Anchorage School District’s planned closure of Fire Lake Elementary in Eagle River has caught the attention of Rep. Jamie Allard, who represents Eagle River and Chugiak in the Alaska Legislature (the school is in Rep. Dan Saddler’s district).
Allard said it makes no sense to close that school, considering demographic shifts. While Anchorage is losing students, Eagle River is growing, she said, with hundreds of new houses and multi-family units being built within walking distance of Fire Lake Elementary.
She said Fire Lake is where a large percentage of Eagle River’s military families have their students, and provides programs for children with disabilities.
“Moving them to different locations will affect them significantly, and should be avoided at any cost,” said Allard, who has long been an advocate for children with learning disabilities.
The district is planning to convert the school into a daycare center for the employees of the district, and at some unknown point in the future, some of the school building may be made available for a charter school, she said.
“If closing an Eagle River school must happen in the future, leaving Fire Lake Elementary intact, and instead consolidating Homestead and Eagle River Elementary schools, makes more sense from both a structural and education standpoint. You could then re-house Eagle Academy into one of those buildings, and allow for a neighborhood charter school that is within walking distance for many more of Eagle River’s residents. Education choices would increase, the special programs available at Fire Lake would remain intact, and students would still be able to safely walk to school, which would decrease travel times and transportation costs alike,” she said in a published statement.
Allard pointed out that the school board has no representation from Eagle River because the school board members are elected citywide. That means Eagle River has no seat at the table.
“My hope is that the Anchorage School District Board reconsiders the decision to close Fire Lake, revisits the re-housing of Eagle Academy to a more appropriate and accessible location, and puts on indefinite hold any actions that negatively affect the one part of the Municipality of Anchorage that is thriving and growing,” she said.
The school has 230 students, with 10% of them in special-needs classrooms. The playground was recently remodeled to better fit the needs of the large special needs student population of Fire Lake.
The district plans to send 40 students to Birchwood Elementary, 108 students to Eagle River Elementary, and two students to Chugiak Elementary. The district says that Fire Island is currently at 47% capacity, but recently Anchorage has approved major family-sized housing projects within walking distance of the school.
The district in general has a shrinking student population across the city’s campuses as families flee Anchorage, some heading to Eagle River, which is still in the municipality, and many heading to the MatSu Valley for a more traditional education and better quality of life. With lower enrollment, funding is shrinking and the district is trying to close some schools. Politically, it is not targeting schools in the urban core as much as those in the suburbs.
I wish she would listen to someone who knows something about the schools. Fire lake is the one that makes the most sense
Why, Larry? Make your case, please.
The Solution? Eaglexit!!!
Classic NIMBY. In favor of mass ASD school closures before being against EAGLE RIVER’S Fire Lake Elementary School closure.
Chari allow me to interrupt your “righteous indignation” for a moment here.
Mass school closings? ASD has over 90 schools, closing 3-4 isn’t “massive” but necessary.
Just like Girdwood, Eagle River is physically separated for the Anchorage bowl and that brings certain limitations.
Closing Fire Lake makes no sense geographically. IF these are neighborhood schools, then leaving north Eagle River neighborhoods without a school seems counterproductive(especially since ASD claims the schools to be the heart of the community they serve). The nearest elementary schools would be Birchwood ABC and then further north Chugiak Elementary.
It should be pointed out that nobody is going NIMBY here, as it seems there is a consensus that Homestead Elementary should be closed, combined with Eagle River Elementary and potentially the building leased to the charter school. So a school closure is still supported by people in Eagle River.
Then she can find it.
Close them all and private schools will takeover
Great to read of the local backing for ER. But…
When did Eagle River Hi separate Chugiak Hi students? Google says 2005. Students there comment that over half dozen classrooms are empty.
Lake Hood Elementary at 39% capacity is on short short list for closure. Can Fire Lake survive at 47% capacity with empty classrooms nearby.
At least the itinerant Superintendent presented a plan for making best use of assets, “rightsizing”. Closing school buildings with associated maintenance costs and personnel is one big savings. The “rightsizing” concept also means making the best use of teacher personnel rather than employing teacher personnel to near empty hallways.
Despite being rejected by the voters, these are the same School Board members who found money in some back pocket/accounting error, over $20 million, to add to the fund to rebuild Inletview Elementary, with less than capacity schools nearby.
Over capacity is common in ASD, but can ASD afford it? Sounds like the ASD Board feels it can.
Is the job of the ASD Board to go along with local emotion or “rightsizing” for the metropolitan area they are responsible to?
