11/18/2025: School Board Work Session

001call ourselves to order for the work session of the ASD school board. Today is Tuesday, November 18th, 2025. It is 3:06 p.m. here in the boardroom. Present in the boardroom are members lessons Jacobs and Bellamy present online. Our members present online are members Hollowman and Wilson. Um member Higgins and member Donley will join us as they are able. Uh we have an agenda in front of us now that we've called ourselves to order and engage in a roll call. Um our first item today going in reverse order will be right sizing B2. Uh Dr. Bryant, any opening remarks? >> Thank you, Mr. President. I'll ask our team come up. Um what we'd like to do is to present a final presentation to the board to discuss what we've heard from the community. We can review

002survey data that we've also received on the right sizing initiative and the idea for this afternoon is to ideally answer any remaining questions from board members. You have um all that you need to make an informed decision later tonight. Um I'll let the team get situated and then they will begin. Okay, good afternoon. Um, we've got pretty much uh anyone up at the table I think that that might be needed to answer your questions. If there's something we can't, of course, we have a whole slew of experts behind us. So, just as a as a reset, um this year's right sizing area had three focuses. One was allowing available space to be used for childcare operators, boundary adjustments for a middle and high school, and of course, the two school consolidations. Quick rehash of the

003history. um since really going all the way back to fiscal year 10. Um but but since 15 and 16 uh we have closed five schools and we closed them uh because we have had declining enrollment across Anchorage. We have had declining birth rates not just across Anchorage but really almost globally in in many areas of the world. So, um, we still have a significant amount of capacity to hold nearly 50,000 students and of course we're down to 42 uh and some change. >> And just a reminder of what the recommendation is um for this school closure. The first one is the Fire Lake Elementary School consolidation where we would send less than five students up to Chugek Elementary School, about 41 students to Birwood Elementary, and the vast majority, 143, to Eagle River Elementary School.

004So, there'll be a couple of us talking on this one. Um we'll just go through some of the areas of feedback that was really um stated multiple times either in emails or public testimony or comments during the community conversations. Um one is when you look at Fire Lake, there was a boundary change after the 2018 earthquake and it was because we had Eagle River Elementary Schools uh schools split up into multiple other schools and that boundary did not change back. Um, interestingly enough, when I when I looked at it, the bigger drop for Fire Lake, you know, there was a plus up right after the earthquake when they picked up Eagle River Elementary kids. Um the biggest dip really was 2122 and that was the year that uh the school district remained closed uh while

005while many other districts remained open and they lost like over a hundred kids um right after people started realizing our district was not going to open up anytime soon. And it really was a trend all across the district not just Fire Lake. Um but it is true we did not change that boundary back. Um, second, and and this is common across the district, um, we're always concerned, all of us, for for students with needs and and Fire Lake is a C school, has free breakfast and lunch. Eagle River doesn't. But when we do the math of the uh the economic disadvantage status students that would be going to Eagle River Elementary, it would be pretty simple to pull them into a group and ensure that that uh becomes a new C school. I have no

006idea. >> Um, for the SLC program, um, [clears throat] the community feedback was that we shouldn't be moving it to Bertrid because there's a different curriculum and there's no fence to prevent students from running out into the highway. Um, as the SLC program, we'll be taking the CLA uh, curriculum that they are using currently at Fire Lake to use with the C SLC block at Birwood. However, one of the things that we think may end up happening is that our SLC students actually benefit from a more structured ABC curriculum. So, that might be an avenue for them as well. And as far as the highway goes, it's actually a lot closer and easier for an alope student to go from Fire Lake to the old Glenn than it is to go to the the Glenn

007Highway from Birwood. and Jim actually walked that with some Birchwood staff last week and pretty much we don't think it's going to be possible for the students to actually elope all the way to that uh highway. Everything would have to go wrong. I mean everything. Um I walked out with staff uh if they can get over the fence to get to the trees. There's a lot of underbrush they'd have to go through. um it really didn't seem like a very likely scenario. Um and then if they made it through the tree line, uh they'd have to go up a pretty steep hill and it again, we've looked at schools all over the district. when we look at putting special programs into them and every neighborhood school has a street or or a main road somewhere

008near it. Um this really didn't seem to be a um a very likely scenario. Um whereas at Fire Lake they could just run down the road and go straight onto the old Glenn. This I I just didn't see that was very likely. Um, but on the next one, and and I do welcome board members to go out there. I'm sure you've been to a lot of our schools. Um, you know, when I pulled it up on Google Map, I was worried. That's why I went out there. It looked like it was right there until you get on the ground. And then, of course, it's a much different scenario. So, that the other comment about Eagle River growing and and interestingly, it's accurate. Um, Eagle River, it it did decline a little bit when you add

009in the Chooak area. Um, there has been some population growth over the last 5 to 10 years, but having said that, what hasn't grown is the number of students in Eagle River, even though they may have seen a 2% population growth, the declining birth rates real. And when you look at from 2010 to 2025, Eagle River has still lost 800 plus students even though there is a slight gain in population. So when you when you look at that and then you look at the housing area that's being built near Fire Lake and you look at the apartment buildings that are being built closer to the highway, um it's really hard to imagine how many families would have to come in with an average of 1 three kids per family. Now, for the younger families, um

010it would take a lot of housing to bring back a thousand kids or um we would have to to have a population boom, which we're not seeing nationwide or or even worldwide. Um as younger couples struggle um with financially and and for other reasons, they're just not having the numbers of students. Um, but I I do want to cover that and and acknowledge that they're correct. There has been some housing built. Um, there's plans for more. They have grown a little bit um in terms of overall population, but it just has not gone that way with our schools. And then the last one brought up, I think this was during one of the comm well both community conversations. They they're right. Fire Lake, if it didn't close, would be a good location for commercial child

011care. It's centrally located. um to downtown Eagle River. Um you know what we've we've seen over and over, this is our third time that we've done school closure recommendations and discussions and right sizing is that there isn't a school where in any world they can't say but if that other school next to me closes or reboundaries then my school will be full. And and while it while that's true, um we could reboundary every school in the district and have the exact same number of kids and all you're doing is making another school smaller to make another school bigger. And and you know, they're they're all being honest when they bring all these up. These are legitimate concerns about free breakfast and lunch because we didn't talk about that in public. We hadn't done the math

012yet. Um we did it a couple weeks ago and realized that we can make Eagle River Elementary a C school if it closes. Um but then there's all these other unknowns. I mean if you look at uh Fire Lake, 45% of all the students in that boundary zone out. If you look at Lake Otis, 53% of all those students zone out. So even when we make a new boundary change, if a school closes, we're still giving parental choice. um and and we don't know that they're really going to choose the school that that we're putting in that boundary or make an individual personal decision. So, um you know, I was I I like the community conversations. Um you know, I think I learned a lot about both schools and communities. I think the whole staff

013did. Uh and and these were our biggest takeaways. And again, that's Eagle River. I didn't do one for Lake Otis and all the schools in that area, but it's really a similar trend. Um, ASD lost a lot of students when CO first kicked off. Some came back. We had a bounceback and then when we we kept our schools closed, they just didn't come back and they never did return. A lot went somewhere homeschooling, private schools, whatever. Um, and so we we we just didn't see coming back to normal, whatever normal is. I'm going to jump in really quick to note that member Higgins joined us at 3:11 p.m. >> All right. So, moving to Lake Otis Elementary Schools. Um recommendation, we're recommending that uh just a few kids move to Airport Heights. A little bit

014more goes to College Gate, about 25 to Rogers Park, and then moving down to the lower the southern part of the boundary. um looking at about 37 students going to Tutor Elementary and about 125 going to Cassoon Elementary. With that move, Cassoon's um SBBS would move to Ocean View SBS program to Ocean View. and looking at that um moving from Cassoon to Ocean B. One of the things I do have um senior director Pam Mamaly who is our uh senior director of special education instruction up here with us. Um, we did have some questions about um how with the number of different programs and moving and how do we uh where are we at with um with SBBS with SLC and life skills programs because one thing I did not mention when we were talking

015about the Fire Lake is we would be looking at moving this SLC of course to Fire Lake or to Birwood but we would be moving their life skills program to Alpenlow Elementary school. Um, one of the things that we are uh looking at with this SBBS is to be able to get all the students into Cassoon. We would be moving that SBBS program over to Ocean View. Um, one of the things people have brought up is it's unfair to these programs. Well, in our elementary schools, 24 of our elementary schools have either an SLC, an SBVS, or a life skills program. So, it's getting to the point where we have when we're looking at schools and doing recommendations for consolidation, a lot of our schools have these programs. And a lot of these schools have

016these programs because we have had an influx of students that need these services and we've had to open up more and more of these different classrooms. And where do we open them at? We open them where there's an there's actual quite a bit of room in the schools. So, our schools that um are less capacity or have more capacity in them um end up getting these programs. So, when we're looking at the the schools that we'd be looking at with um for a closure, many of these schools that would be looking at foreclosures have an SLC and SBVS their life skills program. So, in this um recommendation, we are looking at moving the SBVS program from Cassoon over to Ocean View. Um we did have questions about, well, what about the MSDR, the multiensory um

