00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 47 01 Relating to schools on military installations. 02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 WHEREAS nine schools located at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Eielson Air Force 04 Base, and Fort Richardson Army Base, namely, Aurora Elementary, Mount Iliamna 05 Elementary, Mt. Spurr Elementary, Orion Elementary, John F. Kennedy Elementary, Ursa 06 Minor Elementary, Ben Eielson Jr. and Sr. High School, Anderson Elementary, Taylor 07 Elementary, and Pennell Elementary, fail to meet minimum acceptable standards established 08 by the respective school districts; and 09 WHEREAS Taylor Elementary and Pennell Elementary are in a state of deterioration 10 and disrepair, and it is more cost effective and feasible to build one new school to replace 11 them rather than to attempt to repair them; and 12 WHEREAS the other seven schools, which contain numerous fire, life, and safety 13 problems, will continue to deteriorate, and the problems will be exacerbated if immediate 14 action is not taken; and 01 WHEREAS the federal government presently owns these schools; and 02 WHEREAS the respective school districts have agreed to assume ownership of these 03 schools provided minimum safety standards are met; and 04 WHEREAS a total of $52,198,600 is required to bring these schools up to minimum 05 acceptable standards; and 06 WHEREAS, once transfer of ownership of these base schools is completed, future 07 funding needs for these schools can be met through the same funding avenues used for other 08 schools within the respective school districts; and 09 WHEREAS the state is committed to providing school children on military 10 installations with an education equal to that of other children in the state as evidenced by past 11 funding of the new Ladd Elementary School on Fort Wainright; and 12 WHEREAS the state is committed to exploring avenues to finance the upgrade of the 13 schools to ensure that the quality of education of school children on military installations is 14 not compromised; and 15 WHEREAS the state is committed to ensuring that no child or teacher in the state be 16 exposed daily to life, safety, and health hazards; and 17 WHEREAS the state recognizes that the military installations are a vital part of the 18 state's economy and that it is essential to provide basic services to meet the needs of the 19 military installation personnel; 20 BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the United States Department 21 of Education and Department of Defense are urged to cooperate and assist in securing the 22 funding necessary to bring these schools up to minimum acceptable district standards as 23 expeditiously as possible; and be it 24 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Anchorage School District and Fairbanks North Star 25 Borough School District are urged to assume ownership of one or more of the schools on Fort 26 Richardson, Elmendorf Air Force Base, and Eielson Air Force Base immediately upon 27 obligation of the funding necessary to bring each of these schools up to the minimum 28 acceptable standards; and be it 29 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Anchorage School District and Fairbanks North Star 30 Borough School District are urged to cooperate and assist in securing expeditious funding of 31 these schools and actively work until this problem is solved. 01 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Anchorage Municipal Assembly, the 02 Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly, the Anchorage School Board, and the Fairbanks 03 School Board; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. 04 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 05 delegation in Congress.