.

Uh, but I'll talk about each of these areas as we go through, and of course, if there are questions, we will do our best to answer them. Uh, we do have, uh, some staff here who can help support questions. Uh, if I need to phone a friend. Uh, so the first is really understanding the governance. Uh, the policy has passed, as the board is aware.

We are working on, uh, the draft of the administrative regulation as well as the program guidelines and the, um, uh, use of force programs. And so for this area, we have a preliminary draft administrative regulation that has been created. Uh, we are awaiting final, uh, confirmation on the screening and training program components before we're ready to have that administrative regulation reviewed by our attorneys, and then we will present it to the board for review. There are a number of components of this policy relating to reporting requirements, the investigation in the event of an incident, if there's a revocation of a prior approval, the reasons for that. Um, as well as, uh, use of force guides and the scope of the program.

Uh, all of those are currently being drafted, um, and we hope to have the AR, uh, finalized in the early part of the second semester.

Uh, the area that we probably have made the most progress, and to be honest, it's because it's an area that we have a lot of experience doing, and that is the development of the application and eligibility processes. So we have an application that is completed, and we have the system in place for once we are ready to go live, where individuals will be able to submit their interest with all of their application components. We have application procedures that are drafted that detail exactly how the application process will work and what needs to be submitted with the application. There is an application workflow that is pretty close to final form that will talk about how that— how the routing for that application will happen. And then we've also drafted notifications that need to be submitted for legal review, which will be provided to applicants upon submission.

This will be a notice that they have been accepted, which includes some of the guidelines, and then a notification if individuals are not— if their application is not in order and/or they have not been accepted an authorized to carry on school property. So this is one of those areas where we've made quite a bit of progress. It's in its final stages, uh, and we'll be submitting to legal review hopefully soon.

The third process, and, and one of the, uh, more complicated, is related to, uh, the screening process. So we have done, uh, our due diligence to make sure we have a good understanding of what's required for the Alaska Concealed Handgun Permit. We are— have procedures already in place and will be relying on those for the criminal history check and have a draft matrix that describes what prior infractions would prevent someone from being able to— from being approved. The drug and alcohol screening procedures are already in place. The two that we are continuing to work on right now are the physical assessments and making sure that that is developed, as well as the psychological evaluation.

We are communicating with the Alaska State Troopers to have a good understanding of the procedures that they're following, so we hopefully don't have to reinvent the wheel on this. While the standards may not be quite as rigorous, um, as what is in place for, uh, law enforcement officers, we felt like that was a very good place to, uh, start and learn from. Uh, and so, uh, that hopefully will continue to be a good partnership for information sharing.

Additionally, the training program, we have— our team has met with law enforcement to help us through this process. That is a very important partnership as we move forward. One of the areas we've asked for their expertise is related to training. So we have evaluated some of the existing training options which are offered locally and in Alaska, really particularly Matsu and Anchorage. Related to the Alaska Concealed Handgun Permit as a starting point.

And we've also had law enforcement officers provide us with recommendations regarding important additional training topics, items to include as part of the curriculum, as well as the pass/fail qualifications course, the operational format for testing its sequence. That's really related to the, the testing of the individual with the use of the firearm specifically.

Uh, in addition, uh, one of the other areas that we've actually made quite a bit of progress, uh, again, it's an area where we have quite a bit of, uh, expertise and experience, is making sure that we are prepared with equipment, uh, signage, and, uh, uh, the carry and storage program. Uh, we did meet with law enforcement partners to discuss standards for approved handguns and ammunition. Uh, they, uh, provided very good guidance, uh, for us in being able to set some standards that would be in place. Uh, we have, uh, ordered updated signs based on the new statement that was approved as part of the policy, and those new signs, once they're received, hopefully in the next few weeks, will start to be installed in buildings, um, uh, across the district. All buildings will have— will be equipped with new signage, um, and then we have also, uh, identified and are awaiting to order the identification lanyards, which will be handed out to anyone who is a part of the approved program.

This is how they will identify themselves in the event of an emergency so that law enforcement or other first responders can easily identify them.