017room? Well, we would be putting a multi-ensory room over at Ocean View. We would have enough classrooms. They're in a good spot of the school that we've identified. Um staff have gone out, spread staff gym um maintenance has gone out to look at what would it take and it's a very doable situation to have SBBS go to the ocean view. Also, one of the things that we do know is that the SBABS kids that are at Cassoon um do live in South Anchorage and um moving to Ocean View doesn't really make it further apart away from their homes. In many cases, it'll make it closer to their homes. So the bus drive bus ride would be shorter for some of the kids. So um the next one is question or concern was about Lake Otis

018being a title one school and Cassoon primarily not being a title one school. With this move, we anticipate it's going to be very close. We do not know specifically for sure, but it's going to be very close if Cassoon um will become a title one school. Uh that determination happens in January when we go through the whole system and determining what schools will have what percentages. Um they'll be close. We don't know for sure if they'll be at the cut or not. Um it is one and and and a lot of that has to do with we don't know for sure which parents are going to choose to go ahead and send their kids to Cassoon and which will choose another choice program that we have in this uh school district. Um, Lake Otis has

019a 21st century after school. >> Mr. Gos, I'm going to interrupt briefly just to in the title school status. Could you explain to refresh the board's memory as well as any public who are watching >> how title status and um free lunch for students are connected? And what does an elementary school actually receive for their title status in terms of extra funding? So, take apart meals for a moment. What does that look like? I'm gonna have um Mike Webb, our new director of title um programs, come up. I think uh Jim might be able to answer the question better about the the meals, and I'll let him answer that question. >> The meals aren't tied at all to title one status, but generally um a title one school would have a high number of economically

020disadvantaged students, so is almost certainly going to be a C school. But we can also pull non-title schools into the CE program, which we do. In fact, we added another 13 schools this year. Um, and frankly, it's turned out we've sold 200,000 more meals already, year-over-year, um, with a thousand less students. So, C is different. You can put groups of schools and try to get to that 40% um, economically disadvantaged status. You could take a 70 and a 30. And that's what we've been doing for the last several years is refining it so we can get more meals out to students in need. Um so it's it it is completely separate. Cassoon's already a C school. So the fact that it's not a title one school doesn't mean that um students would go over there

021and have to pay for food. They wouldn't. >> And Mr. Webb, would you um comment about what it means to qualify for Title One? I believe that that was the question >> need to push the >> Thank you. >> Annually we uh will look at the percentage of economically disadvantaged students. We want to uh balance the the need with having a enough money in the schools to make a difference in terms of the programming. So, uh, we currently have 31 title one schools. Um, and we look at the cutoff. Anyone above 75 will automatically cover. Our current uh qualifier is 69. If they're 69% free and or economically disadvantaged, they they're a title one school. That number varies from year to year based on where we want to make the cut off. >> I think

022that's good information. I apologize. My original question was what once a a title a school is designated as a title school. What does that actually get them as a parent? When I heard title school, the visualization occurs that it's a a wealth of supports that it's additional training for all staff. There be specialized training that everyone receives um additional staff, additional supplies in practical purposes. What does it look like to for a title school at the elementary level? Uh >> title one schools. So, as they're uh qualified, there's um we have a pot of money that goes to the schools and that gets divvied up and then the schools each school has to come up with a schoolwide plan to address their needs. They'll all do a comprehensive needs assessment to look at their academic

023progress, other needs within the community that they have and and that will base all those things that you mentioned could be part of that plan. Uh we have things like extra extra para support or um a lot of our money right now goes to extra teachers. Unfortunately, there's not teachers to fill some of those positions. There's consultants that come in. Um title schools will will pay for extra training. Um a myriad of of things in the elementary school. Um counseling services are a big part of that as well. So for Lake Otis, the I give you a dollar amount. Lake Otis gets just over $188,000 and they're about middle of the road. Um right in the middle, if not a little towards the bottom end, I believe, just below um No, I mean like if

024you took a median of the number 31 schools, I think they're in the mid midsection of Correct. >> Yeah. I I just wanted to add another service that title one schools receive um as a part of their title one plan is a lot of family engagement. So you'll see a lot of family nights um a lot of family outreach to engage parents um really holistically in their child's education. So that's another part of those title plans. >> It it is true though that there are people who believe that it's significantly more money than that. It's really a very small portion of the budgeted amount that supports that school. Um, if you look at, you know, a really small title one school at less than 200 kids, it's it might be close to $100,000. Um, it's

025not even enough for one teacher. It's it's it used to be back years ago before we started adding middle school and high schools to uh title schools that that this one pot of money really got spread. Um, at the elementary level there there were significantly more resources per school. um as you started adding uh the larger schools, it kind of thins it out like everything else that you do where you know now there's 5,000 more kids or 10,000 more kids that spread out that um amount of money you get. So it's there there is a belief for a lot of people that the reason they're a C school is title one and I can understand why they would think that. Um, but it's it's separate and the amount of money that I've seen year-over-year um

026going to titles, it does change every January. I think it's fence sits down with the team and they decide the cut. So, year to year, it can certainly change. >> I'm going to ask one last follow-up question that I see member lessons and member Holland have raised their hands as well. Um, we're talking about a 100 to 200,000. What's the average budget at the elementary level? I know I could find it but >> um generally for the gened side it's about you know two and a half three million depending on the school it can some be more some be less um that doesn't include like the special ed services that might be at the school or some of those other programmatic things but just the direct budgets at the schools about two and a half

027three >> thank you very much um we'll go with member Hollowman and then member le >> uh thank you I just wanted to ask if we make this transition to a school that's not title one um ser title one services and and benefits would go away for a period of time I I'm trying to imagine what happens at the destination school um and at what point when it qualifies would things be restored sorry if I'm not asking that very clearly >> potentially there's a break in service Glattis Wood was a title one school last year. They're not this year. Um and it it just depends on enrollment and how things go. So, um if with respect to what would happen with the money from Lake Otis, if if neither of the uh two schools that

028might qualify qualify that that would that would be dispersed among the other title schools or it would um trigger us to consider lowering the threshold so we could add more schools. >> I'm going to jump in. Think member Halman's question, I'll go back to him to see if I have it right, is if for instance a student at um Lake Otis was going to Cassoon next year um due to the repurposing that building in Cassoon um becomes title to non-title from non-title. Would those would that title status take effect in August or would it be part of the way through the year? It would they would they would write their schoolwide plan uh in the spring and their um their title funds would be available next school year. >> Member Hullman, did that capture your

029question? I I think I tracked it because it was of interest to me too. Or would you like to >> Yeah, you clarified it very well except on the answer. Are you saying that they would write their plan this coming spring for this coming fall or would it be the spring and fall after? We >> we identify the schools uh for title one in January and then we start the process of helping schools with their uh with their planning process for the following year. So they would write the the plan this spring so it would be in effect for next year. >> We would we would have we would be calculating that percentage if the if lakeotus was to close. we would then be able to calculate the percentage of which students because we'd have

030names of those students that would be pointed towards Cassoon and if if when we do that the percentage is at the level that the cutoff is then Cassoon would be title one if not it would it would it would not be title one a lot of the times when we look at those schools right at the right at like the cuto off sometimes they are sometimes they aren't sometimes we can put them on probation for a year and fund them. Sometimes they're like Glattus Wood is off now. They're they're they're a school that goes up and down. >> Thank you. U member Hollowman, does that answer your question? >> Yes. Thank you. >> Perfect. Member lessons. >> Um yeah, there's a couple of Well, one is just a a point of information that um in

031the back of the budget book, we have a page that tells you how much title funding every school gets. And so, um, you can look on page 440, uh, for detailed information. Um, but my question was actually about the multiensory deescalation rooms. I'm aware, um, that, you know, they are north of $280,000, or at least that's what the price tag was when we approved um, their creation a year and a half or two years ago. Do we have a cost estimate for what a new MSDR would be? And um what fund body does that come from? Is it a general fund? Is it capital? I know we're not bonding for it. You know, I walked over with the capital plans team and the maintenance team and the instructional team over to Ocean View and we

032looked at the spaces available. It would be very similar. It had the same kinds of things that Cassoon um in the classrooms with permanent um structures where kids can climb on which we don't like um and and other things. So it would probably be pretty similar and my expectation is we would be looking at the major maintenance grant funds that haven't been expended yet for that purpose. >> not general fund. >> They're fund three. >> Okay. But in the ballpark of 300,000 give or take interest, >> we think. Yeah. Um, you know, we've got to rip we've got to rip out. We don't rip out. We carefully um disengage sinks and and ovens and stoves from the areas and there might be some plumbing that has to be covered up in drywall, but you're not

033looking at um significantly more than frankly what we spent um standing up AK choice in our in our schools. Member lessons, does it satisfy your question? Perfect. Member Bellamy, >> just another clarification. Once the title one SC title one schools do not automatically get that every single year and I think some there is a uh I think a misunderstanding that that is like uh a given to some schools. So, um, am I correct in, uh, saying that no school is guaranteed title one status? It's until certain pieces are met. >> That was actually true with New Naka Valley last year as well. they could have either been put on probation or lost title one status because they had finally dropped below what was probably going to be a cut line and >> if if it's

