Middle and high school students whose families are stationed at Eielson Air Force Base will be without an on-base school after the Fairbanks North Star Borough Board of Education voted to close Ben Eielson Jr./Sr. High late Tuesday night.
The motion to close Eielson passed 5 to 1 with Vice President Tim Doran as the only dissenting vote. Student Representative Raul Lopez, who is a student at Eielson, also voted no, however his vote is only advisory. School Board Member Chyra Sanderson was excused from Tuesday’s meeting.
“This wasn’t an easy choice for the school board and I know the deep sense of loss and uncertainty it may cause families and staff,” Superintendent Luke Meinert said in a statement Wednesday. “While school closure is extremely challenging, the long-term goal is to provide better and more efficient services for students. Additional information will be forthcoming and what the closure and transition process will look like for those affected.”
Students who currently or would attend Eielson next year will go to North Pole Middle or North Pole High, which are about 11 miles away.
“I want to acknowledge the incredible ways the Ben Eielson community showed up to advocate, and I’m committed to ensuring our Ben Eielson students have quality education opportunities,” Meinert said. “Work has already begun with North Pole Middle and North Pole High to ensure transitioning students will be welcomed and set up for success in their new schools.”
The board had originally been set to vote on closing Eielson and Ticasuk Brown Elementary, but as they worked through the budget into the early morning hours, they opted to only close Eielson at that time.
The school board does not appear to be considering any other schools for closure at this time, but it is considering developing a strategic plan that may include future closures. The board reconvened at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday to continue the budget discussion.
By 8 p.m. Wednesday, the board was still discussing various motions in an effort to balance the budget. It was unclear by press time whether a balanced budget had been reached.
There are myriad reasons why school board members and administrators say closing Eielson is necessary, such as decreased enrollment and the rising cost of deferred maintenance. But closing the school may not have been necessary if Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy had signed Senate Bill 140 — which would have increased per-student funding by $680 — into law instead of vetoing.
“Our schools need funding,” Board President Brandy Harty said. “Our schools are starving and the state has neglected to take care of a constitutional mandate to adequately fund our schools. That is why this meeting today is so heart-wrenching.”
Dunleavy did not immediately respond to a News-Miner request for comment on the effect Eielson’s closure will have on military families at the base.
The Legislature failed to override Dunleavy’s veto by only one vote earlier this week, putting the school district in an even more precarious fiscal situation as they try to balance next school year’s budget by April 1.
In remarks before the board’s vote on closing Eielson, Harty thanked the community and the legislators who have supported increasing education funding over the last few months.
“We’ve had two community budget forums that were well attended,” she said. “We’ve had rallies outside both of them. We’ve had hundreds of emails. Man, did you show up. I am so proud.”
Contact Carter DeJong at 907-459-7545 or cdejong@newsminer.com.
