As written by The Girdwood High School Now Task Force Chair, Phil Livingston:

On October 15, 2007 The Girdwood High School Now Task Force introduced for approval by the Girdwood Board of Supervisors the Memorandum of Understanding in support of a Charter High School in Girdwood. This effort has been immediate and ongoing for the 25 years I have lived in Girdwood. We now have a real chance of achieving the goal.

The day of the October GBOS meeting, three Girdwood cars crashed because of icy roads. One of those cars held two students on their way to school. This is a ‘High School’ issue but it is also a ‘Safety’ issue. . It is clear that Girdwood students and parents deserve the opportunity to make a choice whether they attend a High School in Girdwood or travel the Seward Highway daily to attend school in Anchorage.  Regardless, the Girdwood Charter School is optional. Girdwood students can go to Anchorage schools if they and their parents choose.

We need the support of everyone who has an interest in seeing Girdwood as a mature community and a four seasons resort. We need a lot of things in Girdwood to accomplish that vision. We have the opportunity for a high school now.

The salient facts are below but before you get distracted please send me an email stating that I can include ‘you and yours’ on the signature list supporting the new Girdwood Charter High School. Diana Livingston, Larry Cash, and I are meeting with Mary Jane Michaels and Bill Mehner on Monday October 22. The more people we have on our list of supporters at that meeting the better. The issue with HLB and MOA is the allocation of a five acre site for the school near the new Girdwood Library and Community Center. There are both non profit and commercial users competing for this land. Without that site we are back at square one. No high school until some indefinite time in the far distant future. If you have a specific question please call me now.

The facts:

1. The Charter School project is self funding based upon the Federal and State grant programs for new charter schools. The original Charter School statute for Alaska is AS 14.03.250.  The full text of the Federal legislation funding these grants is: 

http:/www.ed.gov/legislative/FedRegister/announcements;/2007/o62007dc.html

The point above is with the State/Federal Charter School grant funding available the Girdwood Charter School requires no financial or facilities support from Anchorage or the Anchorage School District.  This is a win-win for Girdwood high school students, the Charter School sponsor, Chugach School District, Anchorage and the Anchorage School District.

2. The new Charter High School Task Force has requested the cooperation of the Anchorage School District in developing a program partnership with them like those they already have statewide with other districts, as well as with UAA and APU. Sports activities, special classes, or other educational opportunities available in either district should be available to all students. This cooperating partnership should be an ‘automatic’.

3. Carol Comeau, Superintendent of the Anchorage School District, has stated on two occasions at meetings here in Girdwood that it is unlikely that any Girdwood high school funding would be forthcoming from the ASD before 2020. She has further stated that the bonding process would require approval of Anchorage in its entirety. This is a difficult situation for Girdwood as proven by Eagle River and other outlying communities. It means an ASD high school for Girdwood is a long time in the future.

It is clear that the number of high school students available in Girdwood does not meet any current criteria or priority for the Anchorage School District. The Girdwood Charter School is basing its initial enrollment on forty students. The Anchorage School District needs a much larger enrollment to even consider a High School in Girdwood.

4. The Molly Hootch Act (Tobeluk v. Reynolds, C.A. No. 72-2450) provided schools for all Alaska Communities. Girdwood has a population of 2,000 but is passed over because it is a suburb of Anchorage. We need a high school for all the reasons enumerated in the MOU, but considering the potential of a successful Alyeska Resort, this is a particularly important step for the long term vision of Girdwood as a four season resort and an economic engine for the State.

This is a win/win for Girdwood, Girdwood students, Anchorage, the Anchorage School District, and the Girdwood Valley Chugach School District Charter School.

I have attached the MOU (l.b5z.net/i/u/6082596/f/Girdwood_Valley_School_MOU_10-07.pdf) and would appreciate your signature by fax or email statement of support for the new Girdwood Valley High School.

Many Thanks,

Philip K. Livingston

Chair, Girdwood High School Now Task Force

907-783-3163 -  907-230-3753

FAX 907-783-2639