034a school that's extremely high it's probably not going to lose it but but all of those in that that near the cutoff one or 2% it it could go either way >> and I if I might this chair one more followup so uh say kids who are going from lake Otis to Cassoon they and we don't um they don't meet the title one status. Can somebody talk a little bit about how we how we will guarantee that they get the services that they need? >> So when we're looking at moving more kids into a school and filling that school, we are looking at being able to provide more staffing at that school because they're full. We'll be able to have the multiclasses at the diff at the same grade levels. will be able to fund

035probably like counselors and and we're looking at specialists that are probably going to be on staff full-time instead of coming and going and count I said counselors but then also like the all the support personnel for special education can be there on site. So there's other things that we do when we have a full school right and we still provide really good education in a school that isn't necessarily title funded. When we're looking at Lake Otis in particular this year, the only money they've expended is around um uh consultants because they were trying to get a counselor and the count they couldn't find a counselor this year. So, their funds are being looked at and trying to figure it out. So, there isn't a lot of like one-on-one support right now at Lake Otis for

036actual title funding. Um they are they didn't fund an extra teacher or anything like that. So when they go to Cassoon and if I if I can say some one thing, we have put kids at Cassoon. Cassoon is a very they they know how to transition kids into their school. I don't think we've heard from any of the Abbott Loop families about anything negative about the transition into Cassoon. And these were the same kind of questions we were having about Abbott Loop what was it three years ago or so, four years ago. So yeah, you know, we we provide in those schools and one of the reasons why we're doing this right sizing is provide more in a bigger setting for more kids. >> Yeah. Could could I also just add um some of the

037services that are being provided at Lake Otis aren't necessarily tied to title funds either. One of which is a a mental health clinician from our community in a partnership and and that partnership could continue at a different site if it were were closed. Um and additionally, um English language learners are, um there's a large population of students in that program. Um as well as indigenous, those services follow kids where they go. Um and so you would see a lot of those staff positions that are not necessarily even title funded following students with with the needs that they have to their new schools. So >> getting back Oh, no. Um, before we resume the presentation, we have a new round of questions, but I want to note for the record that Member Donley joined us at

0383:32. Welcome. Uh, we'll go with Member Wilson, then we have Member Higgins, and then Member Hollow. >> Yes, thank you. And um forgive me if you've already covered it, but please reiterate the difference between um or or again if or the connection between title one schools that receive title one status and the free and reduced lunch because I it is it directly correlated or are they two separate programs? Um and how do they work? Um how would they work for these students that are moving or that would would be moving if the school's closed? They're two separate programs and the percentages required to be free breakfast and lunch or C school is far lower than the cutoff for title one. So that's why we have 47 of our schools in the district um or 43

039as C schools, but we have far less title one schools. And in both of these cases, both Eagle River and Cassoon, Cassoon's already a C school. Um and Eagle River would become one easily. >> Okay. Um Member Wilson, does that answer your question? All right, we'll go to Member Higgins. Can you hear me now? >> Yes, please proceed with your question. >> Thank you. Um, uh, I did get feedback from concern of some issues, but it was during the first semester and after that they adjusted, but there was issues there. But I want to go to like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake Otis. How long is that Lake Otis been a title one? You have an answer that you know? >> I I don't know exactly, but

040I've been uh principal in the was it in the school district for close to 20 years and they were title one the whole time. >> Okay. So that's we talked about other schools who may become title one and they may not maintain title one, but it's pretty confident that they're pretty high number and they'll probably be there. when I when I the the other question is what I got feedback from is that when they're not when a title one all the kids get a pre-launch you don't have to go and qualify and that sort of approach and a lot of parents that are eligible for it don't put in for it and they have problems with it uh and when you got that many kids with title one it makes a difference that seemed pretty

041accurate to you >> um no actually the the the ability to be a C school is the total aggregate of a group of schools and you can have groups of two through the entire district in one group has to be 40%. Um you can actually drop it to 35% but you lose a significant amount of revenue um because you get less per meal on reimbursement rates the lower that percentage is certainly below 40. So we take all of the schools in the district from really like 29% on up and we make multiple different groups and go through this numerous times in order to maximize the amount of revenue um that would come in while increasing the number of C schools. So let this school year we increased by 13 schools and so it's a lot

042easier to ensure just like we did with Cassoon when Abbott Loop closed we made sure Cassoon was a C school. It wasn't difficult. >> That wasn't my question. If I can just make clarification if you're a non-title one school kids that are in income level eligible can get still get free meals free and reduced meals. They get that but only if the parents complete certain documents. And one of the concerns that's out there with staff is that the parents are not so inclined and low income if it it happens are not inclined to do it and share yourself to become qualified. Is that is that an accurate description? >> Well, we have probably twice as many C schools as we have title schools. So, if they're coming from a title school, it's always going to

043be a C school. And if they're going to a non-title school, it could still be a C school, which would be the case for both of the the uh the big gaining schools this year. But yes, you're correct. if they go to a nonC school, doesn't matter what the title status was, um, and they didn't uh, qualify for CIT or SNAP or TANNIF, then it's true they would have to fill in fill out an income declaration form to be able to qualify for free and reduced. I don't know how I'll stand. >> Member Higgins, does that answer your question? >> Yeah, I think it's confirmation. And I think, you know, the fact is if they go to a school where they're not automatically eligible for a free meal and a lot of parents don't put

044in for it, that that becomes an issue. And that's all I was trying to make a point out of. Thank you. >> All right. U member Hollerman. >> Member Holland. >> Thank you. And I I'm just trying to understand this in a more general way, not specifically about these closures. If we have a family that would count towards a school being title one, but they're in a non-title one school, does that mean we get no federal extra federal assistance for that student? Do they have to be in a title one school for it to bring more money to the district? >> If if they qualify for free and reduced, we don't get additional funding for them just because they individually qualify for free and reduced meals. They do get some other benefits though, which is

045waiver of student activity fees and some other things um that aren't federal government related. Um because naturally, I mean, I I think we've been through this before. If you play in a sport or an activity, you're more likely to come to school. Um, and so you get a double win by allowing them to play sports. >> Sure. Let me ask a slightly different way. Um, the revenue we get for Title One from the federal government, does that come based on the number of schools we have above a certain threshold or is it based on poverty of family in the district as a whole? >> Uh, Mr. home and I believe that's based on the poverty in the district as a whole. So the total number of kids that would qualify for the title one funding

046we get and then as a district we disperse it to the schools with the highest need. I think there's different models you can take where you can do like a perk kid model and push that out to schools or you can aggregate it into districts with a certain threshold of uh economically disadvantaged students. >> Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it. appears we have no other questions so we can resume. >> So go let's go back one more. We the one thing we haven't talked about is Century 21. Um Lake Otis does have a Century 21 program and that's one of the things that um came up um in the community. One of the things about Century 21, if you remember last summer, Century 21 was one of the things that the federal government pulled and

047then put back a week later. It is a federal funded um grant program. Our Century 21, we are actually at a point where we have to um reapply. It's it's an application period of a 5-year program. And ours we apply during March and April of this year and we will learn about our status in June. So, we aren't necessarily at a point where we can say which exact schools because we don't know how much money actually we would get. U member lessons. >> Um maybe I'm totally wrong. Didn't we just have a memo at the last meeting dealing with century 20 or 21st century learning centers and the placement of one at leotus for the fourthcoming summer? >> I believe there's two grants with the 21st century program. They kind of on different cycles. Um

048so it might be the second grant. Miss Beltran. >> Yeah. >> Do you know Mike? >> We have two grants. One is up for renewal uh this spring. Lake Otis is a part of that. So that would be a reconfiguration or re um we we'd look at need and and potentially identify different schools. >> Okay. But just to clarify, at the last meeting, didn't we affirm support for the forthcoming summer 21st century learning program at Leotus or am I totally off base? >> I am going to have to find that out, Miss Lessons, because I don't know that unless Miss Belran knows. >> Yes, we did. >> It was on the last >> for the summer. Oh, that was for the summer program. Yes. >> Okay. Um, so no other questions. Does that complete our

049slide? Okay. So, we have just a few more. Just a reminder, one of the um memos tonight is around the Romig Middle School um and West High School boundary adjustments. The first one is Romig Middle School to Wendler. Just a reminder those um students south of Tutor and to the west of the highway um that would normally um go to Romeig um but from Rogers Park neighborhood program would be going to Wendler and then the other one is the southern part of the Taku boundary um which I mean the northern part of the Taku boundary which has been tradition has been going to Romig and west. we would uh be asking to move them to Henchu and service. There's uh the 76th underpass under the highway um now allows for a faster bus busing to

050Hshu and service and it would put the whole Taku Elementary um boundary uh feeder into Hansu and then service so they'd stay together through their um careers. So about Whoops. So about a year and a half ago, we did uh a community survey. Um we did one after we talked about it after the community conversations and we got about 300 people to respond, a little over 300. But um so this covers the 300 that that took our right sizing survey. And as you can see, about 70% of them didn't attend either community conversation event. And there's lots of reasons why they they couldn't have attended um to include transportation and other things. But so you will see a lot of questions where clearly people didn't have an opportunity to meet with individual board members and

