From 2001 to 2007, I was honored to serve students, parents, and our community as a member of the Anchorage School Board. During those years, our community voted in favor of bonds to build Eagle River High School, Begich Middle School, and South High School, and rebuilt Dimond High School, Polaris K-12 School, and Denali Montessori Elementary School.
Anchorage voted “yes” on bonds even as we faced significant operational budget deficits.
This shows that Anchorage will make long-term investments in our schools, communities, and future economy even when the State is facing cash flow uncertainty.
Fast-forward to today. This year’s bond will benefit 10,000 kids in 20 schools. School bonds are how the vast majority of Anchorage school upgrades happen. Without the bond, these projects do not happen. Capital investments are distinct from and should not be conflated with operating costs.
Recently, the Daily News printed a letter from a school bond naysayer. That person argued that the school district has not been transparent. I find this finger-pointing surprising, given that the writer failed to disclose that one of the schools on the bond is literally located in her backyard — is this a case of NIMBYism?
Our son Owen has been a student at our neighborhood school since his COVID-19 kindergarten year in 2020. He loves the school. What he doesn’t love is the open sewage that used to bubble up on the playground; the unsafe entry vestibule; the leaking roof; the broken toilets; and the spotty heating systemthat renders some rooms freezing and some hot as heck. Funds to complete a reconstruction of his school are on this year’sbond. I don’t know if a rebuild will be complete before he heads to middle school, but I do know that rebuilding an unsafe school that doesn’t meet elementary education standards is the right thing to do.
Investing in our kids and our community was the right thing to do when I served on the School Board. The only thing that has changed since then is that our facilities have gotten older and in worse states of disrepair.
Join me in voting yes on Proposition 1.
— Jake Metcalfe
Anchorage
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