Anchorage School District names 7 elementary schools for proposed closures over three years

Nov. 1 – The Anchorage School District announced Friday that it plans to close seven elementary schools as part of its strategy to deal with declining student enrollment, the budget deficit and other challenges.

The proposal, which must be approved by the school board before it can be implemented, calls for staggered closures over a three-year period. The schools identified as likely to be closed or repurposed in the first year are Bear Valley Elementary, Lake Hood Elementary and Tudor Elementary.

In the second year, the district is proposing to close or repurpose Fire Lake Elementary, Nunaka Valley Elementary and Wonder Park Elementary.

The plan calls for Baxter Elementary to close and be repurposed in its third year.

“This is a very difficult time for our community and right now my focus is on listening to our communities,” District Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt said in an interview Friday. “This is one of the most difficult conversations a community can have.”

On Friday afternoon, the district sent a letter to families with students at the identified schools, as well as another letter to staff members, informing them of the plans.

“Our community is changing. We have seen a decline in enrollment that reflects broader trends within Anchorage’s population. Additionally, more and more families are choosing different learning modalities, with enrollment in correspondence schools having increased over the past decade doubled,” Bryantt wrote to families.

Between 2010 and 2024, the district’s enrollment fell by nearly 12%. The number of homeschooled students has almost doubled. And according to data released as part of the district’s “Rightsizing ASD” initiative, the number of students with intensive needs in the district has increased by 61%.

All seven schools mentioned have enrollment numbers well below capacity. Fire Lake Elementary and Lake Hood Elementary have 47% and 39% enrollments, respectively.

According to Bryantt, the district aims to retain nearly all staff from the closing schools and move them to positions at other facilities.

“As we consolidate the building, the idea is to add more adults and teachers to our buildings,” he said.

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As education funding from state lawmakers has stagnated in recent years, the list of deferred maintenance projects at district facilities has “increased from less than $170 million to more than $1 billion, placing additional strain on our resources,” Bryantt wrote to families.

According to district spokesperson Corey Allen Young, the district’s budget deficit is discouraging. It is estimated at $65 million to $85 million next year, depending on how much money is taken from savings. The structural deficit for ASD totals approximately $111 million.

However, as an austerity measure, school closures do not save much money. When the district proposed closing six elementary schools in 2022, officials predicted each closure would save about $500,000 a year.

The school board will begin analyzing the proposal next month. The implementation of the proposal is expected to be voted on on December 17.

“I think everyone on the board understands that this needs to be done,” said Anchorage School Board Chairman Andy Holleman.

In 2022, the board reduced the number of schools proposed for closure from six to just one, Abbott Loop Elementary. This time, Holleman said, the community at large and elected officials will likely be more willing to agree to a larger closure plan.

“It’s not a happy thing for anyone,” he said. “I think it’s a good idea that we do this slowly.”

Holleman said he thinks the closure of the Abbott Loop last year was an important trial that showed families, students and the school community ways to minimize negative impacts.

“It wasn’t catastrophic for their children and everything went well,” he said.

One of the biggest current challenges facing the district, and one that creates urgency for proponents of the closure proposal, is the staffing shortage at ASD schools.

“When we get to a certain size, it’s very difficult to balance class sizes… it’s difficult to have the specialists on hand that you need. So unless we can actually increase salaries to a level where we can attract more people, we won’t be able to staff all these buildings,” Holleman said. “For what we are paying now, we cannot fill the entire workforce.”

Corey Aist, president of the Anchorage Education Association, the district’s teachers union, said the tiered approach to proposing school cuts was better this time than in 2022 but will still pose challenges for communities losing their K-12 schools.

“Closing three schools at the same time is a very different experience than closing six schools,” he said. “A leveled approach gives time to change things, possibly in the legislature. It also gives communities time to have more input. But it will be a battle either way.”

Crystal Hans, PTA president of Tudor Elementary, said in a statement Friday afternoon that the school community is “completely devastated to learn of ASD’s decision to close our great neighborhood school.”

“The closure will disrupt the lives of many students and parents, forcing families to find alternatives far from home and diminishing the close-knit community we have built around the school,” Hans said. “Our children thrive in a familiar environment, and this decision undermines their stability and growth.”

Bryantt said that since the last time the district proposed closing schools, officials had revised the selection criteria and process for soliciting input from community members, including surveys sent to parents.

The district plans to hold five community conversations about the proposed school closures, scheduled for:

—Nov. 12, 6:00-8:00 PM at Chugiak High School

—Nov. 14, 6:00-8:00 PM at Dimond High School

—Nov. 4:12pm – 2:00pm at Bartlett High School

—Nov. 18, 11am-1pm via Zoom

—Nov. 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM via Zoom

Proposed school closures for 2025-2026

—Bear Valley Elementary would be permanently closed. The students would be sent to three different elementary schools: 121 to Huffman Elementary, 104 to Rabbit Creek Elementary and 80 to O’Malley Elementary.

—Lake Hood Elementary would be repurposed as a charter school. The students would be sent to two different elementary schools: 113 students to Turnagain Elementary and 62 students to Northwood Elementary.

– Tudor Elementary would be rezoned for a “special program,” the district said in its announcement. The students would be sent to two different schools: 179 of the students would be sent to Lake Otis Elementary, and 124 students in the Montessori program would be sent to Denali Montessori.

Proposed schools for 2026-2027

—Fire Lake Elementary would be repurposed as a charter school. The students would attend three different elementary schools: 40 at Birchwood Elementary, 108 at Eagle River Elementary and two at Chugiak Elementary.

– Nunaka Valley Elementary would be rezoned for a “special program,” the district said in its announcement. The students would be sent to two different elementary schools: 39 to Chester Valley Elementary and 57 to Russian Jack Elementary.

—Wonder Park Elementary would be permanently closed. The students would be sent to two different elementary schools: 103 to Williwaw Elementary School and 78 to Ptarmigan Elementary School.

Proposed school for 2027-2028

—Baxter Elementary would be repurposed as a charter school. The students would attend three different elementary schools: 17 at Chester Valley Elementary, 99 at College Gate Elementary and 53 at Scenic Park Elementary.

Jenna Kunze contributed reporting.