051or district staff. Um, but we did want to put out the common themes for this survey and then we'll go back and talk about uh later if the board wants to the last survey which was about 6,000 something respondents which was a significantly higher in factor. So I I think there's there's some positives um in that the concerns people have really have stayed somewhat consistent over the last four years. um they do continue to want clear, consistent information throughout the process. Um their concern really is on the impact of communities and that's just a truth that we're never going to escape, nor would we want to. Every school we pick is going to be the wrong school to somebody. And every school that ever makes it on a list, that group of families and and

052staff, they their feelings, they're absolutely valid because it it changes um it it makes change. And and honestly, making change occur is is difficult in small organizations. It's even more difficult in large communities and and within schools. Um and we've definitely seen that over and over and over. Uh the consolidation effect, there is the confusion about class size. School consolidation doesn't affect class size. Budgets affect class size. Um because more resources go with students if the funding remains the same. and and that's something that maybe we just need to message better differently in in uh future community conversations because that does seem to be a concern and and it hasn't gone away. So, I don't think we've really gotten that word out um very clearly. The boundary concerns um you know, people are always worried

053about, well, if if you were to just change that other school's boundary, I would have more students at my school and then my school wouldn't have to change or close and then the other school could close. That's always going to be true. We can do boundaries all day long and make all these changes, but it's the same number of kids at the end of the day. and and there's winners and losers when it becomes how can we change boundaries. Um that's why we pick the schools first through a very methodical process and then the boundary follows. Um whereas if if you're trying to you know keep your school from from closing, of course you're going to want the boundary first, guaranteeing that um you can modify the process. But but we did on purpose do

054that last. And and of course there's there's always going to be desire for ongoing engagement and those who say why don't we make a decision next year or 3 years from now and see how things change and and you know I understand that as well. You know I've I've talked to the city planner about the Eagle River um housing projects and about the apartments that are being built and and it's possible in 3 years that that there's going to be more housing in Eagle River and and I agree with it. It's certainly possible that that could happen. I'm also seeing that even though Eagle River's population has continued to grow slightly, unlike Anchorage as a whole, the number of students has continued to decline because of declining birth rates. So, it's really difficult to try

055to know for sure what will Eagle River look like in terms of students in five years because if you look at 800 students, you'd have to build a thousand houses to make up for that. and you know really haven't seen a clutna with their 2700 acre plan go beyond concept. So it it just doesn't look like it's something that's looming in our face over the next many years that we're going to see another 800 kids come back to that area. So we left on purpose plenty of time to ask questions. Um, some questions have been forwarded to us already, so we're prepared to respond at this time. >> Not seeing anyone else in the queue right away, I'm going to jump in and ask um a more um 30,000 foot question. I I don't know

056that the board and administration have ever publicly discussed what the need for this process is in terms of overall scope, capacity, and number of buildings we should be looking at. Can can administration articulate now in a world where um there was consensus in our community 100% consensus on our community to include this board and administration on right sizing and to reduce um the number of buildings in our footprint to align with resources, funding and student population. How many elementary schools do we need to potentially address through this process? So, it's a it's a tricky question because some of the schools that you look at like Guardwood, which is so far out that you really couldn't reasonably transport them in a 45minute window to elementary schools, if you were a deed, you would say, "Look at

057that square footage. That must be corrected." Um, obviously, we're looking at other ways to correct those um those available spaces that might be open to provide for district and community needs. But if if you're sitting up in Commissioner Bishop's office, you're going to see that we have by their 114 square foot per kid 8,000 square feet of excess, which is about 20 schools if the average school was about a 400 person school. But of course, that doesn't account for any of um transportation and and the whole beam me up Scotty thing is just not here yet. So, we rely on buses and and so when we looked at it, um I showed this slide, I don't know, a month or two ago and and we went through the the top 14 15 schools that were

058under 65% and and again, I I know you wished it was a straightforward answer. If we did not want to do child care in any schools, which we intentionally made as part of the right sizing plan, then you probably would realistically be looking at three to five schools on this year's list. Um, we put two schools on this year's list. So, we could still have child care opportunities. And as you can imagine, when we look at closing a school, pick any school, and now we start looking at all the other schools that have space. Once we put them down as a potential gaining school, you can no longer consider a gaining school as a closing school. So, you can't just close too many schools all at once because there's no gainers to be found. Um,

059and that's where it goes back to Heather and Courtney and transportation and and the 45minute three- tier bus system that we have. So, in a perfect world, last year we could have closed three or four schools, but we didn't. So we came back again this year as directed and we we have two other schools. It was two because of the child care possibility. If if the board doesn't like that, then you know the real number is probably somewhere three four because we've got to make room for um you know the surprises like this year we found out four weeks ago maybe from Pam that 27 kids had been tested and we're going to move into prek in January that we did not have three classrooms um established or set up for. So, we have to

060have this internal capacity to make decisions based off this growing need population. >> I'm just going to ask a quick followup for clarity that I see member Higgins has his hand raised. Um, I understand that that deed lacking context um just from being at the 30,000 foot level and not having a local understanding would would say 20 in a year and that would be the end of it. And I'm tracking that we think we could in theory have had the capacity to address three to five this year. Is that our entire need? If we if the board uh had received a proposal to rightsize five buildings, would we need to address the matter again in a year or two or would that align our resources with the student population and specific location factors? >> So,

061one of the biggest problems with closing schools is transportation costs. Andy's going to brief you on the proforma about this year's property valuation in Anchorage um or last year's that that increased by $1.5 billion that now puts the mun's tax cap directly um underneath the amount of money they have been giving us. So, we're going to lose about $1.5 million toward transportation that the MUN has been providing over the last many years. Um, because the tax cap will have been met and they can't give anymore. And it's because in the required local contribution, which I'll let Andy brief, um, as long as he wants in a couple weeks, um, that that we're already going to face now, and we didn't know this until just the last few days, another $1.5 million just because we've reached

062tax cap. So, at some point, hypothetically, being able to build out transportation, knowing that the transportation deficit is over $15 million a year now, um, that really is a real deal breakaker for looking at what's the most schools we could close. We just can't afford more buses at this point. >> Perfect. I think that's good information for us to know. Um, we'll go to member Higgins. The member lessons. >> Thank you. Um I I'm curious whether or not you received or got any notice from a clutner in regards to their plans because I received an unsolicited phone call about a week ago um in regards to fluter for the individuals involved and said that the first quarter of this year of next year they are going to be submitting plans for 90 acres of construction

063with homes and then they're going to expand beyond that. Have you gotten any information in regards to that? I know when I talked to the city planner um they've also heard that there may be a plan coming from Alutna um to replplat 700 of 2700 acres that they currently have for a combination of commercial and uh residential land. Um I will tell you though that I also briefed the board several years ago about a clutinous plan and it and it hasn't moved forward and it doesn't mean that it won't. Um, but they've had this land for many, many years and and uh there's still nothing even conceptual yet on the 2,000 acres and I don't think they've submitted the concept plan for the 700. Nobody knows what their timeline is. Um, but it's certainly possible

064someone on the inside would would know of something, but it's not public. >> Yeah, they've indicated it would be after the first quarter of next year they're going forward with it. It's going to identify immediately 98 but it's going to be beyond that also as well. So that's why I was curious whether you have seen that or not. >> Thank you member Higgins. We'll go to member less. >> Um thank you. Um, I was able to share with the administration a few days ago, um, maybe last week, uh, and it was a I appreciated the chance for the conversation, um, that I've really been wrestling with the concept of underutilization in relation to how schools are utilized. And when I say that I'm struggling with how schools are utilized, I'm really thinking about program schools

065that have multiple programs under one roof. Um, we have wonderful choices. We've been told that more than a third of our families choose a school that is outside of their zone. Um, our choices include open optional programs, monatory programs, language immersion programs, and I'm sure I'm overlooking um additional um choices, but I'm I'm specifically thinking about schools that house a neighborhood side and a special program side. And um that's not something that right sizing has addressed. By the best of my knowledge, we have one school with 67 kids on the neighborhood side. We have another school with 106 kids on the neighborhood side. Another school with 124 kids on the neighborhood side. Another with 128. Another with 174. These are all small. Another with 172. And numbers change dayto day. Um they're all smaller than

066either Fire Lake or Lake Otis. And so one of the directives in that December memo was to um reduce combination classes among elementary schools. And I can I can sense at a certain level that this would um you know has the potential to reduce combo classes, you know, through the Fire Lake and Eagle River Union. I'm a little less convinced that it would do that with the Lake Otis proposal because kids are being sort of fractured in multiple ways. And I think we're probably talking about a PTR increase next year in February of I don't know what. Um, but that gets me back to the kids on the neighborhood side of a lot of our schools of choice. And I just feel like that's we're not talking about it. And I think the question that

067I have is do we need whatever happens tonight, do we need to continue to have a conversation about how we're going to serve their needs prior to the passage of the February budget. And maybe that's a question that's unanswerable at this point in time, but I wanted to lay it out there that I think we're going to have to figure out how to serve those kids' needs because I don't see us having three or four dozen hold back teachers next year. >> I think Andy did the math and can talk about for those two affected schools what a PTR of four would do to actual staffing. >> Right. And um there was kind of an anomaly with fire late because one they're like a very few students there. This year they're budgeted for six teachers

