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Capital Improvement Plan

III. Capital Improvement Needs and Goals

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Not only is the District's inventory of facilities large, it is also aging. Sixty-three schools are 20 to 50 years old. Eight are over 40 years old. The District's newest high school is 29 years old.

Building components wear out. Facility systems only last so long. Roofs deteriorate and leak, heating and plumbing systems wear out and fail, ceiling systems give way. Various code changes require updating electrical systems, ADA access, asbestos 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 are schools without adequate electrical capacity to support the operation of computers that are an integral part of the District's educational program Older schools have outdated science rooms that also limit curriculum options. Without renovation, these schools do not provide our students the same quality educational environment as our newer schools.

Additional capacity to house the constantly growing and shifting student population is the third component of capital requirements. Anchorage is the largest district in the state and its overall enrollment has been steadily climbing. To meet short-term capacity needs, the Anchorage School District uses 133 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 support the standard school.
To close and rededicate or dispose of existing school 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 Board approved organizational plan of K-6, 7-8 and 9-12. Exceptions to this goal are the following board approved programs: Birchwood ABC K-8, Girdwood K-8, Northern Lights ABC K-8, Polaris K-12, Steller 7-12, and Mirror Lake Middle School 6-8.
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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