
Jim Anderson
8:35 - 9:40
"we all know that everyone in Anchorage does not watch school board meetings. Back in 2022, although we started right-sizing as part of the budget process, we did really engage with the community and the board on, on the reality is that it wasn't just about money, it was about the levels or education levels of service in the efficiencies within the district."
“we all know that everyone in Anchorage does not watch school board meetings. Back in 2022, although we started right-sizing as part of the budget process, we did really engage with the community and the board on, on the reality is that it wasn't just about money, it was about the levels or education levels of service in the efficiencies within the district.”
- Speaker
- Jim Anderson
- Timestamp
- 8:35 – 9:40
- Community
- Alaska News
- Location
- Anchorage
- Captured at
- August 26, 2026
From the transcript
And they told us on a Monday night to announce new school closures, at least 2, by that Friday. So ultimately the board closed Fire Lake, Lake Otis, and Campbell, and I think everyone's tracking that. So the first thing I wanna start with is, and I think this is misunderstood by a lot of people across the city, we all know that everyone in Anchorage does not watch school board meetings. Back in 2022, although we started right-sizing as part of the budget process, we did really engage with the community and the board on, on the reality is that it wasn't just about money, it was about the levels or education levels of service in the efficiencies within the district. And so we talked about all of the challenges at small schools from combo classes through specialists that were having to go to numerous different schools because the schools were so small they didn't have enough students to get a full-time FTE.
Related Coverage
Anchorage's school board says closures won't fix the budget; residents aren't so sure
The Anchorage School Board argued at its first rightsizing meeting that closing schools won't meaningfully shrink its deficit, even as most surveyed residents back consolidation.