068at one per classroom. Um so which is probably a good minimum to have frankly but even with a plus four they didn't have through the metric they didn't lose any because one they were about two students away from getting a seventh teacher according to the model. Um, and then you know a plus I mean taking off one teacher is like a little under 20% of that for that for that school. And so four plus four ptr is not quite that either. So it didn't quite trigger an extra FTE loss at Fire Lake until plus five PTR and then they would go down to five teachers and not even have one per grade level. Um, for Lake Otis, they would lose one teacher at a plus four and I believe they had 10 or 11 to

069start with. >> Um, not seeing me remember lessons to follow up. I'm going to follow up. I feel like we're we're trying to get to with as a conversation is maybe a different philosophy in terms of approaching closures. And I don't imagine administration spending a significant amount of time with this, but I guess just off the cuff, is it a viable plan for our community and for from district administration's perspective to start to um I'm trying to find the right word that's appropriate. I'm try um centralize in various um parts of our city optional programs. And so I'm thinking like should all immersion programs be in one building and approach building closure by having fewer um combined programs to provide a higher level of service that way. and and is I I guess I'm curious

070the the nexus between that and like transportation costs. Um is that a better way to reduce our footprint? >> Well, I could start the conversation. Um I do think that there is some need to look at those dual um seated programs. Um from a staffing perspective um as member lessons indicated we have small neighborhood sides of many of our dual enrolled um kind of curricular programs at an elementary setting. So immersion is one of those models open optional can be another monastery at tutor is another example and what what we tend to see is if the optional program in that elementary school is very popular then you see a very small footprint for the neighborhood program. Um, Government Hill is a prime example um of an immersion program. There are not enough students on the

071neighborhood side of the program to have a full classroom of each grade level. So, you see multiple uh combination classes on the neighborhood side while a majority of the students attending that school are in the Spanish immers immersion program and have both their Spanish speaking teacher and their English speakaking teacher as a part of their program. It does create um inequities I would say in terms of PTR because what tends to happen is that optional program has very specific training that's needed for those teachers and then our neighborhood classes either are a combo class situation because of the numbers or potentially do have a higher um class size. So, I do think it it would behoove the board to start looking at those things as as we we start evaluating programs. >> Mr. Chair, can

072I ask a question? >> Just want to check in with member lessons. Does that help? >> It is for member lessons. Oh, thank you. Um >> can talk to her in a minute this morning. >> Yeah. I I think that the question for me is what is that process going to look like? because I don't think we can delay the conversation another year because February is a couple of months from now >> and I think the urgency for those 67 kids or those 106 kids is real. I mean my sense is that they're already in combo classes this year. Mhm. >> The PTR increase that I think we're poised to see. I mean, we're getting talking to like K through three combo classes on the neighborhood side for >> I mean, I I don't know

073how you do that. I don't know how you would even teach. I don't know how we're going to staff our schools. And and quite frankly, that was the intent in my part of collaborating on an amendment last December when it's when it said that the recommendation should prioritize student outcomes by reducing combo classes among elementary students because I was aware that schools with special programs had kind of been held harmless for better or worse in the prior right sizing process. And I I kind of did I looked at a lot of numbers and enrollment data last year and that struck me as a problem and now it's a bigger problem. >> And so I guess my my call for urgency for the board is that we're going to have to find a process um to

074make a plan for these kids. And it may in my mind look like right sizing 2.0. I don't know whether we need an ad hoc committee to start, you know, 8 a.m. tomorrow on this. Um, but I I don't know how we have staffing conversations about a lot of our schools and connect it to the budget. Um, I mean, we're not going to have that conversation tonight, but this seemed like the best opportunity to at least say we have a red flag here and we need to pay attention to it because we need to do right by by all of our kids. >> Yeah, I I will offer just two thoughts um based on on what you said. Um, one, I don't necessarily know where the right starting point is. Um, but I do I

075do think when we're looking at right sizing our district and a decrease in enrollment while also balancing our community's want and desire for choice. Um, it it's a hard place to be, right? Because we have been used to as a community having lots and lots of choices, but the number of students coming through the door is decreasing, but we still have the same number of programs um, essentially. And um so I do think there needs to be some sort of look at how that looks through the right sizing process while still honoring our community's desire for choice. Um which is very evident because the numbers tell the story, right? That our our parents and our students do choose different programs. It is a discussion that we have um quite often around the right sizing um

076part of things on the instructional side of the house and in terms of staffing. The second thought I would say um is that both Sven and I um you know based on the board's um allocation of additional funds for holdbacks um this summer we did a very concerted effort to um look at those combo classes this year so that we didn't have like a K through three situation like you were talking about unless it was designed as a part of a monastery program as an example. Um so I don't think that we have an emergency today. um what the budget looks like next year is is a whole another story. >> I I'd just like to point out it takes about two months plus of prep to get ready for the first meeting for the

077school board to start a right sizing initiative. There's there's no realistic timeline where we could be ready by the end of January with a 2.0 0 plan that we could address in February and the amount of effort it takes um it's it's much larger than you would probably imagine and and it's district closure. I I'm just being realistic. Um, I'm going to follow up on the followup I had, then we'll go to member Bellamy, which I guess is I I I think this conversation where it's going is asking the question of is it viable to combine optional programs in a building and consolidate the number of elementary students into fewer buildings, but then we're not running two programs and in theory should be able to do so more efficiently. that concept which is the the

078only obvious solution I can think of I would imagine will seem problematic with a number of families in the same way that this proposal seems problematic to a different set of our families. Um, the other in challenge I see, you know, talking about a transportation deficit, um, and why charters have a hard time is because they're centralized in one location in a district that is disproportionately large for student population. And so, do we think that's a viable proposal? And I think that's it's good to recognize and identify that tonight because if it's if it has its own set of challenges, that's another lens that I hope our board is using to identify as we evaluate what's in front of us. Thank you. >> So maybe I could just respond to that. remember Jacobs? I I

079had multiple programs in my middle schools and high schools that I was a principal of and you and with larger setting, it was manageable, but there were things you had to take away from each of those programs because you couldn't offer everything to everybody in especially at like Rome Middle School. When you get to a smaller school, even like elementary, if you have two programs that have different philosophies in the same school, it's hard to schedule them into the schedule. It's hard to make sure that those philosophies are are solid and continue as they are. Um, example, you put a Montasauri program and a ABC program in the same school, that's probably not going to work out too good for you. um you put two immersion programs in the same school, maybe a uh say

080the Chinese immersion school and a Spanish immersion school, you now have to figure out how in in that school in that small environment, how you're going to be able to focus on all of the different cultural needs for both of those programs. So, we have to for us to go do this, we have to look at it holistically. And at some point, like Kirsten said, maybe we have to start reducing the number of choices we have since we've had so many less kids. >> So, I'm just going to clarify one last thing. I guess I'm talking about the idea of not not eliminating a program. Um, if we want to keep all the programs we have but reduce our footprint, does combining special or optional programs in one building and then consolidating the number of

081general population elementary schools into a different and fewer set of buildings. Is that viable? Um, the board I imagine the board could choose to vote to reduce the number of programs, but I don't know that I see that as something that I would imagine of seven board members will support. And so I'm specifically focusing on reducing footprint versus reducing programs. >> The staff can certainly look at that. I I think it's going to be a pretty detailed analysis and and again not something where we, you know, say this is a crisis right now. We're going to spend the next three weeks and be done with a plan. That's that's what's not realistic. >> Understood. Um, okay. Member Bell, >> member lessons, could you you were giving the numbers in the dual enrolled schools. The 67

082was that the how many kids are in the building and what does that 67 represent in that? Don't give me the name of the school, just the enrollment. >> The overall enrollment of that school when I Oops. when I checked um edit undo um was 408 >> 408 kids in total >> in the school >> and 341 were on one side and 67 were on the other >> and the 67 were the neighborhood kids >> in the in the combination classes >> I don't know what their looked like I just know that based on the enrollment data dashboard you can just click on >> different buttons and get a sense of >> how kids are enrolled And so that is to the best of my knowledge from public available data which changes all the time.

