the valley closed three schools

and it comes down to a 28 million dollar hole in the budget.

Starting next year, three schools in the borough are closed for good. Meadow Lakes and Larson elementary in Wasilla, plus Glacier View School out in Sutton.

That's about 415 kids who have to pack up and head to a different school, along with dozens of teachers and staff. Some will be on the bus a lot longer than they're used to, and for those families the morning routine just got harder.

Here's the part that catches people off guard. We're the fastest growing area in the whole state, yet our full-time school numbers are actually slipping. More families are choosing homeschool and correspondence programs, and about one in six of our students learns that way now. Those programs bring in less money per kid, so funding isn't keeping up with all the new rooftops.

The district already let around 160 positions go last year. The superintendent says without closing these schools, they'd be staring at another 225 cuts, and even this isn't enough to fix it. Rising health insurance costs alone piled on about 6 million dollars.

The board looked at other ways out, like trimming sports or going to a four-day week, and turned those down. For now, three school buildings in the Valley go quiet this fall.