So I've talked about law enforcement coordination in a couple of areas. One of the most important ways that we will be coordinating with law enforcement is in the areas of training as well as in our emergency response plans. So, um, we've gotten their feedback on a number of components. Uh, we, uh, have additional meetings and coordination that'll be planned over the next several months so that, uh, we can coordinate and partner with them in training programs and drills in our schools, uh, once we have individuals who have indicated an interest in participating in the program. And then one of the final steps will, if needed, and we'll be communicating with this with them about this, uh, will likely be memorandums of agreement regarding data sharing so that we make sure that we're able to provide them with sufficient information regarding who and how many individuals are authorized to carry in each school building so that if there is an emergency and they are responding, they have that information that they can share easily so they know what to expect in the event of an emergency.

Records confidentiality and tracking. This is one of the areas where we don't have too much to do in this, really. We have draft procedures, which will be included in the administrative regulation, to make sure that any applications, as well as supplementary documents provided with the application, are appropriately stored with limited access. We already have procedures for this related to individual criminal history checks, so we will be using the same system, maybe even with some additional additional security or limited access for individuals who have submitted to participate in the program. So it's not stored as part of their personnel file but in a separate location.

And then we have been working on school administrator notifications that will be ready and available when we have individuals who have been approved through the program. As part of this, part of the policy has that we will notify school administrators of individuals who will be authorized to carry a concealed weapon within their building. And we have included some expectations regarding confidentiality and reporting as part of that notification to make sure that administrators understand what their responsibilities are and that we're communicating that when this happens. And the last area that we have done, we really, I show it as not having started. We've had some preliminary conversation with administrators, but until all of the program components are completed, Uh, any communication would probably have more questions than we would necessarily have answers for.

So we're tracking that communication will be very important, communication with administrators, with staff, and with families. Uh, but we want to make sure that we have all of the, uh, program components in place and determined, particularly related to screening and training. Um, uh, and the, the importance of that law enforcement partnership before we start communicating that this is imminent. Uh, so this is a, a big priority. It's just one that really for us is dependent on those other pieces being in place.

Uh, so, uh, hopefully breaking this down kind of helped describe the process. We will keep with this format moving forward so you can see, uh, uh, some of the additional boxes that we're able to check as planning continues. Um, and, uh, uh, certainly, uh, happy to take any questions that board members may have.

Thank you. I don't see any questions at the moment, but thank you for the work.

We are on to item 3.1, persons to be heard on non-agenda items, and Vice President Shane will do the clerk duties tonight and read the rules and names on our list. Okay, persons to be heard on non-agenda items, the following guidelines apply: the speaker states his or her name for the record, the speaker is limited to 3 minutes per meeting, the speaker is limited to non-agenda items, the speaker's comments should be appropriate for all audiences including school-aged children. The speaker is limited to comments of a general nature, positive or negative, which may not be attributable to any specific individual. Issues involving concerns specific to any single individual should be submitted in writing and given to the board clerk to be resolved. No disturbances or willful interruptions of any board meeting shall be permitted.

Persistence by an individual or group shall be grounds for the chair to terminate the privilege of addressing the meeting. The board may remove disruptive individuals and order the room cleared if necessary. This is not a question and answer time. Speakers may be referred to the superintendent or designee, or the board may take the issue under advisement. Maximum of 1 hour per meeting.

And our first speaker is Taryn Carpenter.

Good evening, members of the school board. My name is Taryn and this is Henry. Henry is my oldest son. Henry is my oldest son and he is in first grade. I'm here tonight to advocate for our school nurses, especially the nurse who cares for my son every single day.

Henry has a complicated medical history and requires attention throughout the school day. Henry has an ileostomy, which means part of his intestine has been brought through an opening in his abdomen so waste can empty into a bag outside of his body. It's a medical device that requires regular monitoring and care throughout his school day. Every 2 hours, he needs someone who understands his body, his medical equipment, and the signs that something may not be right. Our school nurse provides that care.

