Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

We are appalled at Mayor Scott’s opinion in the July 17, 2014 edition of the CVN, concerning Mosquito Lake School that we should “get rid of it.” There are options available to bring up the student numbers to 10 or more. The school board should use one year of school closure to plan for a three-year commitment to run the school with a foreign language program as part of the curriculum. Early exposure to a second language would draw participation boroughwide. Hiring a bilingual teacher is doable. As a satellite school, Mosquito Lake School has generated sizable state monies over the years that supplemented our town schools. We have an obligation to think districtwide how to best serve all our students. Haines’ population will continue to grow and we need to keep this satellite school. Students have received an excellent education and the long commute for grades K-4 has been eliminated. Wouldn’t it be great to be known statewide for the forward thinking to solve this bump in the road and get the school operating again?

“Haines is doing something big, offering Spanish language instruction to K-4 students at Mosquito Lake School” sounds far better than, “Haines sold a school!” Don’t expect any extra school-related monies from the state if we have such a low regard for the state’s investment. Since 2005, a new boiler and septic, roof, carpet, playground equipment and sprinkler system upgrades have been installed. We want our taxes to continue to support education boroughwide.

Marianne and Greg Rasmussen