Copyright Anchorage Daily News
The Anchorage School District is holding three events this week to hear feedback about the proposed closure of two more elementary schools. District administrators released a plan early this month to close Fire Lake Elementary School in Eagle River and Lake Otis Elementary School in Anchorage. The plan would allow charter schools to operate out of the vacant buildings next school year. The events are being held: • Wednesday at Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School from 6-8 p.m. • Thursday at Chugiak High School from 6-8 p.m. • Saturday at the Anchorage School District Education Center from noon-2 p.m. The Anchorage School Board will discuss the planned closures at their Nov. 4 meeting and take a final vote on Nov. 18. Administrators have said the effort to “right-size” the number of buildings the district operates is needed to serve a shrinking student population amid rising costs and constrained state funding. The district has nearly 7,500 fewer students enrolled this year than it did in 2010, and school board members have voted to close five schools during that same time period. A presentation from a school board finance committee meeting last week estimated the savings to the district of closing a single school at $900,000. Lake Otis Lake Otis Elementary is currently among the lowest-capacity schools in the district at 53%, and 43% of students who live within the Lake Otis boundary transfer out and attend school elsewhere in the district. Lake Otis is a Title I school, meaning they receive financial support for serving a high percentage of children from low-income families. If closed, Rilke Schule German School of Arts and Sciences would occupy the building starting next fall. Under the district’s plan presented at a school board meeting last week, students who currently attend Lake Otis Elementary would mostly relocate to Tudor or Kasuun elementary schools. Some would go to Rogers Park, College Gate or Airport Heights depending on where they live within the current Lake Otis boundaries. Special education students in the Life Skills program at Lake Otis would relocate to either Airport Heights Elementary or a new program at Russian Jack Elementary. Students in the School Based Behavior Supports program at Kasuun would relocate to Ocean View Elementary to allow room for general education students from Lake Otis. But an influx of about 140 students who evacuated their Western Alaska communities following damage from ex-Typhoon Halong are now in Anchorage schools, potentially changing the district’s previous capacity calculations. Anchorage School District Chief Operating Officer Jim Anderson told the board last week that Lake Otis is well-positioned as a backup school where evacuee students could fit. “I just didn’t want it to be a surprise in two weeks if all of a sudden we have a large influx that’s actually moving into Lake Otis,” Anderson said. “That would of course change the facts behind whether that would be the best school to close and consolidate.” Misty Nelson, a parent of a student at Lake Otis, said at last week’s board meeting that an online petition opposing the closure has over 400 signatures. “Lake Otis is more than a building, it’s a vital part of Anchorage’s educational framework, providing access, equity and inclusion to some of our most vulnerable learners,” Nelson said. “Please reconsider the closure of Lake Otis Elementary.” Anderson said that if Lake Otis were to remain open, the district may have to consider renovations to Abbott Loop Elementary — which was closed in 2023 — to house Rilke Schule. Fire Lake ASD Chief Academic Officer Sven Gustafson said students from Fire Lake Elementary would primarily relocate to Eagle River Elementary, but some may go to Chugiak Elementary or Birchwood ABC School. Fire Lake is currently at 48% capacity, according to the district. If closed, Eagle Academy Charter School would move into the vacant Fire Lake building. Special education students in Fire Lake’s Structured Learning Classroom would go to Birchwood, and Life Skills students from Birchwood would relocate to Alpenglow Elementary School. A district PowerPoint on the boundary changes said, “With the movement of Fire Lake SLC to Birchwood ABC, we plan to move Life Skills to prevent two special programs from being housed at the same school.” Anderson said the planned Powder Ridge housing development, across the Old Glenn Highway from Fire Lake, could add over 100 new homes, but would not significantly impact the school’s capacity. Fire Lake parent Ashley Cantergiani told the Anchorage School Board that closing the school would be disruptive for the Eagle River community. “When we are looking at saving money, we should also do what’s best for students. Having a neighborhood school directly up the hill from them is so beneficial to them,” Cantergiani said. “We are tearing apart a very bonded school community of both general education and SPED students. Our children’s education and our community’s future matters. Please don’t close Fire Lake.” Child care Anderson told board members that child care facilities run by independent providers could be co-located at Huffman Elementary School, Sand Lake Elementary School, Denali Montessori School, Bartlett and Chugiak high schools. Anderson has said about one in five child care slots would be set aside for children of school district and city employees. “We’re not just doing this for Anchorage School District employees only, we’re doing this for the whole community,” Anderson said. “I think it’s going to be embraced if we can get operators to take the chance and form a business and try to operate in our schools.”