She helps keep him safe and makes it possible for him to attend school and learn alongside his classmates. For Henry, our school nurse is not a luxury. She is a critical part of what makes his education possible.

Um, after years of medical challenges and hospitalizations and surgeries, starting first grade at his neighborhood school was a huge milestone for our family. I want Henry to have the same opportunities as every other child He deserves to learn, make friends, and simply be a kid. He should not have to sacrifice his safety to receive an education. I understand that our district faces difficult budget decisions, and I know resources are limited, and these decision— decisions are not easy. But cutting half of our school nurses and replacing them with uncredentialed health aides in many schools is not simply a budget adjustment.

It has real consequences for children. Henry's not the only student who depends on qualified nursing care. Students with diabetes, seizures disorders, severe allergies, feeding tubes, and other complex medical needs rely on trained professionals to recognize problems and respond appropriately. A health aide may be a valuable part of a school team, but an aide is not a substitute for a qualified nurse. Eliminating a nursing position does not eliminate a child's medical needs.

It simply leaves somebody else to carry the consequences. Parents should not have to choose between their child's health and their child's education. Teachers should not be expected to manage medical situations they're not trained to handle, and children should not lose access to school because the support they need has been removed. I'm asking you to look beyond the numbers on a budget spreadsheet and consider the children behind them. Please protect our school nurses and preserve access to qualified nursing care in our schools.

Henry deserves to be safe at school. He deserves to learn, grow, and belong. So does every other child who depends on a school nurse. Please don't take away the support that makes their education possible.

Okay, next on the list we have Gracie Peterson.

Hello, my resolution is getting handed out to you guys. Hello, my name is Gracie Peterson and I'm the senior class secretary at Wasilla High School. I have recently written a resolution pertaining to the policies on decorating graduation caps. As you may know, the decoration of grad caps used to be, used to be at the discretion of individual schools until an incident happened at Palmer High in 2018, where a student brought an inappropriate cap into the graduation ceremony. This isolated event has not been repeated since.

My resolution— my resolution— I'm sorry, my resolution is written to allow the decoration of graduation caps.

Sorry, my resolution to allow the decoration of graduation caps was brought before the members of the Alaska Association of Student Governments 2026 Fall Conference with over 20 schools in attendance, where it was passed by majority vote. Region 3 had unanimously passed my resolution, with two of the schools being Wasilla and Career Tech from the MSBSD. I have also talked to Wasilla High's principal, Karen Bloxom, regarding this matter. I am here today because I would like to ask you to reconsider the current restrictions on decorating graduation caps in the Matsu Borough School District and instead allow students to celebrate this milestone with creative self-expression. While I understand why these initial restrictions were put in place, I believe there is room to find a solution that works for both students and the district.

During my review of the policies for my resolution, I found that there is no actual board policy stating we are not allowed to decorate our grad caps. It is only referenced in the district's graduation handbook, which is not accessible to the general public. The reason I have written a resolution on this subject is because many of my peers and I have expressed our desire to decorate our caps.

Um, ah, for our graduation ceremony. This event is one of the biggest milestones in the life of a student and represents all the growth and hard work we put into our education. It is a moment most students look forward to, and we should be able to display our own personal expression, making it more special. Once again, my main goal for coming here today is to ask for compromise between the district's concerns and the students' desires to decorate graduation caps. I am happy to answer any questions and offer a potential solution.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

And that is everyone on the list. Is there a person in the audience who didn't sign up? Come, come forward, please state your name.

Vicki Malone, Wasilla. I kind of feel like I have a special bond with the school board members who were present at Monday night's meeting due to the brutal process of critiquing the Meadow Lakes Charter School application for some reasons that were both, um, procedural, and they were deprived of the back and forth. And, but I think the board sincerely made clear to them that they can come back through the door again and try again. But my big takeaway from the rather long meeting was the school finance course— excuse me— that we were provided with. And basically what I took away from that is that the district can't afford any more charter schools because it will increase the cost per student for the district, and that's one of the criteria.

