Parnell pursues rural school construction

Published on February 25th, 2010

By ALEX DEMARBAN

At the Alakanuk school, foundations on outbuilding classrooms are failing.

At the Alakanuk school, a hallway becomes storage space. This one blocks an exit. The school should house 111 students, according to the state. It houses 228.

Rural lawmakers hoping the governor requests more than $300 million to replace or renovate several schools made their case earlier this month, during a three-village swing with the governor through a chunk of Southwest Alaska.

In an interview with the Drums, Gov. Sean Parnell said he'll work on putting a plan together, but it won't be easy and could take several years.

Parnell flew with the legislators - Sens. Lyman Hoffman and Donny Olson and Reps. Bob Herron and Neal Foster - to the all-ages schools in the villages of Alakanuk, Kipnuk and Napaskiak.

Those schools are three of several big-ticket projects on the state education department's school-construction list. Replacing or renovating them will require tens of millions of dollars apiece.

Limited space

In the villages on Feb. 11, the delegation met with teachers, parents and students about severe overcrowding and sometimes dangerous conditions.

Parnell said he made the trip to speak personally with rural lawmakers and to assure fiscal accountability.

"Basically, I wanted to make sure that due diligence is done," he said.

He wanted to know: Would renovations suffice instead of replacements, saving money?

"Every one of those schools and the children there need better facilities, there's no dispute about that," he said. "The question is, how do you go about it?"

Yukon or bust

First stop, Alakanuk. The lower Yukon River school is top-ranked on the school-construction list.

Built in the 1970s, it should fit 111 students, according to the state.

It houses 225, a school official said.

Ceilings have no fire sprinklers. Stairs have no handrails.

Outside the school, former garages or repair shops are now classrooms. In one of those three outbuildings, support pilings lean at odd angles because the building tilts due to shifting ground.

"It looked like it was ready to fall down," said Sen. Hoffman, D-Bethel.

In another outbuilding, an emergency piling made of two-by-fours supports one corner.

The department pegged the cost of a new Alakanuk school at $47 million, with the state share set at $46 million. The rest would come from the school district.

A commitment

In Parnell's state-of-the-state speech last month, he said he would "work to resolve school construction issues," particularly for rural schools.

But he had made no such requests in his proposed capital budget.

That's in part because of the enormity of the problem, which is complicated by the 13-year-old Kasayulie lawsuit the state and plaintiffs need to settle, he said.

Fixing the top 11 schools on the list of 35 will cost the state about $330 million, but will go a long way toward resolving that lawsuit, said Hoffman.

Those 11 schools are all in Western Alaska with predominately Native student populations.

The rest of the schools on the list generally have much smaller needs and will cost the state significantly less, about $80 million total.

In the 1999 Kasayulie lawsuit, a state Superior Court judge ruled that Alaska's system for building and maintaining schools violates the state constitution's equal protection clause and discriminates against rural Alaska.

Urban areas can pay for school construction by issuing bonds, with voter approval, allowing them to qualify for a 70-percent state reimbursement.

Poor rural areas with their low property values lack the authority to issue bonds or the ability to pay them off. Instead, they must wait for the Legislature to put up all but 2 percent of the cash.

The Legislature has reduced the construction list, spending an average of about $60 million a year since 2001, enough for about one to two new schools a year, said Sam Kito III, school facilities engineer for the state.

Most of that money went for rural school construction, he said.

But the list was long, and many villages have made do with the same school year after year.

Governor's next step

Parnell said his next step is convening state financial experts, including from entities such as the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., to consider financing options.

"(We'll) see if we can't work to put together a plan that makes sense," he said.

Any plan to build or renovate rural schools must also settle the Kasayulie case, Parnell said. That will involve the state's legal experts and support from the Legislature.

"I don't intend to spend a lot of money on school construction without resolving that litigation in the process," he said. "For me it's an overall package that requires a lot of people's involvement."

During the trip, Hoffman said he and others urged Parnell to expand his proposed capital requests and ask the Legislature for money to fix the 11 schools.

Hoffman, co-chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, pointed out that the state sits on a $2.2 billion surplus this year thanks to unexpectedly high oil prices.

Hoffman wants the 11 schools funded over the next three years.

In his interview with the Drums, Parnell initially suggested it may take five years.

Then he said it was too early to know.

"It could be three years or it could be 10 years," he said. "Until we find out the best source of financing, and the cost of financing, that's when I'll be able to let you know what my proposal will be."

How long before a plan is in place?

Before the legislative session ends, Parnell said.

Kito said providing money to fix all 11 schools at once could create its own problems, since districts may not have the manpower to administer so many projects.

The Lower Kuskokwim School District, for example, has six schools on the list of 11.

Kito said creating a plan spelling out when funding will arrive could help rural districts plan ahead. In the past, some districts receiving windfall construction money have scrambled to complete projects.

The overcrowded schools challenge educational opportunities, said Rep. Herron, D-Bethel.

If Alakanuk had a larger school, it could employ more teachers, said instructor Paul Tancrede.

As a result, Tancrede said he teaches three classes simultaneously -- history, Alaska studies and government.

"You put them in three different groups and you ping-pong yourself back and forth," he said.

In Kipnuk near the lower Kuskokwim River, classes "shuffle" to make room for special events, such as a recent Battle of the Books competition by video-conference.

The book battlers needed a classroom.

"So we had to move a group of kids from one class to the library, which then denied a federally funded reading program from taking place there," said Jim Cammon, Kipnuk principal.

The Kipnuk school is ranked second on the list. Built in 1990, the facility should fit 70 students, according to the state.

But 209 students attend, Kito said.

The education department set the state share of a renovation/addition at $50 million for a $51 million school. The school district must come up with the rest.

From Kipnuk, the travelers flew northeast 100 miles to Napaskiak, home of the fourth-ranked school on the list.

The education department recommended a $33 million state contribution to replace that school, with the district putting up $670,000.

Built in 1973, expanded in the early 1980s, the school's meant to fit 77 students.

But 161 students attend, Kito said.

Among the challenges there: An education class is held in the same room as a weightlifting class, leaving book-learners distracted, said Herron.

Seeking savings

To help attract legislative support for whatever plan develops, Herron said he and other rural lawmakers are discussing ways to save on future school construction.

One idea includes creating a prototype building for all rural schools to reduce design expenses that often reach into the millions.

Rural students deserve the same opportunities as urban students, he said.

"We saw lots of kids in classrooms and they're faces and smiles are just as bright as any other students in Alaska," he said.

"Shouldn't they have a real crack at reasonable, basic educational facilities?"