\u201cNobody wanted to close any of the schools. And the hardest part is, we\u2019re not telling our community that more aren\u2019t going to close,\u201d she said. Over the summer, the board will have to fix a funding gap that, depending on the results of a local special election and whether lawmakers in Juneau add funding to schools, could be up to $10 million this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harty said the school board would have had more time to consider how to downsize the district \u2014 and would not have had to immediately close Ben Eielson \u2014 if Senate Bill 140, an education bill containing a $680 increase to the per pupil formula that funds Alaska schools, had not been vetoed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other districts are shrinking, too. Juneau\u2019s school district will close two schools and its administration building<\/a> next year to make up for a more than $9 million budget shortfall and Anchorage School District has announced plans to consolidate<\/a> its schools as well, citing declining enrollment. The district has a projected $98 million fund gap<\/a> next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The state Legislature has less than three weeks left to make any changes to education policy before the end of its session this year. The only proposal currently under debate for a permanent education funding increase is House Bill 392, which also contains the $680 per pupil boost to the state\u2019s funding formula. In addition, it contains a number of Dunleavy priorities that have been at the center of education policy controversy, including a change to the state\u2019s charter school approval process that the Senate\u2019s majority caucus has called a \u201cnonstarter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If lawmakers do not pass the bill, the best educators can hope for is a one-time funding increase. Generally one-time funds are not used to raise teachers\u2019 salaries, the largest component of most district budgets, because teacher contracts are negotiated on a three-year basis. Charter schools can also get short shrift with one-time funding because districts do not have to distribute one-time funds the same way they do money under the state\u2019s per pupil funding formula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stagnant state funding has increased pressure on the Fairbanks North Star Borough to fund its schools at a time when it is uniquely unable to do so, according to Harty. Usually, the borough would be able to contribute significantly to increase funding for its school district. But she said this year a newly lowered tax revenue cap means the borough cannot collect enough money to do that. The previous assembly in 2023 adopted the borough\u2019s lowest tax rate in nearly 40 years.<\/a> That decreases the tax money the borough can collect this year by nearly $20 million<\/a>. \u201cWe could not, without eliminating other borough services, fund education to the cap anymore,\u201d Harty said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Fairbanks Assembly aims to increase the amount of taxes the borough can collect so that it can better fund schools. In a special election next month, voters will decide whether to increase the tax revenue cap by roughly 10% so the borough could increase education funding by $10 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harty said Fairbanks property owners would not have to choose between a lower tax rate and the school district if the state had been sufficiently funding education. And she said it\u2019s a tough choice because property taxes are already high. \u201cWould Fairbanks need to raise the tax cap if the state were appropriately funding schools?\u201d she asked, then answered her own question: \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the base\u2019s Field House, Joanna Livaudais wrapped athletic tape around a pull up bar. She runs the CrossFit fitness classes there and her husband is in the Air Force. They have three school-aged sons. \u201cThis is really hard on all of my kids, all of my kids have been greatly affected by the closure,\u201d she said. Her two older sons go to Ben Eielson and pick up her youngest from the elementary school across the street in the afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Immediately after the board voted to close the school, she said her family was less likely to stay in Alaska, where she grew up and planned to retire. \u201cI didn\u2019t think it was going to be this emotional,\u201d she said as her voice broke. \u201cWhile we love Alaska and it\u2019s home to me, the failing education system is keeping us from planting deeper roots here, as of right now.\u201d She said several friends extended their enlistments so their kids could stay at the same high school. Now they have to change schools anyway. She said it felt like military families had to bear the brunt of the district\u2019s financial shortfall because they are less likely to stay in the state and less likely to vote in local elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Livaudais said she doesn\u2019t know if a school funding boost would have saved the school, but she thinks districts need more funding \u2014 and likely some reform. \u201cIf you want people to stay up here, and you want people to come to the state, you\u2019ve got to be able to provide a good education,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both of Eielson Air Force Base Commander Col. Paul Townsend\u2019s children attend Ben Eielson Junior and Senior High School. He said the Air Force has invested in growing the Eielson base, and the school is a key part of supporting military families stationed there. \u201cAcademic stability and quality, I think that definitely has an impact on members,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Townsend and the school board\u2019s base representative Col. Antonio Alvarado said the school closure could have an impact on readiness because families will have to spend more time commuting to get their kids to school and activities in North Pole. \u201cWe\u2019re about a 40-minute round trip or so, give or take, in good weather,\u201d Townsend said of the drive for his family. He added that many military families come from other states, and don\u2019t have the backup of grandparents to help with child care and transportation for their kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Townsend met with district leaders to communicate the importance of the school and held community meetings to talk about the change, but was unable to stave off the closure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than half of the students at the Ben Eielson school come from active duty military families. Back on campus, that was especially evident in the JROTC classroom. It was piled high with moving boxes full of equipment. \u201cUniforms, robotics kits, curriculum, winter survival gear,\u201d said Sgt. Kathryn Manning with