It is my understanding from that finance course we had that charter school funding, all the funds follow the student and are used for their instruction in that school. That administrative costs are capped about 4.5% or just a little more, and that these funds for this charter school for the instructional budget are insulated from disbursement to any other school, any other need within the district. Um, 3 times Dr. Randy Trani said that charter schools were killing it And I assume he's talking about academics. And it also occurs to me that there's a lot of reasons for that, and one of the primary reasons is the funding. I mean, I'm a big fan of charter schools, don't get me wrong, but I think that the funding mechanism for charter schools is part of their success, that the, the funds cannot be diluted and that they're insulated.

And for this reason I am begging the school board to prioritize an increase in the VSA for all of our students, which will also benefit charter school students. And, you know, let's make school nurses great again. And I really, really look forward to the advanced school finance class where I can figure out exactly which expenses they are insulated from. Like, I want to know how much of the the $600,000 for the gun thing is being, you know, allocated to them. And I do appreciate your time.

I realize that you spend a lot of hours doing this, and, uh, please revisit your legislative priorities.

Thank you. Is there anyone else? Okay, thank you very much. We will move on then to the borough and city reports. Do we have any borough and city reports tonight?

Nope. Okay, no borough or city reports. Item 5.1 is our consent agenda, which includes the minutes of our October 7th, 2026 regular school board meeting. I have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda. Motion to approve the consent agenda 5.1.

Second. Is there any objection to approving the consent agenda? Okay, hearing none, the consent agenda is approved. We're on item 6, public comment on action items. Did we have anybody sign up for action?

We have no one who signed up on the list. Is there anyone in the audience that's here to testify on action items? Okay, hearing none, we will move on then to item 7, um, item 7.1, request for grant acceptance, fresh fruits and vegetables grant. May I have a motion and a second? Motion to approve 7.1, request for grant acceptance, fresh fruits and vegetable grants.

Second. And do we have an administrative report on that? No report, but we can answer questions if there are any. Okay, are there any questions? I'm not sure what all the fruits are, right?

As you know, I can't name them. Yeah, anyone else? No? Okay, I see no questions. Um, I will say it, it's really— I've seen it in action and it is really a neat program, and I'm grateful that we're able to participate in that through a Department of Agriculture grant.

So we'll proceed with the vote. Um, Vice President Shane, will you do the roll call? Oh, we get to press the button. Oh, okay, look at me, we get to press the button. We, we have normally have people online and we don't tonight, which is a first in a long time.

Okay, is there any objection to approving the grant for the fresh fruits and vegetables? Okay, seeing none, that is approved. Um, the request for grant acceptance, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Grant. Um, item 7.2, FY27 request to accept grant funds. May I have a motion and a second?

Motion to approve 7.2 FY27 request to accept grant funds. Second. Okay, and an administrative report please. Um, a brief report. Um, this is a yearly acceptance of— and there's 16 pages that detail the grants.

So they're generally title grants, McKinney-Vento grants, um, uh, uh, IEA. You know, it's all of the federal programs. We do have staff at the back of the room if you have a specific question about any one of the grants. Um, and that's our brief report.

Hey, are there any questions about any of these grants that are recurring?

Okay, I see no questions. So is there any objection to this item passing? Okay, hearing no objection, item 7.2 is approved the request FY27 request to accept the, the list of grant funds. Item 7.3, the second reading of BP 5142.03, restraint and seclusion. Motion to approve 7.3 second reading, uh, BP 5142.03, restraint and seclusion.

Second. Okay. Any administrative report here? No report. No report.

Is there any discussion? I'd like to make a motion, please. Thank you, Mr. Pitcher. I move to amend the proposed policy by removing the second sentence of the first bullet under physical restraint, which begins with the physical restraint does not include, and by adding the term behavior intervention plan before the acronym BIP in the newly added paragraph under follow-up and review.

I'll second. Okay, is there any discussion for that amendment?

Thank you. Okay, is there any objection to the amendment?

Hearing no objection, the amendment has passed. Is there any further discussion of the main motion?

Hey, no discussion. Is there any objection to the main motion as amended?

