�鶹��madou

Hmong version
Korean version
Samoan version
Spanish version
Tagalog version

Good afternoon, ASD staff and families.

As we’ve been sharing with you, we are facing a grave $68M budget shortfall. My teams have researched several options for the school board to consider as we get closer to passing a balanced budget in February, as required by state statute. Survey results show a strong feeling to reduce excess building capacities by merging schools and programs. The community supports school closures over classroom size increase and program elimination. 

Before I go further, I would like to thank staff, students, and families for providing honest and constructive feedback on how we can move forward. Your continued input is critical and valuable. Thank you!

While our research is ongoing, today is our first of many conversations on recommendations with the school board. Our focus is how to improve the classroom experience for our students despite our bleak budgetary reality.  

During today’s work session with the board, we will focus on proposed campus closures and consolidations. This is an incredibly emotional and painful topic to hear, particularly after the immense strain put on our community due to the pandemic. Before I share our recommendations, it’s important that you hear directly from me about how we got here.

The first reality is that our enrollment has been in a state of decline for years, serving far fewer students than it did 10 years ago. Let me put this in perspective from the kindergarten lens. Five years ago, we educated over 3,700 kindergartners. Today, we educate nearly 20% fewer. This type of trend will impact our enrollment for decades. Another sobering stat that directly impacts our kindergarten enrollment is �鶹��madou saw 4500 newborns in 2016. Fast forward to now, like enrollment, it’s another 20% decline and growing. It means, in the long term, our student enrollment numbers will continue its steep and steady decline.

When student enrollment declines, that has a direct impact on funding from the State of Alaska (SOA), and the student experience. Because a number of our buildings are under capacity, it becomes incredibly challenging to offer the electives and services that a family would expect from their neighborhood school, particularly as the level of need for specialized services continues to grow. Closing a school is not anything I take lightly–schools are the heartbeat of our communities. But I believe that by right-sizing our schools, there is a path to improve the quality of education for our students. 

The second reality is that our District has been given insufficient and unstable funding from the SOA for years, and it is hurting our schools. Even if our enrollment had not declined, a dollar does not stretch as far in 2022 as it did in 2017. Think about it like this. How much more expensive is a tank of gas today? What about the cost of housing? What about a gallon of milk? And yet, for more than five years, the SOA has only committed to investing an extra $30 per student. Think about the rising cost of bus fuel, roof repairs, and maintenance today. 

The bottom line is when our state government doesn’t increase education funding, it’s cutting education funding. An influx of federal COVID-19 relief dollars provided a false sense of security.  The reality is our schools are being underfunded and it was never addressed by our state government.

And that’s how we got to this point.

Campus closures and consolidations are one small piece of the grim path forward—additional difficult decisions are on the horizon going into December, so that a balanced budget is passed by February.  

The campuses being recommended for closure are:

• Abbott Loop Elementary
• Birchwood Elementary
• Klatt Elementary
• Nunaka Valley Elementary
• Northwood Elementary
• Wonder Park Elementary

A final school closure decision won’t be finalized by the school board until December. 

Between now and then, we’ll continue to provide numerous opportunities to hear directly from you. Examples include more surveys and town halls starting next month. I encourage you to join the discussion and be part of the solutions. We have a ton of information on our FY24 Budget Solutions webpage including a new FAQ page to help answer your questions. Speaking of questions, ask your legislators and the current candidates to share their views on education funding. What are their priorities? Collectively, we can advocate for sensible reform that will ensure an adequate education for our students. 

Best, 

Jharrett Bryantt, Ed.D.
Superintendent