Closing a school is not something that school districts do very often. It can have a significant impact on families and change of this magnitude can be difficult. While a school closure will have short-term impacts, the long-term goal is to provide better and more efficient services for students.

The district’s mission to provide an excellent education to students, current financial situation, and enrollment outlook is what led the district to the efficiency and closure options for the 2022-23 school year. The district’s enrollment has dropped by 2,000 students over the past decade. COVID further exacerbated that to a loss, although many of the students lost through the pandemic have returned.

Fewer students in schools reduces the amount of staff allocated to those buildings. That, paired with the challenge of filling vacancies and hiring highly-qualified staff, leads to fewer educational opportunities for students. Additionally, when buildings aren’t utilized to high capacity levels, the district must maintain more square footage than is needed, causing an inefficient draw on financial resources.

The discussion about whether to close school buildings started several years ago and has ramped up over the past year following the receipt of a school efficiency report, continued declining enrollment and the dramatic budget deficit moving forward. At the beginning of this school year, the Board of Education requested the district thoroughly consider a variety of options. 

On Feb. 1, 2022, the board approved a proposal to close three elementary schools, repurpose one school building, move to 6-8 middle schools and redraw school boundary lines to accommodate these changes.

Yes, the Board of Education and administration want to hear from parents, students and the community. We realize this is a difficult and emotional topic, and we need to be able to talk about it in order to process this as a community. Feedback can be sent to the Board of Education at schoolboard@k12northstar.org and public testimony can be given at board regular meetings.

Western Demographics was hired to complete a school efficiency study to evaluate the condition of school buildings, how well they’re utilized and identify potential opportunities for savings.

The study reviewed each school building’s age, condition, recent major repairs, facility utilization, available educational opportunities and how much space available at nearby schools.

Following the study, a School Efficiency Task Force was created to evaluate potential options for the District to reduce costs, move schools closer to 70% utilization and/or a minimum of 300 students, and to provide more effective services to students. The task force was comprised of a cross-section of stakeholders across the district.

The district appreciates the time and considerationconsidered given by the task force, comprised of school staff, parents and community members.

o   Read the task force report

In order for the task force to be successful with a tight timeline, the group reviewed options presented by the district. Prior to providing the options to the task force, district staff considered a wide variety of options for every school in the district. Those were weighed against the impacts and benefits and then narrowed to viable options for task force consideration.

The Board of Education is considering three options: the task force recommendations and an administration recommendation, based on the task force’s work but with some adjustments.

See the three efficiency options.

The school efficiency study reviewed each school building’s age, condition, recent major repairs, facility utilization, available educational opportunities and how much space available at nearby schools.

District leadership thoroughly reviewed the report and considered a wide variety of options for every school in the district. Those were weighed against the impacts and benefits and then narrowed to viable options for the School Efficiency Task Force to consider. The task force forwarded two recommendations to the board for consideration. A third option with an adjustment made by district leadership was also forwarded to the board for consideration.

On Feb. 1, 2022, the board approved Option 1A.

The Board of Education voted to move forward with a proposal to close three elementary schools, repurpose one school building, move to 6-8 middle schools and redraw school boundary lines to accommodate these changes. These changes will go into effect at the start of the 2022-23 school year.

Changing enrollment over time has led to decreasing revenue and school buildings below ideal capacity. There are 2,000 fewer students now compared to 10 years ago, but the number of district buildings has actually increased due to two new charter schools. Many schools are far below ideal capacity, leading to increased costs per student and few services and class options for students.

Based on current enrollment, school buildings would have space available for 4,000 more students, even with the closure of the proposed locations. If the district were to see a shift in the 10-year enrollment trend, schools would be able to absorb students into the existing capacities. Any growth in enrollment would likely be spread across multiple schools and grade levels in the district, rather than concentrated in one building, grade level or classroom.

The district’s data dashboards have more information about enrollment, class size, attendance and more.

The school efficiency study shows that Crawford Elementary and Ben Eielson Junior/Senior High would still have space available for additional students if the base population were to increase.  For example, if Crawford and Anderson elementaries combined for grades K-5, it would be about 450 students. Capacity at Crawford is 553 students.

It is not anticipated that there will be a significant impact – positive or negative - to school transportation.

Closing a school building leads to cost savings through reductions in: utility and facility maintenance costs, school-level discretionary budget, staff costs, and instructional per school subscription and licenses. These are annual savings, not just one-time costs.

The vast majority of funding, 87% is spent on salaries and benefits. Education is a people-intensive business. We need educators and support staff to provide a well-rounded education for our students. As our enrollment has declined, so has the amount of staff. We have nearly 200 fewer positions than 10 years ago. Despite that decline, salaries have increased approximately $3 million in the past decade.

