Photos: ASD hopes for funds to renovate Gladys Wood Elementary

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Anchorage School District superintendent Ed Graff gives a tour of Gladys Wood Elementary School while Ashley Hester teaches first graders at right. The Anchorage School District is proposing a bond package that would include renovations to Gladys Wood Elementary School. Changes there would enclose classrooms that were originally designed with an open concept that creates a challenging learning environment, officials say.

For Gladys Wood Elementary School, a lot depends on the outcome of Tuesday's Anchorage municipal election.

That's when voters will decide on Proposition 1 -- a $59.3-million bond package that would pay for capital projects at eight Anchorage public schools. At $17.8 million, the project at Gladys Wood has the highest price tag.

Ed Graff, Anchorage School District superintendent, said the money would fund the enclosure of classrooms and the library at Gladys Wood, as well as the replacement of roof sections and the renovation of four kindergarten classrooms, among a list of other work.

Gladys Wood was built in the 1970s. Its design reflects a brief trend in which schools featured big, open spaces, Graff said. As a result, multiple classrooms still exist off one hallway without walls separating them from the foot traffic. The lack of walls also means noise travels with ease, said Lynn Mayberry-Burke, the school's assistant principal.

"The design is not really conducive to the educational needs," she said.

READ MORE: Anchorage voters to decide fate of $59.3 million school bond package