In the first of two sessions, last night the Anchorage School Board wrestled with what to do about school bond requests on the April Municipal ballot. As KSKA’s Len Anderson reports, much of the discussion focused on packaging and likely voter response.
School District bond propositions have received mixed reviews from Anchorage voters over the years. The Eagle River High School took three tries over four years before approval. The new Clark Middle School required two attempts. Others never found voter favor. Last year, the district declared a “bond holiday” and didn’t put any capital projects on the spring ballot. Instead, it decided to reduce its bond debt by approximately 150 million dollars.
But with nearly 100 buildings, including schools and other facilities, the Anchorage school board cites the need to restart its Capital Improvement Plan of design projects, major renovations and extended building life extension, a.k.a. major capital maintenance work.
Over three meetings, the district’s Capital Request Advisory Committee arrived at two bond packages totaling a little over 100 million dollars.
Monday’s discussion began with Dave Dittman of Dittman Research and Communications presenting the results of a telephone survey on the committee’s possible school district bond propositions.
Len Anderson, KSKA – Anchorage
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