School Bond Information, November 2, 2004 Election

Middle schools in northeast Anchorage are overflowing with students

… and use 19 portable classrooms

When the morning school bell rings, thousands of our students don't go into a school building. Instead, they head across lawns and parking lots to go into portable classrooms. That's especially true at Central, Clark and Wendler middle schools, which are all overcrowded and use 19 portable classrooms combined to handle their overflow of students. And northeast Anchorage continues to grow, with more housing under construction right now and thousands more troops coming soon to Fort Richardson.

School Bond Proposition 2 funds the next phases of renovation and design at Bartlett, Chugiak, East and Service, giving longer and more functional life to each school. ASD only asks voters for funding on a phase-by-phase basis as the work progresses. This bond funds the next phases of work and keeps the projects on track and on schedule.

Building and maintaining schools are an investment by the community, and, like any investment, there is a cost. Prop 1 qualifi es for 60 percent state reimbursement and Prop 2 for 63 percent, subject to annual legislative appropriation. State reimbursement reduces the cost to local taxpayers. For every $100,000 of 2004 assessed property value, and with state reimbursement, Props 1 and 2 combined will cost taxpayers $12.89 a year to retire the bonds and $9.60 a year for operation and maintenance of the added facility space.

Make an informed decision on November 2