083>> Thank you. >> No other questions. And we're back at the question section. So I'm going to jump in with um one I made off my list. Um, regarding timeline, there was a implication that right uh beginning a new right sizing initiative isn't feasible if uh once we start budget conversations or even really after today a new initiative couldn't be um distributed in time to developed and distributed in time to be adopted in a budget. Could the proposal in front of us be postponed until closer to the budget uh decision this board will have to make to provide us additional context on what schools will look like with the proposed budget? I I don't know that or I I think there's maybe a a sense that isn't entirely accurate that we've at least some in

084our community that um the decision is between operating current all current schools to include Lake Otis and Fire Lake at their current capacity um and those schools ceasing to operate as neighborhood schools that it's it's that binary. I think it's a little more gray. And so, um, I'm hoping linking those two conversations a bit might provide some context. But is that even realistic in terms of timeline? >> Well, when we when we build the budget, we have to know which schools we're building it for and what the staff allocations. So, if it's roughly 900,000 per elementary school for the BO through the principal, um do you build two budgets? One with those two schools existing and one with those two schools not because then the five gaining schools for Lake Otis and the gaining schools

085for Fire Lake, you would have to do those separately. I don't know that it I don't know that we're going to get anything from a legislature to firm up numbers knowing that they don't even start session until after the second week in January. And I think when the board's voting on the budget, there may be some bills on the floor, especially the bills from last year that almost made it um but but then just couldn't get over the finish line. But you're not going to see significant movement by, you know, the first board meeting in February, which is when you see the budget. >> Okay. Um, we'll go to member Higgins, then I think I have one more question on my list. Member Higgins. >> Let me just say that, you know, I I think

086the budget we do for February is going to be um uh totally redone hopefully when the legislature does their thing. So, that's kind of up in the air. Anyway, my question is this being right sizing versus downsizing. Right sizing was presented to us as a change in philosophy that we're not trying to close schools. We're trying to make sure they're fully utilized. And we talked about uh child care, the 8,000 slots that are there. It seems like closing, let's say, Lake Otis, for example, is going to reduce our ability to do that. Right now, they could do four classrooms in there by by my review. they could dedicate that. But with this right sizing, we're gonna we're close one school. We're gonna crowd the other. I don't see where we're going to be increasing of

087capacity to right side. I do view this downsizing. When am I wrong? >> U member Higgins, could you restate your question in 5 seconds or less for the administration? >> Yeah. What's the difference between downsizing and right sizing in this situation? this looks like it's just downsizing is nothing being doing. It's it's going to reduce our ability to deal with child care issues. It's not going to improve it. >> Oh, I can answer that. So, right sizing this year does include child care. It does include boundaries, but by board directive last December when the board voted and told us to come back with more school closures, we typically follow the board's directive. And so that's why we came back with schools to close. >> Thank you, Member Higgins. I'm going to ask my last question

088and then we have another agenda item to get to. Um I think it's was brought up today as well as in some public testimony. The number of schools which Lake Otis Elementary students are going to be distributed to if the board would were to approve the proposal for Lake Otis. Um, are those student population distribution numbers final? Is there something that could be done uh to reduce the concern that um a school that a student body that was once cohesive is now going to be broken apart. Last year, our first um glance at Naka Valley was going to be at in a few different schools and then we were able to since Baxter didn't close, we were able to move them all into Baxter. So, I believe that we can still look at that. It

089take a little analysis on buses um to see if we're there's if it's doable because what's in the deal now is something that we know we could do with busing and not cause a problem with that. Okay. Um, if if there were I mean would administration support I don't know a board request to begin that officially as part of like an amendment to the memorandum. >> Can I can I add that um when we closed Lake Hood last year and we thought that X number of students were going to go to Turnigan that ended up not actually being that number. So even with Lake Otis, parental choice at Lake Otis is in the 50 plus% um area we don't know that those parents would all go to Cassoon. Um at at 50 plus% that school

090is alive and well with parental choice. Um, so you have the plan and and then when the enrollment comes in at the next year, you find out that that choices were made and they went to different schools outside it. So when you look at it is five schools, but the less than five kids that are up in that north end, they're so much closer to the school they're going to be going to that they probably would go to that school. um that big large group, you know, whether they choose Cassoon or they choose to go to Tutor, which is not listed on here, or whether they choose one of the other choices. All right. Well, no, not when that big group comes down to Cassoon. Those parents could be choosing other schools that aren't, you

091know, that are in that general area. And so sometimes you don't know until August. What one of the things when we were doing the analysis on this, we were looking like at tutor and we figured out how many students could fit in tutor because of the seven uh preschools that we've added into there. So to do much more is going to be probably a be problematic to do the one or two differences. That's probably more of a busing issue. So, I' I' I'd probably recommend leaving it where it's at for now just because of those things. >> Okay. Knowing that the plan could change. Um, that's helpful. And Mr. Anderson, I agree with you that the the students, the few students in in the corner of the zone. Almost certainly would. I certainly would. Um,

092I still think there's something to be said for giving those families an option um to have their students stay with their peers if they're willing to to put in that work. Um, with that said, and not seeing any other questions from the board, uh, we'll consider this agenda item completed. Thank you, Dr. Bryant, and everyone for making time for those questions. I think it was a really helpful conversation. And then we'll call forward, um, our other agenda item today, which is the uh, team behind the application for Oceans Charter School. So, while our guests come up to the podium, I'll just uh reiterate this is the first time that the board has reviewed a charter application in quite a while. So, just as a reminder, it's typically a process for the board to have opportunities

093for a work session between the applicants and the school board. Um, and that's what will be happening today as the initial step in a process to review their application to be a charter school. So, thank you for joining us. and please begin. >> Just for for our record, if you could identify yourselves by name and then um yeah, welcome, >> Michael Dickerson, >> Beth Busk, >> Simon Rose. I'm a teacher at Highland Academy. Currently >> teacher of stream academy >> sub nurse subteer everywhere [laughter] nurse by trade. >> Yes. Do you want slides for me? >> Okay. Um, so yes, we are a group of parents and teachers. Not all of us could be here today. Um, but we have been working since January to build what is now known as Oceans Academy. Um, it's

094an outdoor charter for environmental arts and natural sciences. Um, we we began this uh whole journey with a great big idea of what we wanted it to be and we've narrowed it down a little bit um to what it is now. Um, so Oceans Academy is a high school charter serving grades 9 through 12, which we hope to be located in East Anchorage. Students are provided an environment that facilitates innovative hands-on learning as an alternative to traditional public education. Oceans Academy emphasizes outdoor experiential education, arts, natural sciences, and project-based learning across all aspects of learning. And we acknowledge that every student is different and therefore learns differently. Education is not a one-sizefits-all. And Oceans Academy recognizes that some children learn better through experiential education and Oceans creates an environment in which these children are better

095served and encouraged to cultivate a deep lifelong love of learning. In an article discussing the systematic literature review surrounding the effects of experiential learning on learning outcomes, it was found with overwhelming evidence that experiential learning has a positive impact on improving a variety of educational aspects. These include improved academic achievement, critical thinking skills, collaborative abilities, motivated learning, higher order thinking skills, problem solving skills, self-learning readiness, etc. from elementary to high school level. >> Folks, I'm going to have you just a second. I'm going to call a brief ease here. >> Take a break. Okay. and we'll call our work session back to order at 4:30 8. 4:30. Okay. Uh, please resume. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, at Oceans Academy, we prepare students to think critically, collaborate effectively, and lead with purpose. Um, our vision is

096Oceans Academy empowers students to develop resilience, confidence, and leadership through immersive outdoor experiences and project-based learning, enhancing community and environmental stewardship. We've created a ven diagram to show our how, what, and why, which is arts and natural sciences, project-based learning, and outdoor experiential. Our mission is Oceans Academy empowers students to develop resilience, confidence, and leadership through adventure, hands-on learning, outdoor exploration, and arts and sciences focused project-based challenges that foster courage, collaboration, and community engagement. With a strong emphasis on environmental stewardship, our program fosters a deep connection to nature, inspiring students to explore, protect, and engage with the world around them through adventure, collaboration, and community involvement. We equip students with skills and mindset to make a meaningful impact. Our values are experiential learning and ecological stewardship, arts and sciences, education and innovation, adventure and exploration,

097community engagement and service, collaboration and teamwork, courage and reflection, college career and life readiness skills, purposeful use of technology and systems thinking. Um, we will talk about outdoor experiential learning and why it's important. Um, hands-on experiential learning engages the whole child through improved motivation, curiosity, and real world understanding. It boosts academic and cognitive growth. Students show better focus, memory, and problem solving after time in nature. Active hands-on experiences lead to a deeper comprehension and knowledge retention. It enhances well-being and social skills. Time outdoors reduces stress and builds confidence, collaboration, and emotional regulation. This, we feel, is especially important in a society and world that focuses and relies so heavily on technology. And it bridges learning and life. Um, real world sensory rich contexts, helps students connect abstract classroom concepts to authentic experiences. Um, project-based learning.

098Why it matters? It deepens understanding by students learning by doing, connecting knowledge to real world problems and authentic inquiry. Encourages critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration rather than wrote memorization. It improves academic outcomes. Research shows higher achievement and retention in project-based classrooms, especially in STEM and literacy. Students in project-based learning demonstrate better long-term knowledge transfer and application skills. It builds future ready skills such as developing communication, teamwork, and problem solving abilities aligned with 21st century workforce needs. It increases engagement and motivation. Hands-on choice-driven projects increase student ownership and joy in learning. Um, integrating arts and natural sciences. It matters because it creates it fosters creative and critical thinking. Integrating arts across curricula enhances observation, experimentation, and innovation, core skills, and science learning. Encourages students to see connections across disciplines, promoting holistic problem solving. It boosts academic

099achievement. Students exposed to both arts and sciences show higher achievement in STEM subjects and improved conceptual understanding. Engaging multi multiple modalities such as visual, kinesesthetic, and auditory strengthens memory and comprehension while ensuring that the educa educational needs of students with all learning styles are met. It inspires engagement and curiosity. Art infused science lessons make abstract concepts more tangible, visual, and emotionally engaging. Encourages wonder, imagination, and inquiry, the foundations of scientific exploration. and it develops the whole learner. Integrating the arts nurtures empathy, communication, aesthetic awareness, which are skills vital for ethical and creative scientific advancement. Um, see, enrollment and sustainable growth plan. Um, our goal has been to open in the fall of 2026, which I'm told is quite ambitious. And I say every time that's great, because so am I. [laughter] In our first year,

100we aimed to have a hundred students enrolled. These hundred students would primarily make up ninth and tth grade, which would allow us to build strong academic and advisory culture, establish desire outdoor experiential learning routines, and develop foundational systems with younger learners. Grades 11 and 12 would only be opened in the event that our projected enrollment for grades 9 and 10 did not meet expectations. Oh, yeah. Talk about that. Sorry. And then this is what we anticipate year two, three, and four likely or potentially looking like. Um so in year two we would open up 11th grade and estimate somewhere around 150 students. Um year three we would have 9th through 12th open and be fully functioning across the grade levels with 200 to 250 students. And in year four we anticipate 250 to 300 students.

