Legislature(1993 - 1994)
09/08/1993 01:30 PM House TMB
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE MILITARY SCHOOLS TASK FORCE
PUBLIC HEARING
September 8, 1993
1:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Mulder
Representative Martin
Representative Willis
Senator Leman
Bonnie Carroll
Sue Wilken
Captain Dennis Porter
Colonel George Vakalis
Lt. Colonel David Melcher
Janet Stokesbury
Barbara Martin
Nancy Miller
MEMBERS ABSENT
Patty Norheim
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
First Public Hearing of the House Military Schools Task
Force
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE ELDON MULDER, Chair
House Military Schools Task Force
Alaska State Legislature
716 W. 4th Avenue, Ste. 310
Anchorage, AK 99501
CAPTAIN DENNIS PORTER
ALCOM
1700 7th Street, Unit B
Elmendorf AFB, AK 99506
JANET STOKESBURY
Chief Financial Officer
Anchorage School District
P.O. Box 196614
Anchorage, AK 99519
REPRESENTATIVE TERRY MARTIN
Alaska State Legislature
716 W. 4th Avenue, Ste. 650
Anchorage, AK 99501
COLONEL GEORGE VAKALIS
Garrison Commander
ATTN: APVR-GC
Fort Richardson, AK 99505
BARBARA MARTIN
Asst. Superintendent for Business and Finance
Fairbanks School District
P.O. Box 71250
Fairbanks, AK 99707
REPRESENTATIVE JEANNETTE JAMES
Alaska State Legislature
P.O. Box 56622
North Pole, AK 99705
SENATOR LOREN LEMAN
Alaska State Legislature
716 W. 4th Avenue, Ste. 540
Anchorage, AK 99501
LT. COLONEL DAVID MELCHER
U.S. Army
1372 Normandy Ct.
Ft. Wainwright, AK 99703
NANCY MILLER
Parent Advocacy Committee
7350 B J Street
Elmendorf AFB, AK 99506
BONNIE CARROLL
Governor's Appointee
501 Donna Drive
Anchorage, AK 99501
SUE WILKEN
Governor's Appointee
2600 Riverview Drive
Fairbanks, AK 99709
REPRESENTATIVE ED WILLIS
Alaska State Legislature
11940 Business Boulevard
Eagle River, AK 99577
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-1, SIDE A
Number 006
REPRESENTATIVE ELDON MULDER, ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE,
called the meeting to order at 1:42 p.m. He announced that
it would be an informal meeting. Present were
Representative Willis, Senator Leman, Sue Wilken, Bonnie
Carroll, Captain Dennis Porter, Colonel George Vakalis, Lt.
Colonel David Melcher, Barbara Martin, Janet Stokesbury,
Nancy Miller. Representative Jeannette James was present by
teleconference hookup in Fairbanks.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER introduced the members present to each
other and explained that the focus of this meeting was to
give an overview of the situation before the task force,
introduce everyone to each other, discuss where the task
force was headed and establish goals and objectives it would
like to accomplish. He also explained that the task force
would define its scope of work for the remainder of the
year.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER introduced Captain Porter to give an
overview to the task force members.
Number 047
CAPTAIN DENNIS PORTER, ALCOM, presented his Point Paper on
Schools on Military Installations. It summarized the
current situation. See attachment. Captain Porter stated
where they currently were on the on-base priority list; $3.9
million was allocated from the U.S. Department of Education
for Taylor and Pennel elementary schools on Eielson Air
Force Base and $4.9 million for Ursa Major elementary on
Fort Richardson. He stated that, to his knowledge, the
money had not actually been transferred on either one of
those, because the North Star Borough School District wanted
to hold out for newer buildings, brand new schools, and Ursa
Major still had a problem with a lease.
Number 142
JANET STOKESBURY, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, ANCHORAGE SCHOOL
DISTRICT, stated that the Anchorage School District should
be receiving the grant (for Ursa Major) by the end of the
month, but a transfer of the title of the building should
come in by the end of the week and the quit claim deed and
the actual allotment (indiscernible) lease would take six
years. A letter of understanding has been signed by all
parties within the military and the U.S. Department of
Education as well as the municipality on behalf of the
school district. She stated the U.S. Department of
Education has indicated that the school district should be
getting a grant by September 30. She noted they will
initially get 10 percent of the funding, approximately
$496,000, and when the construction contract is awarded,
they will get 50 percent of the grant money.