As the district considers closing schools, it is also looking at the bigger picture – how to be more efficient and provide equal – or better – educational opportunities for students. Simply put, the district must better utilize its facilities to find financial efficiencies and is finding ways to better serve students at the same time.

These adjustments won’t eliminate all the district’s financial gap. The district is facing a $17 million budget deficit for 2022-23. The estimated savings through the efficiency options is approximately $3 million.

The district and the board are participating in a thorough budget development process. The school efficiency options are one piece of the overall process.

Generally, budget reductions have negative impacts on students through staff or program reductions. District administrators are confident these school efficiencies will give many students better educational opportunities while helping address the district’s financial strain.

Title I Part A provides educational program assistance to school districts and schools with high numbers of students from low income families to ensure that all students meet challenging state academic standards. The overall focus is to upgrade each Title I school’s entire educational program to improve achievement for all students, particularly lowest achieving students. 

The district will not lose any funding because Title I funding is allocated based on the district’s student population, not individual schools. To qualify for this federal funding, the district uses the National School Lunch Program eligibility (free/reduced meals) to determine poverty percentages for every school in the district. Learn more about free and reduced meals.

Now that the final determination has been made on which schools will close, the district will redraw the school attendance boundaries. In most cases, the attendance areas of nearby schools will be increased to include additional neighborhoods, and students will go to the next nearest school.

The district may have to redraw boundary lines and attendance areas districtwide to balance enrollment in schools. This may shift some families to new school boundaries, even if their child’s school did not close.

Many reductions in this school efficiency process will be absorbed by existing vacancies. The district is committed to providing employees information throughout the process of finalizing specific details.

Generally, staff go where students are. As students are shifted to different schools, the district will determine staffing needs. Those will then be measured against overall enrollment numbers, expected attrition and other budgetary considerations. The district will work directly with staff whose school may close or be repurposed. The district is also committed to working with union leadership to ensure the smoothest transition possible.

The district has some buildings it currently pays rent for and has leasing costs. By moving those programs into a repurposed building, it eliminates those expenses. A dedicated space for some of the district’s alternative learning programs also provides the opportunity for them to expand their programs and potentially increase student enrollment.

Students enrolled in BEST are FNSBSD students even though they receive instruction in a non-traditional manner. Providing BEST families with access to a facility would greatly enhance overall educational opportunities for families at the school and throughout the borough. BEST Homeschool is the district’s third largest school. As it continues to grow in popularity, the district wants to ensure it is offering competitive options and opportunities for families. Investing in this program gives the district the opportunity to capitalize on increasing revenue by attracting more of the borough’s homeschool students to the district.

Providing BEST space in a repurposed building would allow for dedicated space for workshops, class labs, music lessons, physical activities, co-op learning groups, social events and more. It also would give families robust internet access and help address the bandwidth challenges across the borough. Providing BEST families with access to a facility would greatly enhance overall educational opportunities.

One of the district’s guiding questions through the school efficiency process is how to improve the services being offered to students.

As student enrollment has decreased, so have the elective options for students. By moving sixth-grade students to middle school and increasing the capacity in those buildings, the district will be able to consolidate and improve services by offering additional staff at those schools. Additional staff create the ability to provide additional classes and services at those locations.

Middle school is a transitional period for students. They’re no longer “little kids” but they’re not quite ready to handle the responsibilities of being adults. The district’s middle school teachers specialize in specific content areas and focus on character development, social and emotional needs, and support students in the middle school environment.

The district’s middle schools build culture and community within the buildings by ensuring educators respect and value young adolescents; the school is a welcoming, inclusive and affirming environment for all; and every student’s academic development is guided by an adult advocate or advisor. School safety is addressed thoughtfully and proactively at every middle school through class scheduling, building layout and curriculum.

Moving sixth-grade to middle school provides more educational opportunities for students.

• Students will have the ability to access additional courses that will offer them a more well-rounded middle school experience. As enrollment has decreased in past years, elective and non-core class offerings have fallen away.
• More elective courses lead to increased student engagement and attendance, as well as teaching diverse skill sets.
• Examples of additional classes that may be available: App Creation, Computer Science, Robotics, Engineering, Video Production, Podcasting, Art, Band and Orchestra.
• Middle schools become a stronger community by building relationships over three years. This also lessens the transition fatigue many students and families experience with grade 7-8 middle schools.
• 6th graders would have the option to participate in middle schools sports, clubs and activities not available at an elementary school.
  
  

Many school districts nationwide have seen positive outcomes by utilizing the 6-8 middle school model.

Middle school buildings will be fully utilized and their capacities will be around 95%. Class sizes will not be increased due to the additional students. More students will mean more teachers, which leads to additional course offerings and more options for students.