101uh recruitment and retention. We would focus our recruitment on families in East Anchorage who have been or currently are part of Anchorage Stream Academy and other alternative programs who desire a hands-on project-based education. We believe that a strong and inclusive culture, family engagement and mentorship, and place-based relevant education will ensure academic retention. We've been told since stream first opened that one of the most common questions the administrative team has received was for a high school option that was similar in model and philosophy. While Oceanceans Academy has its own identity and its own program, we believe that many of the key aspects that affect attract families to stream are integrated into Oceans Academy. Furthermore, I have personally been told that families are hearing about Oceans Academy and intentionally choosing to send their students to stream academy

102with the plan of then sending them to Oceans Academy facilities. I have been in communication with Changeoint um church who has plans to purchase a building in East Anchorage. Changepoint is more than willing to partner with Oceans if we are approved. Um Oceans Academy would then partner with ASD to explore options for pre-made sack lunches to address the nutritional needs of enrolled students. Additionally, Oceans Academy has begun to develop our nonprofit parent group called Orca, which stands for Oceans Resources and Community Alliance to help supply and provide lunch items and snacks to students as needed. Additionally, Oceans Academy is interested in exploring the potential of colllocating with an existing ASD facility. In this case, Oceans would participate and provided ASD nutrition services. We are also engaging in productive conversations with other facilities in East Anchorage

103regarding the possibility of utilizing available space. We've reached out to a variety of locations to include UAA, APU, other churches, South Central Foundation and&MC, the Alaskan Native Heritage Center, and even the Boy Scouts. We are striving to think outside the box and identify locations that would support the model of Oceans while facilitating our mission and vision while strengthening community relations with enrolled students. Uh for transportation, we have identified a multi-tered and innovative model. Oceans Academy is committed to providing equitable, accessible, and flexible transportation for all students through a creative community-based model. Um our the [snorts] first aspect on our multi-ter transportation plan is people mover integration. We would like to partner with municipality of Anchorage so that students can use city buses to reach school. We would focus on areas in East Anchorage, Mountain View,

104Russian Jack, and Muloon. Carpool coordination. This is something that Stream has implemented and had success with. Um, it would include facilitating parent-to parent car pools through voluntary opt-in Google forms and it also works to build community connections and support sustainability. Another option uh especially being an outdoor school is walking and biking. This promotes healthy active transportation options and it works with municipality to we would work with the municipality to ensure safe routes for walking and biking. Also, because this is a high school, we anticipate uh several of our students being independent in their transportation. Um and we would encourage independent travel for licensed students and those car poolooling with siblings or peers. Um, we would also like to partner with ASD if at all possible to pilot um a collab to to pilot a program

105in which we could use ASD's buses to help get our students to Oceans. Oceans Academy is ready to become the first ASD charter to pilot direct district supported transportation, an opportunity for innovation and equity. To move forward, we would request clarification on eligible transportation funding allocation under the current ASD charter framework, a cost estimate for transfer busing routes from primarily primary neighborhood zones such as Bartlett or East attendance areas, and an opportunity to co-und a transfer bus from Bartlett andor East High School to the Oceans Academy site, creating a neighborhood hub that aligns with district equity goals. If successful, Oceans will expand to a secondary hub based on the next highest attendance area. >> Okay, that concludes your presentation. >> That concludes. >> Awesome. Thank you guys. Um, we'll start with questions. I see member

106Bellamy, then member lessons. >> Thank you guys for uh showing up. I appreciate it and all the work you've done. I appreciate the transportation piece. Um did you have any conversation with stream in terms of just extending that curriculum or and how is it so different that it that wouldn't have been a instead of 68 you go six through extend the grades. So how is it different from stream? We did talk with Stream about expanding their charter. Um, and they felt that it would they they believed that they wanted to stay original to what the founders of Stream wanted, which is a focus on middle school, um, which we respect 100%. >> Um, and have been advocates of that since that conversation took place with streams APC. Um, in terms of how it's different, I

107would say it's like stream on steroids. Maybe [laughter] it's stream for older kids. And so there's opportunities for more community projects, more community engagement. Um, they can get out and do more things because they are older kids. Um, and but but I would say that stream and everything that they learn as far as peer relationships and project, you know, team projects and those dynamics is built on in oceans to really try and prepare them for what they're going to encounter after high school. >> Anything to add? >> Yeah, I can add just a little bit. I think the logistics are just going to look different on a high school level. um high school students can go much more deeply into projects over an extended period of time um than maybe a middle schooler may. And

108um that kind of goes also into the independence is kind of building off of the community engagement aspect where high school students can engage deeply with the community, especially in the older grades, and integrate themselves in ways that on middle school maybe they wouldn't be able to. And it creates a lot of effort and a lot of work to do that. And I think in the stream model it probably get stretched thin pretty quickly. >> So So a day in the life of an ocean student would look like what? What would it look like? >> You go ahead. >> We are still working on the curriculum and that's going to be largely up to the teachers and the principal who take over at that school. Um but if it builds on the model of stream

109in the way that we expect then there would be integration across curricula. So a project that is being pursued in math is also being pursued in a different way in social studies and also in language arts and also in science >> and that opens up the door for us um to engage with the community more thoroughly. Kids see the purpose behind the work and therefore engage more more motivated. Um what those projects exactly are going to be I would hope would be based on student interest in much the same way that they are at at Stream Academy right now and of course obviously meeting all of the standards that we need to meet. >> Okay. Thank you. going to jump in with a quick followup on member Bellamy's uh question, then we'll go to member

110lessons. Um do you know if and have you evaluated if in terms of a place that um oceans could colllocate with stream? Does the building have that kind of capacity and will there be interest from streams end? >> I've brought that up a couple times now. [laughter] I think they might be getting tired of hearing me ask, but that's okay. Um we have talked about that multiple times. In fact, um I have been invited to attend Stream's APC meetings and that was one of uh their APC chair's first questions to me was have you thought about colllocating with Stream? Um and the short answer was yes. [laughter] Um but as far as I know, at least based on recent conversations, there's not space within the building. And maybe Michael you can elaborate on that. Um

111I was going to say as far as I know, there's not space within the building. um especially with streams projected growth. Um however, I don't believe that it is entirely out of the question for reoss to be placed on the property, although that would not necessarily be a first choice. >> Okay. Thank you, Member Les. >> Um thank you. I think it's to each of you. one, I wanted to self-disclose that um one of the founders is a former neighbor and I was most recently trick-or-treating with them a couple of weeks ago. So, um not that that needs to be said in any I just wanted it to be said publicly. Um, but it was still a surprise. And I will I will say that I had an initial conversation about what what the charter

112process is like uh prior to the schedule that's listed on page 51. So this is like two years ago. Um, and really the the substance of that conversation was the importance of backwards planning from when the state board of education has their meetings and would need to approve. And so, um, you know, I commend all of you for the work that has gone in to meeting what I assume is an upcoming state board of education deadline. Um, so maybe you haven't spoken about that. That would be my first question. What is the deadline that you're aware of and working for with respect to the state board of education schedule? >> Uh, so initially we believed that the deadline was in December. However, um there's been recent confirmation, I believe, from Robin that we could go

113before the state board in January at their special session. Um our I think if I think if you ask each of us, our timelines might sound a little bit different, right? For me, it's the end goal. We've got to be open by fall of next year. That is the goal. That's the dream. Um and then and then things work backwards from there. Um, I I would pretty confidently say that we all want as much time as possible in the lottery. And so making sure that we meet the deadlines so that we can be in the lottery so that we have the most opportunity to have students enrolled and then open next year is is a big priority for us. >> Okay. Thank you. So um you are thinking about all of those uh moments in

114time. Um I appreciate that. One question that I have and I don't know if this is for the three of you or for the administration is that um you know if the focus is potentially on students who are currently in stream or other similar but different options where do those students you know when a student leaves stream now as an eighth grader where do they go? Are they going to East? Are they going to Bartlett? Are they going um where are they where do most of our stream graduates metriculate to? And if we don't know that now, I guess I would find that helpful information um because I would imagine it would pull students away from those particular schools. >> I don't have that information. I would guess that they would spread out a good