Okay, hearing none, that is passed. The second reading of BP5142.03, Restraint and Seclusion. We're on to item 7.4, the request for contract approval, RFP B25-02, Snow and Ice Removal and Denali Consulting.

Motion to approve 7.4, request for contract amendment approval, RFP B25-02, snow and ice removal and sanding services by Denali Consulting.

Second. We have an administrative report. Just briefly, thank you, um, Last year, as part of the snow removal contract, we did not bring forward for approval at the beginning of the season. We waited until expenditures were, were exceeding the spending threshold. Um, we didn't feel like that was really in keeping with the intent of the policy to have these large expenditure items brought before the board for approval.

And so this we are bringing, uh, at the beginning of the season. Uh, the contract is very similar to last year. We did agree to a 5% increase in cost as a result of the major increases in fuel prices, particularly for diesel fuel. So this amount is reflective of that 5%, but it is a not-to-exceed amount. So we have budgeted funds for, uh, for this amount, which may or may not be expended depending on snowfall.

Is there any discussion or questions? Okay, hearing none, is there any objection to this item passing? Okay, seeing no objection, item 7.4, request for contract approval, RFP B25-02, snow and ice removal and Denali Consulting, is approved. Item 7.5, Alaska Adventure Charter School written decision approval.

Motion to approve 7.5 Alaska Adventure Charter School written decision approval. Second.

Okay, is there an administrative report here? Uh, no report other than that, that what you're looking at is the work of our legal counsel after listening to our meeting and reviewing, um, the application as well as the administrative response that This is what they have prepared for the board to consider. Okay, Member Larson, would you clarify the vote, what a yes vote does and what a no vote does, please? Yes, so a yes vote would be to accept this document to submit. It's our written decision to deny.

So a yes vote is correct. Is the document is to deny the charter, so yes vote is to accept the document that is denying the charter, correct? Correct. Okay, and what's a no vote? A no vote would mean you don't accept the document.

Maybe, maybe, um, Dr. Trani, you can tell what happens with this document so people can understand the process? Um, the, the timeline for review and producing this document is by statute at 60 days, and it was really truncated because of the election. Um, and this document is what the final step is for a district. Um, they need to, uh, report to the state whether they've accepted the application or denied the application within that 60-day time menu. Or timeframe, time menu.

Um, and so that's why this is a legal document prepared by our legal counsel, um, because it is, um, you know, depending on what happens tonight, this will be conveyed to the state tomorrow and to the applicant. Yes.

Okay. Is there any further discussion?

Member Larson? I think we should have a voice vote on this, please.

We can do a voice vote on this. Member Shane, would you call for a vote, please?

Member Pitcher? Yes. Member Larson? Yes. I, Member Shane, vote yes.

Member McCollum? President McCollum? Yes. Okay, motion is passed. The motion is passed.

Item 7.5, Alaska Adventure Charter School, the written decision approval has passed, and we are ready for Item 8, Superintendent Report, which—. Oh, there it is. Well, No, it's not. Uh, I have a short report tonight, um, with really important information. It's that same thing I say, like a year's worth of work is just a few graphs and numbers.

Um, we will, uh, hear from Mr. Moore tonight, who has also a very similar short— very short report because we're in that time frame of elections. And here we go. Um, my 5 goals, and therefore, uh, the district's 5 goals that the board has established— and I would say that most of the report today really, um, is focused on academic proficiency, goal number 2, and multiple pathways, that idea that 100% of the students are going to graduate. That, that's our guiding, uh, star. Um, before we get to that part, we will see if Mr. Moore is on and if you have anything to share with us about what's going on during election season.

Yeah, thank you, Dr. Trani. I am on. Yeah, not a whole lot of report for us tonight. All eyes on the elections from all the way from U.S. Senate, Governor, all the way down to school boards.

A lot, you know, we're just watching to see what the outcome of that. Not a whole lot of strong predictions on where we're going to end up at this point. And then the other thing that we're watching very closely right now, of course, is revenue that's coming into the state due to high oil prices. It would suggest excess revenue coming to the state and how the incoming legislature is going to deal with a little bit more money is going to be an interesting topic and one that will be very subject to how elections go. In the next couple of weeks.

