10/07/2025 School Board Recap 

 

Key takeaways:

• Rightsizing plan update: Closure of two schools and boundary changes for several schools
• 2026 School Bond will focus on security, major renovations
• District weighs costly choice on Ursa Major building on JBER
• Math proficiency: Board goal monitoring technical report introduced
• AEA members testify in regard to contract bargaining status
• Board votes to adopt a tentative agreement: Food Service Employees, Teamsters Local 959
• Superintendent on Rightsizing: Vision is transforming school to fit community needs for the next 10-20 years. Next step: listening to the community 

 

On Tuesday, October 7, 2025, the Anchorage School Board held a work session at 4 p.m., followed by a Board meeting at 6 p.m. Board meetings typically take place the first and third Tuesday of the month. 

Work sessions, committee meetings, and Board meetings are open to the public. Meetings take place at the Education Center and can be watched live or on demand on the District’s YouTube Channel.

 

Anchorage School Board Resources:

Calendar of upcoming meetings

Anchorage School District’s YouTube 

School Board meeting agendas

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Work Session Review

The Board Work Session agenda is available to review. A recording of the meeting is available for playback.

The Work Session provided an overview from District Administration on two topics of discussion:

1. 2025-26 Rightsizing ASD Plan
2. 2026 Bond Proposition

 

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Rightsizing 

 

Presenting administrators:

Chief Operations Officer Jim Anderson

Deputy Superintendent Sven Gustafson 

 

Superintendent Dr. Jharrett Bryantt introduced the discussion, recapping where we are at in the Rightsizing process:

• Last year the Board directed the administration to recommend at least one school for closure this year.
• ASD has lost 7,000 students over the past decade.
• We are bracing for a $75 million+ deficit next school year.
• Consolidated low capacity schools are one of the few levers we have to consolidate our resources and strengthen our neighborhood schools.
• Rightsizing is about more than closing buildings. The plan also includes:
  • Identifying classrooms in low capacity buildings across the District for commercial childcare services.
  • Boundary changes to help balance enrollment and reduce overcrowding at Romig Middle School and West High School. 

 

Schools recommended for closure at the end of the 2025-26 school year:

• Fire Lake Elementary
  • Students will be zoned to Eagle River Elementary School, Birchwood ABC, and Chugiak Elementary School.
  • The campus will be repurposed for Eagle Academy Charter School.
• Lake Otis Elementary School 
  • Students will be zoned to College Gate, Rogers Park, Airport Heights, Kasuun, and Tudor elementary schools.
  • The campus will be repurposed for Rilke Schule Charter School.

 

Rationale

The presentation included a list of underutilized schools and the details of the rationale and process behind the recommendation of the two schools for closure. 

 

Schools recommended for boundary changes for the 2026-27 school year:

• Romig Middle School
• Hanshew Middle School
• Wendler Middle School
• West High School
• Service High School
• Bettye Davis East High School

 

Rationale

To help balance enrollment and reduce overcrowding at Romig Middle School and West High School. These changes would move students in select neighborhoods to middle and high schools that are closer to their homes. The adjustments will help schools with lower enrollment welcome more students and resources, while giving our over-capacity schools much-needed space to support strong learning environments.

 

Timeline 

 

October 2025

Pre-brief School Board 

⭐ Brief details for closures and repurposing 

Community Conversations

 

November 2025

Non-action item at School Board meeting

Action item at School Board meeting

Community Conversations and Information Nights

 

Participants will have the opportunity to attend sessions on balancing school boundaries and busing, impacts to services and plans to support all learning in a changing environment. Additionally, Information Nights will be held for families who live in the neighborhood impacted by the recommended changes to boundaries.

 

 

Boundary Information Nights 

Hanshew - Service Boundary Recommendation Information Night Tuesday, October 28

6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Hanshew Middle School

 

Wendler - East Boundary Recommendation Information Night Tuesday, October 28
6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Wendler Middle School

 

 Rightsizing Community Conversations 

Wednesday, October 29
6 to 8 p.m. at Bettye Davis East High School

Thursday, October 30
6 to 8 p.m. at Chugiak High School 

Saturday, November 1
noon to 2 p.m. at the ASD Education Center 

Presentation from this portion of the meeting

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2026 School Bond Proposition Planning

 

Presenting administrators:

Chief Operations Officer Jim Anderson

Supervisor Planning & Design Capital Planning/Construction Larry Morris 

Supervisor Construction & Design Capital Planning/Construction Edie Knapp 

 

The 2026 School Bond Proposition would again focus on:

• Safety and security: 15 schools identified for secure vestibules
• Major Renovations and Upgrades
• Planning and Design

 

If approved, the bond would cost $73,760,000 with a school bond debt reimbursement of $36,880,000. The Administration will receive feedback and guidance from the School Board prior to finalizing the bond. 

Ursa Major building update: Additional costs uncovered to address closed building on JBER

Not included in the 2026 Bond proposal are costs associated with the closed Ursa Major building located on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER).

 

The Administration asked the Board for direction on whether to proceed with rebuilding Ursa Major (and cover unexpected demolition costs) or to cancel the project and absorb long-term financial and operational consequences.

Background

 

• The school had already been approved for an 80% Department of Defense (DoD) grant to rebuild.
• The District discovered, after securing the grant, that PCB contamination would make demolition vastly more expensive than originally budgeted.
• This adds about $5.4 million in demolition and disposal costs not covered by the DoD grant.

Option 1: Proceed with the rebuild

• Pros
   

  • Retains the 80% federal match, a rare and generous funding source.

