Deputy Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District Superintendent Katie Gardner and Superintendent Randy Trani discuss a concealed-carry weapons proposal during a regular school board meeting at the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District in Palmer on May 5, 2026. (Photo by Amy Bushatz/Mat-Su Sentinel)
PALMER — A proposal to pay some Mat-Su teachers and school staff to carry handguns on campus could cost about $700,000 to roll out, even as the school district grapples with a major budget deficit heading into next year.
The proposed program is meant to boost school security by allowing certain trained staff to keep a handgun concealed on their body during the school day.
Costs for the program include about $133,000 in startup fees for a consultant, training development, and signage, according to Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District documents.
Running the program could cost about $562,000 annually for insurance, administration, and overhead for an estimated 150 participants, the documents state. Per-person costs are estimated at about $1,890, including a $500 training stipend and drug, health and psychological screening expenses.
Mat-Su School Board member Andrew Shane, who helped workshop and craft the weapons proposal over several months, said he plans to propose an amendment early next month that gives the board a path to approving the policy this year but allows the district to use it only if an outside entity covers the costs.
“We would submit the policy with an expectation that we cannot fund it all ourselves, but we want to make this policy available,” he said in an interview at a regular school board meeting this month.
He said he expects the program to cost less than its estimate because fewer than 150 staff members covered by the plan will take part as it gets started and because the district may be able to forgo a proposed dedicated program manager.
School board member Tom Bergey said he supports the policy but is concerned the price estimates are well below what is actually needed because of insurance increases and training costs.
“I think it’s going to cost a whole lot more than that by the time everything settles down and reality sets in,” he said.
The district is facing a $28 million funding deficit ahead of the 2026-27 school year, officials said during a budget presentation at the meeting, and plans to permanently close three schools next week as part of a sweeping set of cost-saving measures.
That shortfall estimate increased from $23 million late last month when the district received new information regarding upcoming staff health care costs, they said.
Shane and members of a joint Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly and school board committee discussed whether such funding could come through a taxpayer-funded grant from the borough, Assembly members Maxwell Sumner and Dmitri Fonov said.
But while both Fonov and Sumner said they support the policy itself, they also said they do not want to raise taxes to fund it.
“I’m not committed to anything right now, but I was always open to work with them if they get the program started,” Sumner said in an interview.
Participating in the program would be voluntary, and included staff would be paid about a $500 stipend to help cover training costs, district officials said during the meeting. Applicants would provide their own weapon and would go through a set of equipment and safety screenings, including a psychological exam, they said.
If the measure is approved, it would be the first of its kind in Alaska.
The policy will pair with a district program pays the Wasilla and Palmer police departments to place armed school resource officers at most middle and high schools across the region. That effort costs the district about $800,000 annually, according to contract documents.
School board members said they expect several more rounds of revisions before a final vote on the proposal later this year.
Among those discussion points will be how the district should manage and regulate the program, administrators said. The proposed board policy will establish a legal framework, while operational details would be outlined separately, they said.
“It really provides the legal framework and the governing principles for the program,” Deputy Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District Superintendent Katie Gardner said during the meeting. “It does not provide the answer to every question, and it does not provide every detail that the administration would develop in making sure that the program is able to be implemented.”
The proposal generated significant public concern ahead of the meeting, but fewer than five members of the public attended to speak for or against it.
Justin LaCoss, who represents district teachers in the Mat-Su Education Association union, said a poll of members showed most oppose the proposal. He was also part of an approximately 20-member task force late last year that helped provide feedback on the policy while it was under development.
“About 79% of our members oppose this board policy as it’s written,” he said. “They want us to emphasize the safety of our schools — they know that’s the first charge of our district, to educate these kids in a safe environment, and they’ve been trained to do that. But being a concealed weapon carrier is not what they’ve been trained to do.”
He said the question went out to teachers at every school in the district but did not have details on how many members voted in the poll.
Kevin Guinn, a retired U.S. marshal who led firearms trainings, told the board he supports the program as long as the district has firm guidelines and training requirements.
“You need stable, thoughtful, experienced people if you can get them,” he said during public comment. “The simple mission in an active shooter, active threat is stop the killing. It’s that simple. Is this person willing to run past wounded individuals screaming for help to address the threat so that more don’t end up like that?”
The measure was inspired by a bill crafted by former Sen. Shelley Hughes, a Palmer Republican. Hughes resigned in November to run for governor. The school board has included support for such a measure in its annual state legislative priorities list for the past three years.
Research on whether armed school staff deter violence remains limited, according to a review released this year by the nonpartisan RAND Corporation. About 30 states, including Alaska, allow some form of armed staff on school campuses.
Correction: This story was updated May 13 to clarify that Justin LaCoss represents district teachers in the Mat Su Education Association union.
This story was originally published by the Mat-Su Sentinel. Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com.
