No, the district builds durable facilities with cost effective systems and finishes to withstand Anchorage’s sub-arctic climate and extensive use by students, staff and the general public. The district takes care of these facilities through routine preventative maintenance and custodial programs, building systems renewal projects, and capital construction renewal projects. Routine maintenance is funded through the operating budget; capital and building system renewal projects are funded through bonds, legislative appropriations and grants.
The district’s current regular operating budget allocates $22.7 million for routine, day-to-day maintenance; this covers items such as painting, repairing roof leaks, replacing broken glass, fixing locks, plowing snow, repairing fences, and maintaining plumbing, heating, electrical and roofing systems, etc. As with a homeowner’s roof, there comes a “critical” point when the cost of repairs becomes excessive and the entire roof needs to be replaced and renewed to extend the home’s life. Building system renewal projects involve major expenses not covered by the regular operating budget.
Bonds can be sold to finance building systems renewal projects because they are capital construction projects intended to extend school facilities’ functional life; for example, repairs keep the roof operable during the original 20 years of its life; a new roof helps extends it another 20 to 30 years.
More than half of the district’s 93 schools and six support facilities are at least 25 years old. In order to keep ahead of exceeding the “critical point” of cost at these 99 facilities, the district would need to request funding for at least four renewal projects per year. This assumes all facilities’ original construction was spread out over the years; reality is that most construction occurred during concentrated periods of population growth.
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