Number 155
CAPTAIN PORTER discussed when the transfer action would take
place. He said the school probably would not be transferred
until two summers after construction was completed. He said
the task force may want to look at a way to transfer the
schools to the local school districts once the money was
awarded versus once the construction was completed, so the
money would not take so long to get out to the actual
schools.
CAPTAIN PORTER stated the original funding agreement was
very vague, but now might be the time to assign
responsibilities and somehow make closure.
CAPTAIN PORTER then addressed the future requirements of
funds. He stated that a funding plan of attack would need
to be established, and that was his goal for the task force.
Pressure would have to be put on the U.S. Department of
Education to try to expedite funding, state matching funds
should be approached as a source, and a Washington, D.C.
based task force should be established, similar to the one
here.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER stated for the record that
Representative Martin had joined them.
Number 190
REPRESENTATIVE TERRY MARTIN, ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE, had
two questions: Would there be any percentage take off by
the Anchorage School Board on the grant about to be
received; for example, for administration costs, processing
costs, etc. and would the money go straight for
construction?
Number 196
MS. STOKESBURY responded that since they had not actually
received the grant award, they had not received any
indication as to whether there would be any administrative
costs. She also noted that it was a fact that $4.9 million
would be the limit. Anything, such as any cost increases
due to unforeseen circumstances beyond that would have to be
absorbed by the Anchorage School District.
Number 205
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN asked Ms. Stokesbury to tell
Superintendent Christal that he would not consider it
friendly if the school district were to take 25 percent off
the top for processing costs or administrative costs.
Number 209
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER stated that he believed Representative
Martin was referring to the fact that when the state makes a
grant to the City of Anchorage and it goes through the
municipality, a 10 percent administrative charge is taken
off the top.
Number 215
MS. STOKESBURY responded that in the past, the district had
had an administrative fee, ranging from two to six percent,
depending on whether or not there was an outside project
manager. If it was done in-house, it was usually around
four percent.
Number 219
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN suggested that perhaps Captain Porter
could monitor the situation and indicate what would be
reasonable.
Number 225
MS. STOKESBURY responded that they would figure out the
costs necessary.
Number 226
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN posed his second question: Would the
general contractor be responsible for the construction bond,
so the military or Anchorage would not have to have bonding
over and above what the general contract does?
Number 231
CAPTAIN PORTER reiterated that the school district would be
responsible for anything over the allocated $4.9 million.
He inquired if they could not bond for money, where would it
come from? He noted that schools needed to be transferred
as soon as possible so that processing could start more
immediately. That way if they went over the $4.9 million,
there would be a source to get it without having to create
something.
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN suggested matching funds from the
legislators who represent each of the communities, to help
handle this problem for a while.
Number 244
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked why Ursa Major elementary was
being transferred now, but not Ursa Minor and Kennedy
elementary schools. Was that only because of the financial
upgrade at Ursa Major? Would Ursa Minor and Kennedy not be
transferred until money was available for the upgrades?
Number 247
MS. STOKESBURY said the district and Municipality of
Anchorage were unwilling to take possession of the schools
until they were brought up to current standards, building
codes, etc. Ursa Major was the only school being
transferred at this time because it was the only one that
the federal government had appropriated funds for.
Number 260
COLONEL GEORGE VIKALIS, GARRISON COMMANDER, FORT RICHARDSON,
stated this had been in the bill for about five years and
was finally coming to fruition. Each school was addressed
separately as opposed to the whole program.
Number 264
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER gave a brief explanation of the
financial perspective by stating that if the school district
did not technically own the building and the land, it could
not bond for it. It was a catch 22 situation because at the
same time Anchorage did not like taking over possession
until the upgrades were made. He then asked Janet
Stokesbury to give a brief overview of the school district's
perspective on military schools and what they had done and
were thinking about doing.
Number 275
MS. STOKESBURY said they reviewed the cost estimates and
project scope descriptions. They did receive some state
funding during the interim from the time the original cost
estimates were done by HMS and last October when they
started going through the formal process. The school
district now had a revised project scope that was approved
by the U.S. Department of Education. She said they
anticipated going forward with the project and being able to
complete it within the $4.9 million. She said they also
received funding for the roof on Mt. Spurr. That money,
combined with the prior state funds they received two years
ago, amounted to $1.2 million to put towards the Mt. Spurr
roof. The district also received money through Senate Bill
60 for district wide roofs and they would do the west wing
of Orion School. The project would be done next spring.