And so not a whole lot to report right now, but I'm happy to be available for any questions the board may have.

All right, thank you, Mr. Moore. Um, because it is that time of the year where we're in the middle of student count, we will continue to report on enrollment. Um, unfortunately, enrollment is down below our projected number, about 280-ish, something like that. That's as of this morning. And remember, we had projected a decrease in enrollment, so this represents close to 500 students less than we had at this time last year, which is significant.

Um, I have, uh, last Friday I was on a call with the other members of the Big Five. This is not isolated to Matsu. It's across at least those five large districts, and I believe our state as a whole. Between the Big Five at that point, we We added up really quickly on napkin math that, uh, between the both 5 districts, we're down 2,000 students, or more than 2,000 students. And you think of as, as a percentage of the students in the state, that's roughly 2%.

Um, when you look at these, it's nothing is off alarmingly. It's just off a little bit kind of everywhere.

Still, this holds true. Only 49% of the students attend their boundary school. We are a district of choice, and people exercise that choice, um, a lot. And I do believe that's one of the things that makes our district so strong, and you're going to see that in the graduation data that I share next. The graph on the right really has not changed much.

In-person instruction is at 79%, correspondence 17%, and then hybrid at 4%. I shared this as part of the, uh, review of the charter. We got this data last Friday from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. I think it's so important that, that, um, we started understanding this data, and so I put it in again today because I thought we might have a larger audience. These are the number of, of people in the Matsu Borough School District who applied for the PFD by age.

Age 1 year through 17 years. And the alarming part of this from our standpoint as an entity that works with young people is that they just aren't being born. The PFD is one of those things that I am really sure that 99-point-some percentage of all people fill that paperwork out. So you can see that ages 10 through 14, we were averaging 1,743 per age cohort. Whereas our first through— our 1 through 4-year-olds, 1,385.

If that continues, in 13 years we will have be down 5,000 students, which is dramatic. Um, and so I think we just need to keep that in mind when we make decisions that have long-range impacts on the health of the district. Here's the good part. Our graduation results. Um, on the left is the 4-year rate and on the right is the 5-year rate.

Those are different cohorts. You can't read this like we went up from 85.2 to 88.3 because they're different groups of kids. So on the left, 85.2% of the graduates from last year graduated on time. That means of the students who started as freshmen and ended, um, still associated with our district, it was 85.2%. I said associated with because If a student leaves here and goes to some other district, then they are on that district's rolls.

If a student leaves here and goes nowhere, drops out, they're on our rolls. Um, so 85.2% for our 4-year rate and 88.3% for our 5-year rate, different cohorts. So the 5-year rate is the 2025 students.

Um, that was an increase, by the way. I guess we left that important part out.

Question. Yeah. Member Shane.

Dr. Trani, this population growth and future enrollment with the PFD, yep, that's the one. Would it be possible, I believe it was around 4 years ago we started to see more decreases than usual, right? Would it be possible to grab a snapshot from say 4 years ago and compare it to this one at some point and see, you know, kind of what the differences are there, because I know that there's contributing factors from everything, right? And that's something that we've talked about quite a bit, whether it's they went to a different correspondence program or possibly birth rate or, you know, fill in the blank. Migration, yeah.

So I'm not sure because this is the data from, you know, these are not just the students enrolled in school, these are the kids who live here, right? Um, we can— I was amazed at how fast the Department of Labor and Workforce got back to us. It was within the day. So I'll reach out to them, we'll reach out to them tomorrow and see if they can give us this same data from 4 years ago. Like, what was it like then?

That would be interesting to see. Like, you know, the today's 17-year-olds, what did they look like when they were 13-year-olds? I don't know if they have it or not, but we'll ask. Great, thank you.

Um, we— I, I do break down because this is published, you know, on the state website of graduation rates by school. Um, I won't read them all. They, they are alphabetically organized here. There's some really great, super exciting news on some of them, like Burchell's graduation rate. I mean, I guess I'm going to call them out.

