Education

Anchorage School Board approves $58.5 million bond package for April ballot

The Anchorage School Board on Monday approved a $58.45 million bond package for voters to consider on next year's municipal ballot, pending approval by the Anchorage Assembly.

The 4-3 vote followed an extended debate between the school board members over the bond package's price tag, given that Anchorage voters narrowly rejected a smaller, $49.3 million school bond in the last municipal election. The state's financial situation has also not improved in the past year, and the Legislature voted in 2015 to stop reimbursing new school bonds for five years.

"I don't want to see a second bond fail a second year," said school board member Kathleen Plunkett. "That would be totally disastrous."

Board members proposed a series of amendments Monday evening to cut projects and trim the total of the original $67.1 million bond package proposed by the administration. That bond package would have paid for construction projects at 16 schools.

"People are more concerned about our financial picture now than they have been in a long, long time," said board member Kameron Perez-Verdia. "I would really encourage the board to put their fiscal conservative hats on."

All but one of the amendments failed in close votes. A majority of school board members ultimately agreed to cut fire suppression systems at two high schools from the bond package, as well as seven projects to meet federal Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, including adding and upgrading bathrooms.

School board President Tam Agosti-Gisler said the district would use its general funds to pay for those projects, totaling $8.65 million. The board will have to take another vote on allocating those funds, she said.

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"Those are such immediate needs that it would not be appropriate to wait for a bond," Agosti-Gisler said.

The final, $58.45 million bond package would pay for projects at nine locations, including new roofs at seven schools and a new roof for the Student Nutrition building in South Anchorage. It would also fund heat and ventilation replacements and seismic upgrades.

School Board members Perez-Verdia, Plunkett and Elisa Snelling all voted against the bond package Monday evening, instead supporting an amendment that would have chopped it further.

For Anchorage residents, the school bond would equate to $13 in annual property taxes per $100,000 of assessed property, or $45.50 for the average $350,000 home, said Andy Ratliff, executive director of Anchorage School District Office of Management and Budget. But he said that since the school district continues to pay off its debt, the expected net increase is less — $1.25 per $100,000 of assessed property.

The Anchorage Assembly must approve the school bond package before it can appear on next April's ballot. The Assembly is expected to introduce the bond package at its December 20 meeting and take a vote Jan. 10, according to the district.

Tegan Hanlon

Tegan Hanlon was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News between 2013 and 2019. She now reports for Alaska Public Media.

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