A citizens group is continuing efforts to use Mosquito Lake School as a community center, but progress was disrupted by the departure of Bill Mandeville, former Haines Borough community and economic development director.
Dana Hallett, chairman of the nonprofit Friends of Mosquito Lake School and Community Center, said his group and Mandeville had worked out a memorandum of understanding for using the school two days a week as a community center.
The memorandum was essentially an agreement for how the building would be managed, and Mandeville told him that the agreement had the approval of manager David Sosa and Mayor Jan Hill, Hallett said.
“There were very little gaps in understanding,” he said.
But after Mandeville departed from the job in early June after a tussle with borough brass, the borough “redid the whole thing” after facilities director Brian Lemcke assumed Mandeville’s duties, Hallett said.
“Brian and (manager) David Sosa said there were too many issues that weren’t thought out,” Hallett said.
In an email, Sosa said this week: “The original document was not reviewed by other staff, in particular facilities, so that there were elements that were not viable. With Lemcke’s departure the key person on staff tasked with addressing this issue is no longer with us. My intent is to acquaint the new department head with the particulars of this case and allow that individual to work to finalize the process.”
Sosa was unwilling to elaborate about what elements of the agreement were not viable and neither he nor Hallett were willing to share copies of the MOU or email correspondence about them with the CVN this week.
Hallett’s group maintains the building is a community asset that improves property values and the attractiveness of the upper valley to prospective residents. They want to keep the building a community hub until a way can be found to reopen it as a school.
Hallett said he has approached some school board and assembly members but none of them have been willing to sit down with his group and talk about making the changes that would enhance the possibility of getting 10 students enrolled there. Ten students are required for a school to receive critical financial support from the state.
The school may be able to attract 10 students by offering a special curriculum, expanding the number of grade levels offered, or by redrawing district attendance areas so as to not fund busing of elementary students to town.
“All these things should be on the table, but we’re not going to get there unless people are willing to sit down and meet,” Hallett said. “The school didn’t close because students didn’t want to go there. It closed because circumstances changed to make it more appealing for students to go to town.”