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Capital Improvement Plan, 2007-2013

III. Capital Improvement Needs and Goals

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Not only is the District’s inventory of facilities large, it is also aging. Forty-eight schools are 20 to 50 years old. Eight are over 50 years old.

Building components wear out.Facility systems only last so long. Roofs deteriorate and leak; heating, plumbing, and ventilation systems wear out; structural systems age. Various code changes require updating electrical and mechanical systems, access for the physically disabled, hazardous materials removal, sprinkler and fire safety upgrades.

Functional obsolescence is another fact of life for older schools. Over the life of a school, programmatic changes take place that demand updating the facility infrastructure. There is a continual need to update the electrical distribution systems in the schools to accommodate current technology. Older schools have outdated science rooms that also limit curriculum options. Current educational delivery methods require physical layouts that are often different from those of 30 to 40 years ago. Without renewal, these schools do not provide our students the same quality educational parity of program and facilities across our school system.

Additional capacityto house the constantly shifting student population is the third component of capital requirements. Anchorage is the largest district in the State, and while its overall enrollment has been steady in recent years, the geographic distribution of students continues to shift due to the high mobility of the Anchorage population. To meet short-term capacity needs in the affected schools, the Anchorage School District uses approximately 130 relocatable units.

Capital Improvement Goals

The following goals guide decision-making with respect to school facilities in the Anchorage School District:

To make maximum use of existing school and support facilities.
To provide the necessary facilities for programs that supports the standard school.
To close and rededicate, or dispose of, existing schools and support facilities where necessitated by significant declines in student membership, building deterioration beyond feasible upgrade or repair, program adjustments or municipal and state codes.
To reduce the level of dependency on temporary building facilities (relocatables) whenever possible.
To construct or purchase school buildings and support facilities in order to achieve a reduction in leased facilities wherever practical.
To maintain the School Board approved organizational plan of K- 6, 7-8 and 9-12. Exceptions to this goal are the following board approved programs: Girdwood K-8, Northern Lights ABC K-8, Polaris K-12, Steller 7-12, Mirror Lake Middle School 6-8, and Nicholas J. Begich Middle School 6-8 (scheduled to open fall 2007). As facilities allow, 6-7-8 grade configurations are preferred when supported by the community.
To adjust school boundaries wherever such adjustments are deemed as promoting the optimal utilization of school facilities, a reduction in transportation costs or the development of contiguous boundaries for "feeder" schools.
To review the Capital Improvement Program with appropriate municipal departments prior to its annual submittal to the Municipal Assembly.

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