ew school construction happens on a limited basis in Alaska. It’s more common for school districts to renovate existing schools or construct additions to an existing structure than to completely start from scratch. The process of applying for state funding for a capital improvement project (CIP), designing, and building a new school is time-consuming—an option that school districts choose only when the existing building is unsafe, beyond student capacity, or absolutely unable to fulfill the requirement standards set by the state.

Tim Mearig, facilities manager for the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), says the number of new school construction projects have abated as student populations and birth rates in parts of the state have leveled off or declined. However, enrollment is only one factor that prompts a school district to apply for state funding through the CIP grant process. CIP funds are available for both renovations and new school constructions, so school districts go through a detailed evaluation process to determine whether a replacement school is absolutely necessary. This evaluation is in line with DEED’s CIP application and covers age and condition of an existing facility, the number of current students and an estimate of students in seven years, relationship of project cost to annual operational cost savings, and more.

“Generally speaking, there’s a higher threshold in the review process for a new or replacement school,” says Mearig. “It’s uncommon that a building is evaluated bad enough to be replaced.”

Exceptions do exist. Mearig points to McQueen School in Kivalina, which received state funding for a new building because of coastal erosion concerns affecting the entire community.

The CIP process starts on September 1, which is the deadline for school districts to submit applications. According to DEED, the average number of applications is around seventy, and it takes approximately four to five weeks before the department issues an initial priority ranking list on November 5. This is when districts receive notification on ranking, modification, or ineligibility for state funding.

Districts can request a reconsideration public hearing no later than December 1. DEED then has fifteen days to issue their final decision. Once this process is complete, DEED submits two lists to the state legislature for fund allocation, one for school construction and one for major maintenance.

There are two different types of CIP programs, one for grant projects and another for debt projects. The main difference lies in the source of funding. Funds for grant projects are appropriated by the legislature into the School Construction Grant Fund or Major Maintenance Grant Fund and used to fund projects from DEED’s priority list. These funds come directly from the state’s capital budget. Funds for debt projects are 100 percent local. All project funding for debt projects is locally available at the time a municipality or borough sells bonds and receives proceeds. Until 2015, school districts with the ability to sell bonds to finance public works projects frequently applied for state aid through the Debt Reimbursement Program on the same application as the grant program. Unlike the grant program, the debt reimbursement application doesn’t have a prescribed annual cycle for legislative allocations since appropriated funds came out of the state’s operating budget. In 2015, the Debt Reimbursement Program was suspended until 2020. That moratorium was recently extended to July 1, 2025.

“A lot of projects have been done through the Debt Reimbursement Program,” says Mearig. “It makes sense for large projects where it might be reasonable to spread the cost over time rather than pulling the funds out of a single budget year.”

In both programs, the school district is required to provide a participating share amount to receive state funds. The amount depends on if the applicant is a municipal district (5 percent to 35 percent participating share) or in a regional educational attendance area within unincorporated land (2 percent participating share). The participating share for debt projects has varied over time.

Once a grant project receives funding, DEED enters into a project agreement with the school district and a payment schedule is established. Mearig says the construction costs of new schools in Alaska average $431 per square foot and can take up to five years to build. This estimate does not include land acquisition or design costs, and rural projects can quickly approach $1,000 per square foot as contractors have to house crews in temporary camps and provide transportation to remote locations.

Payments are made to school districts based on the completion of milestone reviews that include design, contract awards, and various stages of completed construction. Procurement requirements for school districts are also set in this agreement. The Request For Proposal process is handled locally by school districts.

In recent years, many CIP grant priority lists are comprised of rural projects. Ryan Butte, project manager for capital projects for the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD), says his district has continuously applied for funds since 2007 when they began to see a rising trend in enrollment creating the need for more space. Currently, LKSD has three active CIP grant projects and another new school construction project funded by fire insurance from the Kilbuck school fire in November of 2015. Likewise, it has three additional projects for which it is seeking state funds.

“We are slowly outgrowing our schools, and we don’t want to wait until they are at capacity before building a new one,” says Butte. “We need to build for the population down the road.”

Though LKSD projects are primarily renovation addition projects, a new K-12 school is near completion in Atmautluak. Butte says criteria for the school’s design was set by LKSD Educational Specifications, a required document Alaska schools use to detail and describe the educational space needed to support the educational programs for a particular community. He explains that specifications vary from school to school due to enrollment, instructional programs, dual language, as well as school athletics.