a gesture towards the boxes as blue-uniformed cadets folded flags on a cluster of desks. Most of the gear will go with students to North Pole schools; the rest will be donated. She has run the program at Ben Eieson for five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manning wrote each scholarship and college acceptance on a white board in red marker. \u201cWe capture that to show what each student has done with their time in this program,\u201d she said. Several students will start careers in the military and several others have already earned their pilot\u2019s licenses through the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sgt. Jeremy Burkeen helps run JROTC and is set to lead it at North Pole High School next year. He and his wife chose to stay on the base in Fairbanks so their two daughters could have stability through their high school years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDefinitely a detour in the plan,\u201d he said of the closure. His daughters will go to the North Pole school next year, too. \u201cThis ecosystem that is Ben Eielson is a very unique place, even throughout the Air Force, so it\u2019s very sad to see it disband.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Principal Bruce Bell\u2019s office is full of red and black Ben Eielson paraphernalia, and after nearly a decade at the school, he said its colors permeate his wardrobe, too. He has students and staff at the front of his mind as he guides the school through its final year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe pride ourselves on being small and nice and kind of a small-knit community, that we know our kiddos and know our families,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so we\u2019re definitely feeling the emotions of closure, that this isn\u2019t gonna exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But he acknowledged that the cost of operating the small school is high, and that it\u2019s been harder to offer the same amount of courses as some other schools. When two teachers retired last year, the school lost four Advanced Placement courses. The district will save more than $2 million by closing Ben Eielson. For the district it was a trade-off that means class sizes everywhere else don\u2019t have to go up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of Bell\u2019s students will go to North Pole Middle and High Schools next year, so he has arranged several school visits to increase familiarity with the new campuses. He has also invited the counselors from those schools to meet students at the Ben Eielson campus. Staff has to pack up the classrooms and the decorations, pictures and trophies that bring the halls to life, but Bell said they aren\u2019t touching the main corridor until after graduation in May. \u201cWe don\u2019t want it to look like we\u2019re moving out while they\u2019re graduating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Staff is planning a special celebration the day after graduation for students to say goodbye to the school. Bell said he doesn\u2019t quite know what to call it; \u201ccommunity closure\u201d was one failed moniker. \u201cThe best I\u2019ve come up with is community celebration,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bell grappled with words to describe his personal reaction. \u201cHeartbroken \u2014 is just my feeling, but it\u2019s my job to be there for the staff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are some challenges even careful planning cannot offset. The school opens its doors early so military parents can drop their children off before they report for duty at 7 a.m. \u201cIf the drop-off time at North Pole High is 7:00, they\u2019ll be late to work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wendy Clark, the school\u2019s counseling technician, snatched a tissue off his desk when she described the effects of the closure. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s a rough one, because this is a family,\u201d she said. \u201cI honestly did not think that this was going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her desk sits below a poster that says, \u201cDon\u2019t let your ice cream melt while counting someone else\u2019s sprinkles.\u201d She quickly checked in on a student who was sent to the office for discipline and gave him a task. Behavioral issues have increased a bit because some students are struggling with the change, she said, but for others it\u2019s exciting. \u201cMy juniors are hit the hardest,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWendy knows every student in this school,\u201d one of her colleagues said as she passed the door to Clark\u2019s office. \u201cYou won\u2019t get that at another school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back in the hall, Zoe Fuller\u2019s locker is full of books, cleats and JROTC gear. She tossed out an empty snack wrapper and picked up some note cards decorated with the school\u2019s raven and lynx mascots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey were throwing everything away,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She kept them to write goodbye notes to her friends from the graduating senior class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think also it kind of feels like almost our own graduation. Because like, we\u2019ll be going to high school next year, but it\u2019s not \u2014 we\u2019ll be graduating from this school, if that makes sense,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manning jumped in to finish her friend\u2019s thought. \u201cGoing to North Pole is cool,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut it\u2019s not our school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This article originally appeared in Alaska Beacon at <\/i>alaskabeacon.com<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew Kitchenman for questions: <\/i>info@alaskabeacon.com<\/i><\/a>. Follow Alaska Beacon on <\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/a> and <\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Military families are rocked by the second school closure on Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":72071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-post-featured-layout","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[101,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[4060],"class_list":["post-39578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HHET76YNQZHUZPEU2SURGIW4GU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2024\/04\/30\/eielson-afb-school-closure-highlights-effects-of-education-policy\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"featured-layout","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Alaska-AFB-school-closure-2.jpeg.jpg\")
Strain on military families, mission<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The last year<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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