The proposal, which will need to be approved by the school board before it can be implemented, calls for staggered closures over the course of three years.
Updated: 52 seconds agoThe neighborhood school and Montessori program at Tudor Elementary School were proposed for closure in Year 1 of a plan announced by the Anchorage School District on Friday. The Anchorage School District announced Friday that it aims to close seven elementary schools as part of its strategy for dealing with its budget shortfall and declining student enrollment.
The proposal, which will need to be approved by the school board before it can be implemented, calls for staggered closures over the course of three years. The schools identified to be shut down or repurposed in the first year are Bear Valley Elementary, Lake Hood Elementary and Tudor Elementary. In year two, the district is proposing to close or repurpose Fire Lake Elementary, Nunaka Valley Elementary and Wonder Park Elementary.“This is a really difficult time for our community and right now my focus is on listening to our communities,” District Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt said in a Friday interview. “This is one of the most difficult conversations a community can have.” On Friday afternoon, the district sent a letter to families with students at the identified schools, as well as another letter to staff members, informing them of the plans. “Our community is changing. We have seen a decline in enrollment that mirrors broader trends within the Anchorage population. Additionally, more families are opting for different learning modalities, with correspondence school enrollment doubling over the past decade,” Bryantt wrote to families.Between 2010 and 2024, the district’s enrollment declined by nearly 12%. The number of homeschooled students nearly doubled. And, according toput out as part of the district’s “Rightsizing ASD” initiative, the number of students with intensive needs in the district has gone up by 61%. According to Bryantt, the district aims to retain almost all of the staff members at the closing schools, moving them into positions at other facilities. “When we consolidate the building, the intention is to add more adults and educators to our buildings,” he said. As education funding from state lawmakers has stagnated in recent years, the list of deferred maintenance projects at district facilities has “skyrocketed from under $170 million to over $1 billion, putting additional strain on our resources,” Bryantt wrote to families. As a budget reduction measure, school closures don’t save much money. In 2022, when the district proposed shutting down six elementary schools, officials“I think everyone on the board understands that this needs to happen,” Anchorage School Board President Andy Holleman said. In 2022, the board reduced the number of schools proposed for closure from six down to just one, Abbott Loop Elementary. This time, Holleman said, the community at large and elected officials are likely to be more willing to go along with a bigger closure plan. “It’s not a happy thing for anybody,” he said. “I think it makes it a good idea that we do this kind of slowly.”would be permanently closed. Its students would be sent to three different elementary schools: 121 to Huffman Elementary, 104 to Rabbit Creek Elementary and 80 to O’Malley Elementary.would be repurposed as a charter school. Its students would be sent to two different elementary schools: 113 students to Turnagain Elementary and 62 students to Northwood Elementary.would be repurposed for a “special program,” the district said in its announcement. Its students would be sent to two different schools: 179 of its students would be sent to Lake Otis Elementary, and 124 students in its Montessori program would be sent to Denali Montessori.would be repurposed as a charter school. Its students would go to three different elementary schools: 40 to Birchwood Elementary, 108 to Eagle River Elementary and two to Chugiak Elementary.would be repurposed for a “special program,” the district said in its announcement. Its students would be sent to two different elementary schools: 39 to Chester Valley Elementary and 57 to Russian Jack Elementary.would be permanently closed. Its students would be sent to two different elementary schools: 103 to Williwaw Elementary School and 78 to Ptarmigan Elementary School.would be repurposed as a charter school. Its students would go to three different elementary schools: 17 to Chester Valley Elementary, 99 to College Gate Elementary and 53 to Scenic Park Elementary.Zachariah Hughes covers Anchorage government, the military, dog mushing, subsistence issues and general assignments for the Anchorage Daily News. He also helps produce the ADN's weekly politics podcast. Prior to joining the ADN, he worked in Alaska’s public radio network, and got his start in journalism at KNOM in Nome.
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