OPINION: This spring, practice civic responsibility and put our kids first

There are fundamental issues at stake for our children in this spring’s municipal election and in our current legislative session.

Every student deserves to attend school in a safe, well-maintained, accessible building. Proposition 1 stands to extend building lives and focus on student safety, seismic improvements, ADA compliance, and energy efficiency in 31 projects at 25 ASD locations. Averaging $55.5 million over each of the next two years, it is aligned with a decade of prior school bond packages and responsibly addresses the $323.8 million gap between the school district’s backlog of deferred maintenance and its total bonded debt. Voter support for Proposition 1 will be a crucial step in fulfilling our community’s commitment to our children.

Second, we must continue to address the disparities in student outcomes that existed before the pandemic but have grown wider since March 2020. This year, educators across Anchorage have had to navigate how to best support students who are months — if not years — behind where we need them to be, academically and behaviorally. While students who have struggled need long-term commitments to adequate class sizes, highly effective teachers, summer school options, in-person tutoring with reading specialists, and mental health supports, children who have maintained their educational growth despite the pandemic’s challenges also need adequate class sizes, predictable funding and many of these same wraparound services.

With a strong vision, thoughtful solutions, and the resources to implement them, our community can help all of our students succeed. Over the past year, the Anchorage School Board has approved robust goals and guardrails to improve students’ reading and math proficiency as well as their career, college and life readiness, adopted a student-outcomes focused model of governance, and prioritized funding for key student supports. But all remaining federal relief funds must be spent by September 2024, which is when ASD will face the $67 million deficit that those dollars have masked.

Anchorage faces a steep fiscal cliff once those funds expire because the state’s base student allocation has remained flat since the 2016-2017 school year even as major cost drivers like health care, heat, fuel and insurance have increased and as local enrollment has declined. To make ends meet, the district has pursued efficiencies by closing two schools, combining several programs, reducing staff and increasing revenue opportunities. It is also slated to review school boundary lines later this year as a means to maximize educational resources.

Our community wants improved outcomes, and our students deserve nothing less. But the reality is that pupil-to-classroom-teacher ratios have crept up for at least a decade and the magnitude of ASD’s unaddressed fiscal cliff remains so large that the Anchorage School Board could hypothetically eliminate the district’s entire administration, close multiple schools, cut the middle school model, and terminate programs like 6th-grade band and orchestra or IGNITE and still be faced with shortfalls that would likely be met with larger class sizes.

If that doesn’t sound like something most voters would support, please know that legislators are currently proposing amendments to next year’s state operating budget. While there have been some proposals for one-time adjustments to education funding, a combination of House Bills 259, 272 and 273 looks like the best bet for bringing financial stability to Anchorage’s schools and students.

Any adjustments to school funding, however, may hinge on legislators’ willingness to pass Senate Bill 111 and its companion, House Bill 164. These important pieces of bipartisan legislation prioritize a statewide approach to early education and focus on using evidence-based reading interventions for struggling readers in grades K-3. But if legislators fail to coalesce behind them, we can expect that Anchorage students will continue to do more with less.

Without prompt legislative action, ASD’s future budgets will be balanced on students’ backs. Our children need community members to support Proposition 1 before April 5 and to reach out to their legislators to pass SB 111/HB 164 and to adequately fund education via HB 259, HB 272, and HB 273 before the end of this legislative session.

Kelly Lessens is a parent running for re-election to Seat B on the Anchorage School Board and has spent much of the past year speaking to students, educators, families and legislators in order to understand the community’s challenges and assets. These views reflect her personal beliefs.

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