Anchorage School District meetings coming soon to finalize plans for phased-in school closures

By
Suzanne Downing
-
9

The Anchorage School District’s plans to close, consolidate, and repurpose schools in the face of declining enrollment will be the subject of community meetings before the school board takes a final vote in December.

Among schools to be closed the first year of the downsizing is Bear Valley Elementary, which is at 69% capacity; Lake Hood Elementary, which is at 39% capacity; and Tudor Elementary, which is at 69% capacity.

Bear Valley Elementary would be a permanent closure. 121 students would be assigned to to Huffman Elementary, 104 students to Rabbit Creek Elementary, and 80 students to O’Malley Elementary.

Lake Hood Elementary would be changed into a charter school. 113 students would be assigned to Turnagain Elementary, and 62 students to Northwood Elementary.

Tudor Elementary would be repurposed into a “special purpose.” 124 Montessori students would be reassigned to Denali Montessori and 179 neighborhood students to Lake Otis Elementary.

The list of recommended schools, including those that will close in the second and third year of the plan is available here. 

The closure and repurposing plan will be discussed at the School Board at a work session on Monday, Nov. 4, with a final vote scheduled for Dec. 17.

“Several factors influenced this recommendation, including declining student enrollment and overall Anchorage population, the growing demand for more specialized support services, and aging school buildings in need of costly repairs. The District’s efforts are designed to rightsize ASD’s buildings without reducing educational offerings,” said Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt.

“Your feedback from community and staff surveys played a key role in shaping the District’s plan. For example, many of you told us how important it is to maintain special programs. The District’s recommendation reflects efforts to continue offering this type of educational service, where possible. 

To engage the community in the process, the district will hold community meetings:

  • Nov. 12, 6-8 p.m. at Chugiak High School
  • Nov. 14, 6-8 p.m. at Dimond High School
  • Nov. 16, Noon-2 p.m. at Bartlett High School
  • Nov. 18, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Zoom
  • Nov. 18, 6-8 p.m. Zoom

Information on “Rightsizing ASD” is available on this dedicated webpage.

9 COMMENTS

  1. Here’s a “win-win” solution: Repurpose the over-built and unused schools into homeless shelters. I suppose I may be only partly kidding. Add additional shower facilities and cot/beds. And put an APD officer on staff 24/7. The cost profile may be about the same. With the downward trend in school enrollment and increasing vagrants, eventually ALL the former schools could be used in this way.

  2. Does anyone really believe that any schools will actually be closed? The hope is to drag the process out for a long enough period of time that interest is lost and no one follows up on any of the proposed closures. ASD can say they will close schools but never close them in the hopes that people will forget and just assume schools were closed. It’s the typical ASD ” Bait and Switch” routine.

  3. This is what happens when woke liberals want to turn Alaska into a big national park. People leave for better situations and jobs out of state. I look around and all I see are old people who made their money during the oil days. It’s sad.

    • Which job titles do you think are unnecessary, specifically. And how would you organize the work so that necessary tasks were completed?

      • You sound like a union teacher employee who might be losing their job. The questions you ask can be answered, but their large questions and if you can’t figure it out, then can’t help you. For starters, we can get rid of half of the principles and vice principles And the teacher advisors. We could also shut down the useless parts warehouse over by Northwood Elementary school that never gets used.

  5. The School Board may okay the use of land(s) to be repurposed by the School administrators. This repurposing will make sure no jobs are lost, but personnel reshuffling is part of any business.
    The School Board needs to answer to the empty classrooms in Chugiak and continuing the Inletview Elementary. Excess capacity is a long standing problem and will be for the future.
    The land on the campuses(campi) is the true value. The municipality of Anchorage is crying for residential building. By returning the land to the municipality, the properties could be sold for residential development. The proceeds from the sale used for
    municipal improvements.
    Real estate taxes from future owners will benefit the muni for the future. The 2024 Municpal property taxes, in my bill, went 44% to schools.

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