After attending the work session and hearing the public testimonies last night, Monday, Jan. 27, it is clearer to me than ever before that the school board needs to look at outside of the box ideas for fixing the budget shortfall.
I have been an accountant for more than 20 years and I understand all too well what balancing a budget and making difficult cuts looks like. In this case I feel that we have lost sight of the overriding purpose of the school district … to create and foster a safe learning environment for our local students. I don’t know how anyone could have sat through those testimonies and not understood the gravity of what closing these neighborhood schools will do to families and local communities.
I originally wrote a letter on behalf of Barnette Magnet school where my children attend; however my soul goes out to the students and staff at Hunter Elementary. We as a society have lost some of our humanity in the quest to save money for taxpayers. After brainstorming all night I offer up a few out of the box suggestions.
1. Close and sell, or vacate if not owned, the Fifth Avenue administrative building. Move administrative employees into the vacant classrooms in current schools, offer work from home arrangements or flexible scheduling with office space sharing. This not only alleviates a huge overhead cost but also puts the administrative employees on the ground with the students. It creates a community so that the school district employees understand why they are working with and for the students and community. We live in a world of incredible technology. The need for a huge administrative office building can be a thing of the past. Use the schools and vacant classrooms more efficiently. Have the staff eat lunch with the students, buy school lunches, and interact with the school administrators on a personal level.
2. Work with the schools such as Pearl Creek to become charter schools or seek alternative funding sources. Stem grants, low income grants, local business and nonprofits, etc.
3. Put together a campaign to ask local businesses and their employees to donate $5 from each paycheck (or another affordable amount) to a Save Our Schools fund similar to what United Way used to do, and maybe still does. Ask employers to match the donations. A small amount from a lot of people adds up faster than you would think. These children are the future employees and small business owners. Wouldn’t the funds slated to be spent on a transition team that will be needed for all the school closures be better spent on a fundraising team to boost the current schools we have?
4. Promote the local district homeschool (BEST) option over other school districts (Raven) to keep the funding in our local district.
5. Coordinate with local communities to rent and use portions of the schools after hours or as community spaces. Create and foster local partnerships for increasing funding and participation in the schools.
6. Reach out to the local utility companies to help discount, fund, or finance hookups for natural gas or other city utilities.
Please take a moment to step back and consider other options than what the district has proposed with the elementary school closures. In the long run I believe that more community spaces and local schools are better for our community as a whole. It fosters a sense of belonging that Fairbanks is losing year after year.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
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