  • Results in a brand-new facility with decades of life expectancy and minimal future maintenance.

  • Positions the District for flexibility with other aging JBER schools if future consolidations are needed.
    
     

• Cons
   

  • ASD must find or bond for the extra $5.4 million locally.

  • May require diverting funds from other priority projects or increasing the next bond proposal.

 

Option 2: Cancel the rebuild 

• Pros
   
  • ASD could immediately free up roughly $10 million in local funds currently allocated to Ursa Major for other pressing needs (e.g., budget deficit relief).
    
     
• Cons
   

  • The District would forfeit the 80% federal match.

  • Eventually, ASD would still be responsible for demolishing the contaminated building at an estimated $8–10 million cost.

  • Future demolition costs are expected to increase. It may be difficult to justify bonding millions just to remove a school building with no replacement benefit.

 

Presentation from this portion of the meeting

Board Meeting Review

Resources from this meeting:

Agenda

Recording 

 

Reports

Student Representative Report

Student Representative Madison Arreola shared in her update that the Alaska Association of Student Government fall conference will include 12 schools and an estimate of 156 students from ASD. Arreola is hopeful for diverse perspectives and is looking forward to a variety of workshops plus a visit from Alaska State Sen. Loki Tobin. Additionally, she led the pledge of allegiance and land acknowledgement at the Legislative Luncheon at King Tech High School. During the last Student Advisory Board meeting there was a discussion on school cell phone policies. Finally, the SAB met with Lisa Sam from the ASD Controversial Concerns Committee and SAB asked a student delegate to apply to be on the committee to review books requested to be added to the banned books list.

 

Board Conference and Committee Reports

Member Kelly Lessens shared highlights from the latest Finance Committee meeting, saying a robust slide deck is available from the Finance Committee that details our current fiscal picture and what we can expect next year. Additionally, The committee also discussed the proposed changes to the “local contribution” rule being considered by the State Board of Education on October 8–9.

 

See a calendar of all upcoming meetings.

 

Goals and Guardrail Monitoring

Dr. Bryantt introduced the technical report for the following School Board Goal:

The percentage of grade 8 students proficient in mathematics on the state summative assessment (currently AK STAR) will increase from 34.5% in May 2023 to 41.5% in May 2028.

 

Goal overall progress:

Above Target


 

Priority Action Steps 

PRIORITY ACTION STEP	STATUS  IN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION & TRAINING IMPLEMENTATION & MONITORING REFINEMENT & SUPPORT SUSTAINABILITY & SCALING
M PASS 1: Strengthen Tier 1 instruction by ensuring consistent use of evidence-based, District-adopted materials and high-leverage instructional practices that support high levels of student learning in grades K–8 and Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II (AGA), with a focus on coherent, standards-aligned instruction and conceptual understanding.	IN DEVELOPMENT
M PASS 2: Utilize a research-based MTSS fidelity framework to assess current systems, to ensure timely academic interventions identify gaps in Tier 1–3 implementation and adjust practices to ensure equitable access to academic and behavioral supports to improve outcomes for all students through consistent, data-informed implementation.	IN DEVELOPMENT
M PASS 3: Leverage the Professional Learning Community (PLC) structure across all divisions to strengthen instruction and accelerate student learning, with a shared focus on data-driven practices that improve 8th grade math proficiency on AK STAR	IN DEVELOPMENT

 

The Board discussion on the report will take place during the next School Board meeting.

Presentation from this portion of the meeting

 

Public Comment

More than 30 students and community members signed up to testify on a variety of topics, the majority of which were related to the Anchorage School District (ASD) and the Anchorage Education Association (AEA) contract bargaining status.

 

Consent Agenda

The consent agenda as presented was approved by the Board. 

 

Action Items 

ASD Memorandum #068 - Adoption of Tentative Agreement: Food Service Employees, Teamsters Local 959

Testimony and Board discussion on ASD memo #068 is available for playback.

The Board voted unanimously to pass the memo as presented.

Non-Action Items

 

Member Lessens pulled ASD Memorandum #061 for discussion. 

Board discussion on this Non-Action item is available for playback.

 

Superintendent Update

Superintendent Dr. Jharrett Bryantt spoke about his vision for the multi-year Rightsizing project setting a baseline for neighborhood schools and utilizing campuses to best serve the community for the next 10-20 years.

“When I speak to parents, one of the things that comes up is how the cost of child care is prohibitively expensive. So expensive that it keeps many from entering the workforce in the first place,” Dr. Bryantt said.  “And this [co-locating childcare in ASD schools] is one way where we can invest in some of our lowest paid employees to give them an incentive to choose and stay in ASD for the long term.”

 

Zooming Out

ASD has lost about 7,000 students and this trend is expected to continue.  

Schools with low enrollment are more likely to have:

• Larger class sizes
• Multiple grades in one classroom
• Shared services with other schools

 

Weathering the Storm

Dr. Bryantt said he would like to establish a baseline standard of academic services for all neighborhood schools.

ASD is facing an approximate deficit of $75 million and this especially impacts our underutilized schools. The two schools identified in the Rightsizing proposal for closure are both at about 50% capacity.

 

“I’m trying to set up our neighborhood schools to weather the storms that I see coming. And this will not be a one-year storm. This could be a 5 to 10 year storm.”

 

Dr. Bryantt said now that the recommendations have been made it is his time to listen to the community through the upcoming Community Conversations, public testimony, and email messages. “The next phase includes community voices combined with dozens of technical experts so all voices can be heard.”

 

School Board & Administration Comments/Communications

The meeting concluded with School Board and Administration comments and communications.