By DAVID BOYLE
The Anchorage School District knows that it has too many schools for too few students. And the future is bleak for increased numbers of students showing up through 2028.
ASD is not alone with the problem of too few students for too many school buildings. Some school districts take a courageous stand, rightsizing the school system to fit the population while still maintaining room for growth.
The Denver Public School system, for example, is proposing to close 10 of its schools. And the Jefferson County School District in the Denver area has closed 10 schools with another four scheduled for next year due to lower enrollment.
The Anchorage School District has too many elementary schools for far fewer students. It currently has a “program” capacity of 26,432 students in its elementary schools. But there were only 19,484 elementary students in the 2022-23 school year. And fewer this year.
That’s alarming enough. But the future looks even worse. The district projects it will only have 16,826 elementary students in 2027, almost 10,000 fewer students than the district’s school capacity.
People are just not procreating like they used to.
Realizing the excess capacity of elementary schools and the need to reduce costs, the district has developed a comprehensive strategy to close excess elementary schools. This strategy includes the following decision matrix:
All the above rubric components give a grade from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) for elementary schools.
The components are pretty self-explanatory, but the “Staffing Effectiveness” does not really include the effectiveness of the staff. It only shows the impact of the special education staff and other staff such as those that must travel from school to school, such as music teachers.
What it doesn’t show is the effectiveness of the classroom teacher.
That would be a much better measure of “Staffing Effectiveness”.
Here are the AKSTAR standardized test scores of the 8schools that the district has selected for closure:
| School | English Language Arts | Math |
| Baxter | 23 | 20 |
| Bear Valley | 67 | 71 |
| Fire Lake | 31 | 45 |
| Lake Hood | 16 | 12 |
| Nunaka Valley | 33 | 36 |
| Tudor | 32 | 24 |
| Wonder Park | 24 | 21 |
| Anchorage Total (3-9) | 36 | 37 |
Why would Bear Valley be selected for closure if its students have better outcomes than all the other elementary schools? Does it make sense to break up a successful team of students and teachers, regardless of the building condition?
The school building seems to matter little when it comes to student achievement.
Here’s Eagle Academy Charter School in Eagle River which is housed in a former automobile showroom:
And guess what? Eagle Academy Charter School is the top performing school in the district! Seventy-seven percent of its students are proficient in reading and 80% of its students are proficient in math.
Here’s another outstanding charter school: Aquarian Charter School:
Aquarian Charter School is housed in a former school building that the district discarded many years ago. But the parents and kids don’t care. They want to learn and they have very effective classroom teachers. It shows in the scores: 69% are proficient in reading and 69% are proficient in math.
So, it’s not the school building. It’s effective classroom teachers, plus motivated students, plus an outstanding curriculum.
Board member Pat Higgins voiced that he was focused on academic outcomes that were not stressed enough in the rubrics. Chris Opitz, academic officer, noted that when Abbott Loop school was closed that both math and reading scores increased marginally. And the attendance rate increased as well.
The district proposes to repurpose some of the excess schools to house charter schools, thus saving rent costs. It also proposes to repurpose some schools to house PreK and special programs.
So, it sounds like the schools may be closed; students moved to other neighborhood schools; the buildings repurposed; and no loss of jobs. Wow. That’ll close the budget gap?
That will be for the next chapter in the ASD school closure battle. How much will the district really save?
Here is a link to the ASD “Rightsizing Infrastructure Project.”
The Anchorage School District’s problem in a nutshell:
The total “program capacity” for elementary schools today would hold 26,432 students.
The actual number of students in 2022 was 19,484, a nearly 7,000 student excess capacity.
There is even a further downward trend in the future until the projected number of elementary students is 16,826 in 2027, nearly 10,000 students fewer than the district’s capacity.
A school building is just that and nothing more. What happens in the classroom is what is most important. An effective classroom teacher and an effective curriculum are the keys to student success.
David Boyle is an education writer for Must Read Alaska.
All of you, parents and kids that are crying about your schools being closed. You can keep them open if you pay the taxes.
That sounds fair to me that you pay taxes to keep a less than full school open since you want it so bad you pay for it
My student has never been in an Anchorage public school and is doing great without it. He goes online and to a charter school 3 times a week. He keeps up, gets good grades, and loves the process. He is committed to staying with this program and keeping up. He’s current in the 9th grade and will graduate on time a happy student making his teachers look good. If anything, he struggles to make all “A’s”. Everyone is pleased with that!
So how much are we gonna save by closing the schools and not cutting the staff?
It cost a lot to heat light maintain a school, and it also cost a lot for employees.
We need to cut the school district employees down, and that will help with the budget more than closing the school.
We need a neutral part to step in and straighten out this mess as the school district makes it look good on people behind the scenes. They’re not gonna make any cuts at all for administrative staff or teaching staff.
ASD has no one to blame but themselves. For parents deciding to pull their children from public schools! Schools have taken on the WOKE agenda. None of my grandchildren go to public schools!
So David Boyle , what are the scores at INLET VIEW. We got hornswaggled on that proposition . How many of the kids going to that school should be going to their neighborhood school . No one seems to want to answer my question
Parents have been forced to find alternate means to educate their children. The public school system cannot be trusted and often becomes a dumping ground for children with behavioral problems and learning disabilities. Charter schools, schools set up in churches, and homeschooling is where these students have gone. Result: empty schools. Same problem here in Juneau.
Mark said it, exactly.
And for what it’s worth the article talks about “people not procreating“ ever consider that maybe people are pulling their kids out of the district to homeschool? Or possibly just moving out of the municipality taking their children away from the foolishness at ASD?
One look at the assembly in this town, the management at the school district, all the talk that puts ASD employees before students, it should be obvious to everyone.
Tired of hearing from people I know who are teachers “I had to spend $100 last year to buy supplies for my classroom…“ really? A lot of people in government service at all levels have provided money out of their own pockets to get their work done at a higher level, as a public service. So with all the talk of “it’s for the kids“ why are they complaining? Those teachers get three months off every year, every holiday and get paid a very good wage. Not to mention in recent years all of the “teacher development days“ which I was told by one… Because they need a break from the kids. Unbelievable.
To those at ASD that complain about how bad they have it, maybe go find a job where you have to work 11 1/2 months a year in conditions far worse than the nice classrooms you enjoy now. Then you’ll really have something to complain about. Instead, count your good fortune.
To all of the ASD employees out there putting in the work every day and who really do care about the kids, thank you for your efforts.
It should be about the three Rs: Reading, Riting and Rithmatic, and nothing else.