MS. STOKESBURY reported that the district also received
$25,000 for Kennedy, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor for major
maintenance through Senate Bill 183. She stated there were
a lot of needs at the military schools. An outside
engineering firm was contracted by the school district in
1991 to look at all the schools in the district and that was
combined with the prior study by HMS in 1990. The school
district is currently in the process of bringing those
figures up to date, so it could have current cost estimates.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if anyone had any questions for
Ms. Stokesbury.
CAPTAIN PORTER thanked the school district for their help.
He mentioned that $180,000 had been taken out of the
undesignated fund as part of the matching for Orion School.
He mentioned that the undesignated fund was not unlimited
and if the schools were taken over ahead of time, this fund
would not have to be used. Perhaps they could bond for a
larger amount, whereas now, they would have to come up with
another source.
Number 349
COLONEL VAKALIS asked Captain Porter if he was proposing
that this be included in the upcoming bonding issue to the
Anchorage community?
Number 351
CAPTAIN PORTER responded that it could not be included
because they could not legally bond for the military schools
before they had possession of them. He reiterated that this
was why it should be done as soon as possible. He stated
that a logical point would be when the monies were committed
by the Department of Education.
Number 356
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN spoke regarding federal impact monies
going to local districts. According to the State Department
of Education, part of that formula was for the maintenance
of schools, not just the bodies attending. He maintained
that the Anchorage community had received a certain amount
of money for the maintenance of schools under the impact
formula and had not used it for the schools. He said the
Department of Education, under Commissioner Covey,
maintained that part of that formula was for maintaining
schools no matter where they were at. Representative Martin
said he thought the Anchorage School District had an
obligation and that a certain portion should be appropriated
to the military schools.
Number 376
COLONEL VAKALIS responded that Representative Martin was
right and that was the case. However, the problem now was
that the codes had changed from the time when the buildings
were originally built, and they needed to be brought up to
code.
Number 392
MS. STOKESBURY stated that prior to fiscal year '92-'93, the
federal impact money associated with the students who lived
on base went to the State of Alaska, not to the Anchorage
School District. The state, in turn, would allocate
foundation money to the Anchorage School District and then
an amount equivalent to the state tuition amount per
student. Combined with that, the district had a contract
with the state. She stated that Fairbanks had the same
similar arrangement where within that contract major
maintenance was left to the state and minor maintenance
(defined as under $25,000) was the responsibility of the
school district. Beginning in fiscal year '92-'93, at the
direction of the federal government, the federal impact
money now went directly to the actual school district. But
because of the foundation formula, this resulted in a
deduction to the Anchorage School district because it was
getting the federal impact money, and then it would no
longer receive the state tuition money. Ms. Stokesbury said
that contract was currently in the process of being
negotiated or written with the Department of Education.
There was not an actual contract at this time.
Number 443
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN said now that the money was going
directly it was natural that the City of Anchorage would get
less in the foundation formula because the kids would not be
paid for twice in two different formulas. He stated that in
the long run Anchorage makes good money off of the military
schools and that should not be sacrificed in building
maintenance. The monies should be kept separate; those
monies received for the military should be used directly for
military.
Number 462
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if Ms. Stokesbury was saying
that prior to this current fiscal year the federal impact
money was going through the State Department of Education,
as opposed to coming directly to the school, and because of
the foundation formula, Anchorage was not getting dollar for
dollar for what it was being given from the federal
government?
Number 482
MS. STOKESBURY responded that yes, the State of Alaska was
using the federal impact money as a revenue source and the
school district was getting the same amount of foundation
money for students on base as students off base.
Number 488
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if that was less, per person,
than what the federal government was providing the state,
supposedly for the school district. By the time the federal
government gave a dollar and it got to the school district,
was the dollar that started there substantially less by the
time it hit the school?
Number 494
MS. STOKESBURY responded that under the new contract being
negotiated with the State Department of Education for
operating the on-base schools, the school district was
finding that the combination of what it received with the
foundation money as a state tuition money (as the old
formula) for the Anchorage School District, was
approximately $150-$200,000 more than when it got the
federal money directly in the way the current formula was
written. It was written so there was a deduction for a
portion of the federal impact money and the district not
receiving any state tuition. Ms. Stokesbury said the state
had verbally stated that although they did not have a signed
contract yet, this year it would make up that difference so
there would not be a loss of revenue. Otherwise, it was
possible that the Anchorage School District could lose money
and the same for Fairbanks.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER repeated his previous question. He
asked what percentage of the federal dollar was left after
it had been watered down through the foundation formula.