Mearig adds that school districts sometimes create templates for school structures when they have developed an instructional program that works across a larger community or there is a need to build multiple schools in a short amount of time. Examples of school templates are found in several K-12 schools in Fairbanks. Mearig says templates are less common for middle schools and high schools.

The school design for the Joann A. Alexia Memorial K-12 School in Atmautluak is completely unique; the new 34,331-square-foot structure will house educational, instructional, shop, administration, and mechanical/utility spaces.

Lower Kuskokwim School District has applied for capital improvement project funds to construct a new school in Napakiak. This project made it onto the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development FY22 Capital Project Priority List.

Ryan Butte | Lower Kuskokwim School District

When completed, the Joann A. Alexia Memorial K-12 School in Atmautluak will house ninety-eight students, though enrollment is projected to triple within the next decade. Nvision worked with the Lower Kuskokwim School District to design a school that reflects Yup’ik culture while providing a learning environment suited for different styles and evolving technology.

Ryan Butte | Lower Kuskokwim School District

Nvision Architecture developed the space with a play field, play deck, additional boardwalk, and utility decks. According to the Nvision website, designers worked closely with LKSD to develop a minimalist design inspired by Alaska Native Yup’ik culture that is responsive to harsh winter conditions. The school is shaped to reduce snow drift using angled walls and deliberate positioning of doorways. Likewise, they used vaulted ceilings to encourage a welcoming environment that promotes openness. Nvision included a large multi-purpose common area in the design that features a Kuskokwim River map built into the flooring.

Designing learning spaces is a unique challenge since designers are not only addressing the needs of current students but future students as well. Butte says LKSD’s Capital Projects Department coordinates with the Instructional Program Directors to continually update their Educational Specifications for different learning styles and rapidly changing technology.

In their online project summary, Nvision says they paid considerable attention to integrating educational spaces for individual age groups along with school community interaction. Though the school focus is primarily early education and pre-school, the school can accommodate older grades. Likewise, the new school site is large enough for future expansion.

Justin Jones, general manager for Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation Construction (UICC), says that construction crews frequently provide additional input into a school design during the construction process. He says this is a normal process that comes with manufacturing a building as large as the school in Atmautluak.

When we run into design issues we suggest solutions to the client,” says Jones.

For Jones, rural construction presents more of a logistical challenge. Though UIC has completed projects in areas more remote than Atmautluak, it does require a certain amount of preplanning to ensure construction crews meet time and budget requirements. Jones says this means frequently ordering materials in advance so they can make it onto one of the two seasonal barges heading up the Kuskokwim River to Bethel.

“We invest heavily in our construction schedule,” says Jones. “It also helps to be close to a hub like Bethel.”

Yet, even the best laid plans faced further challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jones says the village went into lockdown to keep outsiders from bringing the virus into the village. Before UIC could resume construction, they were required to come up with mitigation plans that outlined their plans to conduct business in the village while keeping themselves and others safe. By mid-summer, UIC resumed work in Atmautluak.

A more minor disruption since then comes in the form of material shortages that have affected the construction industry nationwide. Jones says the pandemic has only slightly extended the duration of the project. The Joann A. Alexia Memorial K-12 School is nearing completion, and UIC plans to hand over the new school to the community around the winter holidays. Afterwards, crews will be back to demolish older, offsite facilities.

Jones says that his company handles just as many school renovations and additions as it does new school builds. Various contractors are currently constructing CIP grant projects for new schools statewide including a K-12 school in Hollis (Southeast Island School District) and an elementary school in Aniak (Kuspuk School District). Two more LKSD new school applications ranked well on the FY22 Project Priority Lists, including a project in Napakiak where the riverbank erosion has already required the movement of the fuel tank facility in 2019. New school construction in Houston (Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District) is primarily relying on Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to replace buildings damaged in the 2018 earthquake.

To date, there isn’t a formalized process to determine the success of a new school. Mearig says that kind of evaluation is generally left up to school districts. Likewise, he doesn’t foresee many changes in the Department of Education’s application or funding process. At times, he sees a potential need to get a better sense of the construction needs among districts and maybe assist with identifying and prioritizing additional funding resources as they present themselves. However, he says the actual process of ranking applications and submitting lists for allocation is a robust and proven process.