115bit. I know of some parents of students in in a handful of different high schools. Um so couldn't say most though. >> I know my um my daughter went to stream and is a freshman now in high school. She's at Bartlett with, I believe, 10 other Stream kiddos that um that graduated the same that left stream the same year she did. Um but she's got a pretty I would say equal if not slightly more chunk of friends that ended up over at East um either in their neighborhood side or in the SWS program. And then a handful go to Highland as well. >> May one more followup. Um, I think, um, it sounds as though you're casting your your net, so to speak, far and wide, um, for where you would be interested in locating,

116whether it's a facility provided by Change Point or an ASD facility or UAA, APU, other sites. Um, I certainly see advantages in collocating within an ASD secondary facility. it's already built for students of that age, often with, you know, lunch facilities potentially with access to extracurriculars um outside of the school day, you know, so you don't need to drive across town to join the basketball team, for example. Um, have you have you thought about, you know, current high schools in ASD as preferential? And I I'll also say we have a lot of excess capacity in JIAK in Eagle River. We have a lot of excess capacity up there. We haven't really talked about that in right sizing, but I'm just saying. I'll be the first one to say I'm not opposed to that if we

117can get funding to get our kids out there. [laughter] Um uh we did talk about East and Bartlett because they are the two closest high schools. East of course has their SWS program. So we don't we didn't spend a whole lot of time um discussing East as an option. Uh Bartlett has come up a couple times in our meetings about is there space? Is that feasible? Um and then just something in the back of all of our mind I think is is how do we um how do we manage collocation with another high school and not lose our identity? Uh because for example, Bartlett um Bartlett High School and Oceans Academy would be two separate schools versus East has their neighborhood side and um school within a school or SWS where it is all under

118East. How can we make sure that we don't lose our identity in Bartlett um which is not an impossible task I don't believe. Uh and it is I would say now closer to the top of our options and places that we're considering. Um but we're we're open to suggestion. >> Yeah. >> Um having kids head up to Chugek or to Eagle River presents new transportation challenges. Um be happy to work with ASD with municipality to try to solve those, but it would definitely cut down on people walking or biking too and it would definitely make things different for those uh who are more adamantly focused on the east side of Anchorage for the sake of equity. Um I'm going to jump in with a question since we talked about transportation. You know it's interesting. Um

119I appreciate your remark about if we could get funding we could look at transportation um for and make Eagle River Chukiak possible in terms of a location. State statute provides um funding for for charter students that currently doesn't follow those students like DSA funding. And I I'm hopeful that this board will change that. this this this next budget cycle. Um the reality is is that funding is um going to be woefully inadequate for your needs. And so uh my question I guess is if that funding were appropriated to you um I think it's a few hundred dollars per student. What would you use it for and how would you address that? the I I believe um that there would be consensus at this table from our and I had a great conversation with this group

120that there's currently an equity of access for charter programs. How would you use those funds to address that gap? Uh, I would say by um referring to our multi-ter transportation model and focusing on using buses to get students from these areas where maybe it is too far to walk um especially in the winter time, right? Because a lot of our time spent in school is is during the winter months. Um, and I can say as a parent of a 14-year-old daughter that I'm not super crazy about the idea of her riding a city bus. I'm [laughter] just not. Um, so addressing those concerns, uh, we would target areas that are, you know, we we would look at where the majority of our students come from, whether it's the 99504, 99508 um, area code, and those

121would be our primary targets. And so looking at how we would use that funding, it would be to to allocate buses to get students from those areas to school to oceans. Um would be the the first step in that. >> Yeah. One of the things we kind of discussed that might be kind of interesting if for example we already have the bus system going to east. So then we can have another bus leaving from east that would go to the school. So basically supplement an additional bus line just from east to our school. So it would use the hub system as that's just one possibility that we were throwing around. >> Um and a followup um regarding transportation in your budget. Um it's the first charter application budget I've looked at and so we're going

122through this process together. um there isn't a line item for transportation and I think that line item could exist in theory if the funds follow the student and the board chooses to allocate then the district makes that a policy. Um I think there's other ways to utilize those funds. So, I think collaboration and keeping it in the district budget, but making those dollars available would also be fine considering um for practical purposes, especially for a new charter program, administration is going to be um a significant resource and a rock for you guys to lean on. Um, was there discussion about aside from those funds that via statute um are appropriated per student, was there a discussion about utilizing BSA dollars to provide transportation services recognizing that the state transportation formula isn't anywhere close to being

123sufficient? Have you did you thought about subsidizing transportation in your budget? And what was that discussion like? Yeah. So, for the most part, um the insurance issue becomes pretty tricky on our end if we're going to try to subsidize it on the from the outside. Um so, terms like subsidizing existing bus lines or kind of adding to an existing structure for sure. Um it's trickier if we try to manage it ourselves. >> And I would I would say that transportation has been a hot topic for us. We talk about it a lot of the time. Um, and it is at the forefront of our mind because we don't want anybody to say, "Well, we'd love to go to oceans, but we just can't get there." Um, that is like unacceptable in my mind, right? [laughter]

124Um, and so the goal really is how can we, you know, we've built this this idea of a program or this program, the foundation of a program that we think is awesome and that the students that we talk to, um, the kids that we talk to think is awesome and they're excited and they're ready to go and [laughter] it's not even ex totally existing yet. Um, and and and I would say that's that's the general consensus from everybody that we talk to. And in my mind, it's like, great. So, we've got kids that really want to be there, that kids that want to be in school and parents that want to get their kids there, but how do we make that happen? Like, what what can we do to help facilitate that? And so, transportation

125is is a a big a big topic of conversation for us, for sure. >> I appreciate that. I appreciate your um interest in achieving equity and bring down those barriers. Unfortunately, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't have a good answer to that question either. But uh it's important we ask it on record to show how derelct the state has been in addressing the student transportation formula. Um it will impede your growth as a program and makes inequity baked into your foundation as a program which is really unfortunate given your East Anchorage focus. Uh member Bellamy, >> just a a question about risk. Um what what have been your conversations? I was I was trying to go through and find um you know high school students drive they're going to be all over the

126city doing their projects. What kinds of conversations and safeguards have you built in >> as far as safety when they're driving or >> well not just them driving but what would be the um I don't know have you had conversations with our risk management department? I have not had a conversation with the risk management department. That would be something that we definitely >> one of the differences in my head is at stream kids are confined to campus just like any other high schools your kids won't be but they'll be doing they'll be potentially driving all over the city to during the school day not just during lunch to do their projects right and I'm just trying to figure out what that how that what that looks like and what risk does that pose not just

127to the charter but to the district. >> Yeah. So according to ASD policy, students are not allowed to um use their own vehicles for >> So then your uh ocean students will not be allowed to use their vehicles to do their projects during the school day. Is that what >> that is the existing ASD policy? >> Okay. And that is what you are. But is it built into your plan is what I'm I didn't see it. I don't believe that it's specifically written out in the plan. Although that is something that would be added um because that is not part of our line of thinking that we would have high school students transporting their friends >> supposed to be going to >> okay >> supposed to be going to a location. >> One of the

128big differences for me from stream and I I get it. I mean, I think, you know, the kids are probably going to be mature enough to be responsible enough to whatever, but if that's not the case, that's fine. >> No, we we wouldn't. Um I mean, you you can only trust kids as much as you can trust kids. So, we're not going to tell them to drive each other to a project site and go start swinging hammers. Um there there going to be some safeguards as far as talking to risk assessment at the district. I think that's just a couple steps down the road, but it will happen. >> That's good. That's all I needed to know. I think uh I'm going to want to make time for member Dony's question, but sir, I need

129you to be brief because we're almost over time. Uh but I want to make space for it. So, member Donley, the floor is yours. >> Oh. Um what um patriotic activities would students at Hosan's Academy regularly participate in? >> Glad you asked that question. Yeah, I think that serving our community um and being engaged and active members in our community, helping the elderly, helping the sick, helping veterans, this is part of the community service aspect of oceans that would be kind of baked into the work that we do. Um, just give an example, it's like off the cuff. Um, working with the Alaska Veterans Museum to take down oral histories of um, the work that veterans have done throughout maybe multiple wars and their commitment to like the city and being able to compile that

130and act as a resource for them is um, I see as absolutely one of one of the more patriotic things that that we can do. >> Um, Constitution Day offers a really great option. uh there are ways to build the construction of a social contract within a class that not only improves classroom management but also gives them a taste of democracy a little bit ahead of time. So building on what he said um yeah community engagement through democraticled processes at school I think is is going to be a core foundation. >> Thank you for that answer and uh we're at time now. Um I wanted to to thank Dr. Bryant for facilitating the work session today and thank you um for Oceans's team for being present with us today. I I will work with district

131administration and certainly your team on a process forward uh that makes sense for the board given our workload. Um and I promise that we will see you again very soon and appreciate you making time today. >> Thank you so much. With that said, uh it is now time to adjourn for uh would would entertain a motion to adjurnn for executive session for the purpose of legal updates, negotiations, and contracts. >> I move that we adjourn for purposes of legal negotiations, contracts to executive session. Sorry, >> I think >> I second. >> Yep. Uh we got all the components there made by lessons, seconded by Bellamy. Signal opposition will adjourn to executive session at 5:01 p.m. Thank you. Break.