CAPTAIN PORTER responded that there was actually more money
there. Adak lost money while Fairbanks and Anchorage made
money; they got more than their dollar in 1991 from the U.S.
Department of Education. However, now, they could lose
money if it was done straight across.
Number 556
BARBARA MARTIN, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT FOR BUSINESS AND
FINANCE, FAIRBANKS SCHOOL DISTRICT, stated that the task
force should probably not get too bogged down with how the
whole operating dollar aspect had shifted. She said she
would be happy to prepare a summary of this history for a
subsequent meeting, so members could understand what the
differences were and the underlying principles.
MS. MARTIN referred to a study conducted by the Division of
Legislative Audit which looked at whether the funds flowing
through the school districts and paying for the education in
the military connected districts were being distributed to
the students in a fair and equitable fashion. They also
looked at who was responsible for the problems the facility
was facing. The study concluded that there were a myriad of
problems.
MS. MARTIN continued by saying that the Fairbanks district
had a study conducted in 1989 and updated in 1990 which
investigated what the needs were of the military schools in
the Fairbanks North Star Borough. The district came up with
a plan based on that study. They worked with local
legislators on problems and concerns and received a grant
for $750,000 for some day-to-day materials in the schools.
That money was spent on the military schools in Fairbanks.
She also stated that Fairbanks had a progressive
preventative maintenance program; U.S. Department of
Education officials toured some of the schools and could not
understand why Fairbanks was saying they had a problem. She
stated they'd had a huge population influx and serious
overcrowding resulted. The borough turned to the state, who
agreed to commit to the problem. She referred to two new
schools that resulted; Ladd elementary school, built to
educate students that live on Fort Wainwright was funded
entirely by the state, and another one called Arctic Light
elementary was funded entirely out of the Department of
Defense budget.
Number 650
MS. MARTIN stated that Fairbanks hoped the needs of its
secondary students on Fort Wainwright would be taken care of
this fall through a bond issue for the building of a new
high school. One of the other high schools would be turned
into a junior high.
MS. MARTIN then addressed Eielson Air Force Base. She said
the U.S. Department of Education had set aside $3.9 million
for the renovation of Taylor and Pennel elementary schools.
Fairbanks believed that a better long term solution would be
to build a new elementary school on the base.
TAPE 93-1, SIDE B
Number 000
MS. MARTIN thanked Representative James for her help in
obtaining a $600,000 grant through Senate Bill 60 to allow
Fairbanks to start preliminary work on the school. They
were currently working on that grant application. After
this new school is built, Fairbanks School District wants to
renovate the Eielson junior and senior high school and
renovate Anderson elementary.
Number 022
COLONEL VAKALIS asked a question about the Chena school.
Was the plan to keep Chena at the present status quo but
then dispose of it, perhaps through the Department of
Education, once the new school was built?
Number 036
MS. MARTIN responded yes, that was pretty accurate.
Number 050
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if Chena and Birch elementary
schools could be eliminated from the on-base priority list.
Number 053
MS. MARTIN responded that more than that could be
eliminated. She said that numbers one (Taylor elementary)
and two (Pennel elementary) remained and they were the
highest priorities on Eielson Air Force Base.
Number 054
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER stated that $3.9 million was committed
toward that.
Number 055
MS. MARTIN said yes, plus $600,000 from the state
government.
Number 056
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if that was basically just to
research how much it would cost to build a new one.
MS. MARTIN said she thought it would go further into actual
precise designing and initial planning. She said she
believed this was the intent.
Number 060
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if there was a rough estimate as
to how much it was going to run.
MS. MARTIN responded that she did not have that number with
her.
Number 062
REPRESENTATIVE JEANNETTE JAMES, ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE,
said that when she got the $600,000 last year in the budget,
she asked someone what it would take to get the bid ready.
She said the $600,000 had been identified for getting the
project ready and identifying cost so they would know how
much it was going to cost and the rest of the money they
would need.
Number 066
MS. MARTIN said the district had used prototypical design, a
plan they owned. She said there were several schools using
it, updating it and improving it. She said they assumed
they would use that similar design which would save a
tremendous amount of architectural costs.