BOP the ASD board pursues their own agenda and cares little if anything about the opinions of ER residents. After the 2018 earthquake the consensus among ER residents strongly favored to to close Gruening Middle school, move all HS students back to Chugiak HS and make ER HS a middle school. Further a redrawing of boundary lines to redistribute students from ER Elementary would have brought higher capacity to the other elementary schools. All this the board rejected and instead announced if they closed Gruening, ERHS students would be bused to Bartlett HS. In the end both Gruening AND ER Elementary were rebuilt, even though it was clear back then that ER would not need them all. It would also make much more sense to close Homestead Elementary, as it is a small school and in close proximity to ER Elementary, servicing almost the same neighborhoods. The board is not interested in “rightsizing” in a way that makes sense or works for the people living in the affected areas. I assume that this is a ploy to get everyone riled up, so in the end they can claim to much “public pressure” and abandon the project all together, like they did the last time they brought it up.
Update:
Paragraph 5. “Over capacity” refers to numbers of schools and excess space for students ASD is maintaining.
Over capacity in number of schools and space maintained is common in ASD, but can ASD afford the over capacity?
Update:
Paragraph 5. “Over capacity” refers to numbers of schools and excess space for students ASD is
Eagle Exit!!!!!!!
ASD dumped a bunch of money into Eagle River Elementary after the 2018 earthquake, and just enhanced the playground equipment at Fire Lake. Why close either of them? Did we just flush the money down the toilet? With over 1000 new homes on tract for the new phase of Powder Ridge, maybe consider closing Homestead instead. And #Eaglexit
How is threatening to close Fire Lake Elementary “wrong”?
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What if it’s only a friendly reminder of what school district officials can do if Eaglexit accidentally happens without the cancer that is Anchorage School District?
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How “wrong” can it be to convert the school into a taxpayer-funded, special daycare center just for children of school district employees?
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Isn’t that what the school-district mob do now, operate daycare centers for children whose parents can’t afford private schoolis?
Morrigan, when Eaglexit happens the ASD has no say, as all schools will belong to the Chugach Borough school district.
Eagle River then has the choice to allocate resources for the schools they wish to maintain. I suggest you read the proposed school plan laid out by Ric Smith.
(mustreadalaska.com/ric-smith-time-for-chugiak-and-eagle-river-to-forge-a-new-path-including-one-for-education/ August 30, 2024)
Taxpayer, you’re right about the proposed school plan.
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Murphy’s Law being what it is, these questions seem reasonable.
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These questions came about because Anchorage education industry officials have a history of demonstrating they’re a law unto themselves, proving they can get what they want anytime they want, children and taxpayers be damned.
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Why would taxpayer-parents believe ASD officials will let that much money and power go out the door, without having a say?
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So, is it unreasonable to ask whether Eaglexit leaders are aware of the possibility that closing Fire Lake Elementary might be ASD officials’ first shot at having a say?
Morrigan, I agree with your assessment of the “my way of the highway” attitude of the ASD board. They have a long history of ignoring the wishes of the community, like Inlet View elementary rebuild or the new idiotic start times only one of the latest examples.
It may however prove to be counterproductive. Irritating parents and making their life more difficult, has brought us lower enrollment, as parents find other opportunities for the education of their children. Angry parents seem more likely to be in favor of Eaglexit, to have a school administration that is more streamlined and actually serves the community and not the other way around…..
Jamie, with all due respect and admiration, I know of no parents in this century that would allow a grade school student to walk to Fire Lake Elementary from Powder Ridge. Eagle Academy prohibits students of any grade walking or riding their bikes to school, due to safety concerns. This policy would most likely not change in the event of a move, regardless of proximity to housing. Eagle Academy has students that commute to school from as far away as Peters Creek to Anchorage, because it is the best charter school in the State that has the best charter schools in the Nation. If we want quality education for our children, the schools that are most able to provide that must be allowed to grow. Eagle exit is the only way to get out from under the thumb of the ASD.
She’s referring to the new extension of Powder Ridge that is currently being built. Go drive up to the school and MAC center in the daylight. You’ll see what she means.
The biggest issue with the decisions made regarding the school district is lack of representation as Jamie pointed out.
Hiring an unqualified superintendent from out of state and paying moving expenses makes absolutely no sense at all.
The spending practices at the end of the budget year just to use up remaining funds are criminal and should be prosecuted as such.
People ordering gold plated items for their desk and office are rampant and have been going on for years.
They have had way too much money to spend as they wish.
The stumbling block does not come, in my opinion, from the Superintendent recommending “rightsizing”, but from the same individuals not supporting the Superintendent they hired(see BO Plenty above). Originally six(6) schools were recommended to close by the Superintendent. Is that down to 3 or 4 with repurposing the rest?
Since the time of Ms. Cuomo, when the State had few funding limits, how many short term Superintendents have come and gone? Experienced help saw the situation and left….or got promoted.
Keep all schools open.
Did I just read that Fire Lake Elementary will become a daycare center for school district employees?
What?
I have so many questions.