Charter schools in Anchorage are struggling with a facilities problem. The schools are part of the Anchorage School District, but they have to find and pay for their own buildings. And it’s really hard to find empty schools or pay to build new ones. Now the Anchorage School Board is discussing a potential solution.
Middle school teacher Andranel Brown says she and her coworkers want to create the hands-on, place-based school because of comments made by her students in east Anchorage.
“A few times we have gone on hikes and a number of years kids would say ‘Ms. Brown I’ve never been on a hike before.’ I’m like, ‘What? We’re standing here on Bird Ridge. It’s just around the corner.’ Or kids would go on the planet bike ride [through downtown and Kincaid] and say ‘This is the farthest I’ve been from home.’ And I said, ‘This is not OK.’”
Brown says they’ve chased leads and spent months looking for a location. She says she’s spoken to many other Anchorage charter school principals, and she always hears the same message:
“Facility consumed my life. That is what took up the bulk of my time. If we had had a space that was adequate for us, we could have directed so much more energy into other things.”
Now the Anchorage School Board is considering offering help. Some board members want to set aside $5 million for a Charter School Facility Fund. It would give schools low-interest loans to help them build new facilities or modify others. Board member Natasha von Imhof says it’s a way to help the schools solve the facilities challenge without costing the district money.
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