Mat-Su school district prepares for students as staff begin to trickle in to classrooms

PALMER, Alaska (KTUU) - It’s hard to figure out where the time goes, but after a quiet few summer months, the doors to Matanuska-Susitna Borough schools are opening back up as principals and administrative teams return to their offices in preparation for the 2024-25 school year.

Returning to Palmer High School, Principal David Booth works diligently in his office ahead of his second year running the third-largest school in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District. He enjoys this time of year, with excitement building as staff and teachers slowly begin to return to their classrooms.

“There’s always challenges and problems to solve, that’s what makes the job even more interesting,” Booth said. “It’s fun to put that puzzle together and get ready for every year.”

For Booth, those challenges come in deciding what classes to offer, what changes will be made to the school, and filling open positions — like the math teacher role that’s currently vacant at his high school.

“I have very qualified people in my building, and I did find some applicants that are qualified,” Booth said. “So we might have to make some shifts with our staff, but it’s going to be fine.”

According to MSBSD Superintendent Randy Trani, the district leads the first-day vacancy report with the fewest vacancies each year, and said he’s confident this year will be no different.

“Last I saw we had a list, we were maybe short five or six certified positions,” Trani said. “They’re usually in special education-related fields and it looked like that was the same.”

Trani credits the administrative officials whose job is to recruit teachers as the reason behind those low vacancy rates.

According to a report with data sourced from the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development between 2019 and 2022, the district never had more than two positions vacant on the first day certified educators were required to report for work.

That same report showed that Anchorage had anywhere from 47 to 88 first-day vacancies in those years.

Between 2019 and 2022, the state overall saw between 155 to 393 vacancies, showing a trend toward growing vacancy rates.

The district hasn’t been without its hurdles in recent years, however, after signing a new contract with Durham School Services. The 2022-23 school year had a rocky start with rolling route cancelations that impacted borough families.

Route impacts were felt tenfold after bus drivers walked off the job in January 2023 after drivers voted to authorize a strike, citing safety concerns within the bus yard.

That strike lasted just over a month when Durham’s parent company, National Express, and Teamsters Local 959 — the union representing the drivers — ratified a three-year contract.

Trani said the district has no indication that staffing drivers will be an issue this year.

“As of last week, [Durham] had more than enough drivers on the books,” Trani said.

According to Trani, drivers will begin signing up for their routes next week, and Durham will gauge from there if any additional staffing is needed.

The superintendent also said that student and staff safety is still a main priority for the district, as upgrades to safety systems are ongoing and work is being done to add additional school resource officers.

With this upcoming school year seemingly on track, both Trani and Booth are looking forward to seeing students back in the classroom.

“When our students come to school, they truly are getting the best education that we can offer,” Booth said. “We work on improving that every year, and this year will be better than last year.”

Trani said that despite a 35-year career as an educator, he still feels that “back to school” excitement around this time each year.

“It’s the rhythm of being an educator,” Trani said. “It’s exciting to start a new school year.”

Mat-Su students will be back in their classrooms on Thursday, Aug. 15.

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