Frank Rast recently wrote that he will not vote for future school bonds unless Anchorage School District declines to use state bond reimbursement funds to build a new Inlet View School and instead makes needed safety improvements at other schools. But other schools are newer than Inlet View and have a single safety need: lobby security connecting simultaneously to APD. Each has only one major maintenance problem. Inlet View lacks this security system and has numerous major maintenance problems: 70-year-old wiring; no current sprinkler system; leaking roof, a furnace so unreliable that children sometimes wear winter coats in class; collapsing plumbing pipes which sometimes spew untreated water on the playground, children’s bathrooms and a kindergarten classroom.
Rast said that unless Inlet View is refurbished on its existing footprint, he will “never vote yes for a school bond again.” But it is helpful to have the facts before engaging in voter blackmail. Building on the new footprint has been demonstrated to be more economical than rebuilding on the current footprint and also allows for a setback sufficient to prevent armed persons from quickly accessing the school.
— Marjorie Mock
Anchorage
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