What an increase, 88%. And I, and I can tell you that when I walk into Burchell High school, it is— you can hear a pin drop. Those kids are working, and that's one of our alternative schools. They're doing a great job across the board. We've done really well.

I'm doing— I always do the coach and cheerleader thing, right? Like, the achievement is the thing I worry about the most. And so some things that, you know, come off the page to me— our Valley Pathways, that graduation rate, we're very concerned with that. And then our correspondence students in general, I've I've talked about this before, so we broke it down this year. Our brick-and-mortar rate at 90%.

That's really encouraging. And then our correspondence rate stayed pretty darn stagnant, and that is worrisome for me. So we're doing further analysis on those non-graduates from correspondence schools. You know, what was their trajectory? Where could we have intervened?

What systems— you've heard me say this before— in brick and mortar, we have had literally decades and decades to prepare the systems, um, to like intervene when we can see this on a student's horizon, and we're really good at it. We haven't had that many years in such large quantities of correspondence students to develop the systems to intervene, and I think that's something we need to get better at. Um, but generally graduation rate is up, highest of the Big Five. Good job, Matsuburo School District. Um, uh, we did have, uh, oh, go ahead, Member Larson.

It would be interesting to see on the correspondence schools how many, uh, 5th-year seniors graduate. Yep, we can break that data out as well. Yeah, because you're talking just the 4-year graduates, right? 4-Year Yep. All right.

Yeah, this is— this page is the 4-year cohort.

Yeah, thank you. Um, we had our first regional nurse committee meeting, uh, just last week. Or was it this week? This week's been a long week. There was a lot of getting ready for that meeting on Monday.

Um, a 13-member committee of school and community. You can see the breakdown: 3 MSBSD nurses and Alaska State Nurse Association representative, Matsu Valley physician, Matsu Health Foundation rep, uh, uh, system principal, 3 principals, and, and 3 district office administrators. Um, the October 14 discussion kind of established, you know, what's, what's driving the need for this change. Um, nurses reported out what their lived experience is, and then they examined different health service delivery models. That's going to continue, that process is going to continue.

There's already 2 more meetings scheduled December 10th and January 4th. I know that one of the ideas that I've heard that made a lot of sense to me is that you want to have people working at their level of licensure that's at their peak level of licensure. And I'll use an extreme, you know, I'll use a really extreme example because then it'll make sense. If you're the brain surgeon, we probably don't want you spending the bulk of your time bandaging ankles, right? So how can we maximize people's expertise by having them do the thing that they are, you know, their highest licensure and spend most of the time there?

I think that's one of the areas that they're examining, and I know lots more. And as you know, this is another good chance to thank the Mat-Su Health Foundation for really giving us the time to work on this problem for a year and decide what kind of health service delivery model that we can put in place that will both meet the needs of students and that we can afford. And we're going to start trying to do this. We do good things. And then, you know, out in the hall we have our student art that gets changed out every month or so.

But I was like, you know what, each—. Each—. Oh, we have a question before we get to good things. Member Shane. Do we have any board member assigned to this committee?

No, we, we reached out to Member Coley because she had, uh, expertise, nursing expertise, obviously. Sure. And she recommended some of the folks on the committee. I'm not sure that— were they able to come? I'm looking for help.

I'm phoning a friend.

No, I'm going to say that, you know, it's a board committee, so I mean, if, if there's 2 or 3 board members that just want to attend and listen, I think that'd be a great thing. Yep, yep, absolutely. Thanks.

Um, so anyhow, we're going to start trying to do this at each, you know, good thing and just highlight some student art from across the district. Um, you know, I, I was, uh, in Birch Tree Charter today walking down in the like 7-8 end of their hallway and looking at some drawings of, of bear skulls that they had been doing. There's just— anytime I go through a building, they're just phenomenal art. And so we're going to take every opportunity we can to highlight some of our students' artwork. And then a good thing happened last night at the borough assembly meeting.

