The Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board unanimously denied an application to establish a charter school at Pearl Creek Elementary due to concerns about resources, facility plans, admission processes, and potential budget impacts.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - At its Tuesday meeting, the Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board unanimously denied an application to establish a charter school at Pearl Creek Elementary —The decision came after two work sessions held on Oct.
6 and 14, during which the board considered the charter school application. Discussing their decision, members of the school board brought up a variety of reasons for the rejection, with Morgan Dulian saying the application’s plan to increase enrollment by 33% over a six-year period would require additional resources to the school, including staff and supplies, which are not laid out in the application. She also argued that the charter’s plans for its facility are not fully fleshed out and use outdated cost figures, while the school’s admission process “does not comply with state law,” she said. “Alaska statute requires that charter schools admit all eligible applicants or, when oversubscribed, use a random drawing,” Dulian said. “The language in the application suggests an alternative admissions process would be used if demand exceeds available space which would not meet statutory requirements.” In her comments, board member Loa Carroll-Hubbard said the charter application proposes a Pupil-Teacher Ratio that is higher than the maximum in the statute, which fails to provide a detailed plan for students who are gifted or those who require special education. “I see a lot of positive intent in this application. There’s a really strong intention to be inclusive of all students, but the budget just doesn’t reflect this,” board member Bobby Burgess said, later adding that despite great aspiration, the plan lacks the necessary detail to follow through. Burgess and board members Tim Doran and Melissa Burnett, meanwhile, all contended that approving the charter application could lead to budget cuts, which could require another school to close and class sizes in non-charter district schools to increase. Doran also expressed concerns about what transportation would be available for the charter school, and whether the application assumes the availability of the now-unused school building formerly inhabited by Pearl Creek. “The answer tonight, this is not the end of the conversation. The folks in our community at this moment, particularly those behind, who have worked hard on this charter, they have prompted, supported a community conversation that’s broader,” Doran said, thanking those who prepared the application. April Monroe, who helped spearhead the application process for Pearl Creek STEAM Charter School, said she was disappointed but not surprised by the decision, saying the board is not interested in listening to the community. Since hearing of the school’s imminent closure, Monroe said a group of more than 200 community members have taken part in the process of creating an alternate school, including parents, teachers and specialists in various aspects of education, as well as an equity committee. “The biggest thing that we can do to bring funding back into our district is to bring the kids that are here in their own living rooms back into our schools, and to do that, we need to create places that parents want to send their children, and we’ve done that. That’s what we’ve done in creating the Pearl Creek Charter,” she added. The effort ultimately led to the current application after a couple of rejections and suggested changes. “I think that an incredible charter has been turned in,” Monroe said. “There was a long process during which they could have given that feedback and asked for revisions or changes and they chose not to engage during that time frame.” She specifically addressed the charter’s lack of a lease, saying it is common for a charter that is not yet a legal entity to not have a lease. Monroe also defended the proposed admissions and transportation processes outlined in the application, saying the intention behind their ideas was to provide equitable access to the school and that nothing in the law contradicts the admission of children who had previously attended Pearl Creek Elementary. Arguing that the school board decides the budget, Monroe thinks that, rather than closing another school, any cuts needed as a result of a new charter school should come from the administration budget. “They could choose to cut one of their three superintendents. If they need to close a building, they could close the five-story building, administrative building downtown,” Monroe said. She now intends to appeal the decision to the State of Alaska without making any changes to the charter. “It certainly is a rejection of our school board’s judgment, but it’s also just part of the normal American process where you can take a decision you don’t agree with at a lower level and appeal it to a higher level,” Monroe explained.Police in Maryland are asking volunteers to smoke weed2025 growing season one of the longest in Fairbanks history, UAF scientists say
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Fairbanks school board rejects Pearl Creek charter school applicationThe Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board unanimously denied an application to establish a charter school at Pearl Creek Elementary, which closed earlier this year.
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Fairbanks school board rejects Pearl Creek charter school applicationAt its Tuesday meeting, the Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board unanimously denied an application to establish a charter school at Pearl Creek Elementary — which was closed earlier this year, along with two other district schools — for the 2025-2026 academic year.
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