There is and has been a lot of discussion about school closures and the proposed rebuild of Inlet View. First, I’d like to say that it simply does not pass the red face test that all but one of the proposed closures are at Title 1 schools. To translate, these are lower socioeconomic demographics, schools with higher minority populations, and most of all less clout when it comes to a voice.
None of the minivan/SUV-laden schools of the Hillside are to be touched. No, it’s the kids at schools where many walk to school or their parents are not in a position to drive them.
Somehow it’s OK for these kids to be bused to an adjacent non-neighborhood school, but Bowman, Bear Valley, Springhill, O’Malley and others are to be untouched?
How convenient that they hired an outsider, Donna Arduin-style, to do the dirty work and take the blame and then get on airplane back to wherever. Plus, they are closing the door on ever being able to reopen or reclaim these schools, gifting them to charter schools for kids who don’t even live there.
To underscore the debate, in a relatively affluent neighborhood they are proposing rebuilding a school amid schools that are not to capacity, despite broad public opposition. It’s an insult and smacks of the tone-deafness of the message they are sending.
— Shawn O’Donnell
Anchorage
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