The borough assembly approved $2.5 million from the Matsu Health Foundation for refrigerated ice arena at the Big Lake Lions Recreation Center. Um, and what the reason that's a good thing is it really gives Houston High School kind of some home ice, um, for their hockey program. And, uh, I know that Houston High School hockey players were there to advocate for this, so that is a really good thing. And, uh, that is all I have tonight.

Thank you, Dr. Randy Trani. And I, I Don't think we have anyone else here in the audience for public comments, so we'll move on to correspondence or board committee reports. Is there any further correspondence or board committee reports that we need to give? Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to future items, future business. Um, this will be our last school board meeting for a little while because November 3rd, 2026 is Election Day.

And then we won't have another meeting until after the election is certified. That will be on November 17th, 2026 at 5 PM in the assembly chambers. They'll be certifying the election. And then our next regular school board meeting is November 18th, 2026 at 6 PM here at MSBSD Central Office. Um, so now we'll move on to comments.

So, Dr. Trani. Um, I'll thank the same groups of people that I thanked on Monday. I want to thank the community members who, um, thought of the idea of, of the Alaska Adventure Charter School and the work that they put into the, to that idea. And then I also want to thank the staff members who spent hundreds of hours reviewing it and trying to do a really thorough job. Um, so I'll leave it at that.

So thanks to both those groups. Thank you.

Member Pitcher.

I really enjoy when the students come out and do their presentations. I really enjoyed that from Knik Elementary today. And I know they're gone now, but boy, job well done. And look forward to great things from those young people. As far as the Alaska Adventure Charter School, I really hope that they— I hope that they're not too disenchanted.

I hope they work hard at it and, uh, plug the holes in their plan and come back and represent to us in the future. And apart from that, winter's found us. I hope everyone is careful on the roads and have a good night. Okay, Member Larson.

Yeah, I hope everybody, uh, gets a safe trip home in this bad weather. It's going to be icy out there, and I hope safe travels for the 3 board members that aren't here, that are, I assume, out of state. And have a good evening. Hey, Vice President Shane, uh, like to recognize the Knik Elementary as well. Just awesome to see the kids come up and speak and and do such a great job with that.

So hats off to them. Also want to say, uh, you know, I appreciate the members of the community that came together to work on that charter school application. It's unfortunate that, uh, we were not able to get that approved for them, but, um, you know, maybe they're able to go back to the drawing board and, and come up with something there. So but is, uh, definitely still appreciated. Um, other than that, really just, uh, hope everybody has a safe drive home.

As Member Pitcher said, it is getting, uh, pretty sloppy out there, so have a safe drive home and a good night.

All right, thank you. And I would like to also say Knik Elementary King's. That was phenomenal. That I have great faith they're going to have this wonderful program that they're just getting rolling to include and welcome all the new kids, because they do that every year. And third grade, those kids are all new from all locations, so that's exciting for them.

Um, and also thanks to the student from Wasilla High who came and expressed her opinion about the graduation caps. That's always great to hear. When someone has a passion and they're willing to follow through with that. I appreciate that. Um, and yeah, the charter school, it's, it's a hard thing because that is huge work.

I know that it typically takes years even for people to gather the support they need and, and get all of the information that they need. So thank you for giving it a whirl that quickly. I know that was rough for everyone and appreciate all the work that our district, um, personnel did to dig through that request with a fine-tooth comb. And I know it— that was a lot of work because I've looked at those applications before too. So thank you very much, and, um, everybody have a wonderful evening and a safe, uh, month.

We won't see you for about a month, I guess. Um, I, I need a motion and a second to enter executive session to discuss attorney-client Communication. Motion to enter into executive session. Second. Okay.

Executive session. AS44.62310 and BP9321 matters, the immediate knowledge of which would clearly have an adverse effect upon the finances of the government unit, subjects that tend to prejudice the reputation and character of any person, provided the person may request a public discussion. Matters which by law, municipal charter, or ordinance are required to be confidential, matters of confidential legal counsel or pending litigation. Present in executive session will be all members of the board except members Cruz, Berge, and Coley, who were absent and excused, Superintendent Dr. Randy Trani, Deputy Superintendent Katie Gardner, and Attorney Megan Sandone.

Connected.