Number 070
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said she needed to know what the money
was, because she would be looking for it from the
legislature in the next term.
Number 072
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER said he hoped that if the group worked
together they could come up with a package backed up by
legislators, citizens of the community, school districts,
and military bases, that would accomplish all of the
objectives.
Number 079
MS. MARTIN continued by saying that for now, the Chena
elementary status quo was fine. She stated the Fairbanks
school board had acted the previous night to surplus Birch
elementary and they would be working between the state and
U.S. Departments of Education to find disposition for that
building. Anderson elementary and Ben Eielson junior and
senior high would then be the next step.
Number 089
CAPTAIN PORTER posed a question regarding the agreement
between Chena and Birch elementary.
Number 092
COLONEL VAKALIS responded that the agreement initially
originated between the district and the community at Fort
Wainwright. He said that discussions also took place with
the state Department of Education, and further discussion
took place with the U.S. Department of Education. He stated
that they all agreed that they could remain status quo as
long as it would not cost the Department of Education any
money. So the agreement was to remain status quo and the
district could go ahead and maintain the building.
Number 101
CAPTAIN PORTER responded that he thought this further
legitimized the task force because there was not really any
official documentation that had been tracked by an official
group pertaining to any other further agreements.
Number 105
COLONEL VAKALIS said that he agreed. He said the army was
only the initial facilitator because it was asked if it had
any needs for the building. He said the army's concern was
that the children were in an overcrowded situation. If a
school building did not meet the code when it was put out of
commission, and it was later decided to reuse it, you would
have to put massive money in it to bring it up to code. He
continued by saying that the army's concern and the offer
that was mutually agreed upon was to go ahead and keep the
building at status quo, and never close it, so they did not
get caught with that problem. It would be used as a
satellite school to take care of needs in the near future.
That was what was worked out between the district and the
Department of Education.
Number 118
CAPTAIN PORTER asked if Birch elementary had been officially
closed or eliminated.
Number 119
COLONEL VAKALIS said that was correct because the new school
was open. He said that if the district had no need for it,
they planned to go to the Department of Education and
petition for it to be transferred. He stated that he
thought there probably would be some need for it.
Number 126
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER said he noticed from the list that
there were no schools in Greely or Kodiak.
Number 127
COLONEL VAKALIS responded that Kodiak was not his area.
Number 129
CAPTAIN PORTER said that transfer had taken place almost
immediately after the 1990 agreement. He said that Fort
Greely and Kodiak were transferred because there was enough
money in the U.S. Department of Education to pay for it. He
estimated that it had been around $2.3 million to service
both of them and transfer them immediately. He said he
thought they had been transferred more because of money than
priority.
Number 145
COLONEL VAKALIS said he thought their remote location had
had something to do with it. He said the negotiation at
Fort Richardson had been going on for years and was finally
coming to fruition. He also said that Greely was not a
factor and he did not think Fort Wainwright was a factor
either; they were really looking at Eielson, Fort
Richardson, and Elmendorf.
Number 158
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if the cost estimates were still
applicable? Was the figure still $45 million to upgrade?
Had requirements or costs changed?
Number 164
MS. MARTIN responded that in Fairbanks, they had adjusted
the budget for the elementary project on Eielson based on
what they knew about the site that had been identified. She
explained that those were just estimates.
Number 172
COLONEL VAKALIS asked if the $40 million included Chena and
Birch elementary.
CAPTAIN PORTER responded that a dollar amount is put next to
each one of the schools. The school district then looks at
the next school on the list and tries to determine what the
highest, most immediate needs of it are.
Number 187
MS. STOKESBURY responded that since 1990, the building codes
had changed in the school district. She said that because
of other funding, they had been able to accomplish some
items already, and the school district therefore felt it
could bring Ursa Major up to code within the $4.9 million.
She also said that there were other schools, however, where
additional dollars would be needed.
Number 195
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked for a cost analysis to be
brought to the next task force meeting on September 30.
Number 207
CAPTAIN PORTER said he agreed and thought it was a good
idea, but he encouraged them to stay with what the U.S.
Department of Education had agreed to in 1990.
Number 211
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER said he understood; he just wanted to
get a more concise number that everyone could feel
comfortable with.
Number 212
CAPTAIN PORTER said he had that information and could bring
it in.
Number 215
SENATOR LOREN LEMAN, ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE asked Captain
Porter to bring a breakdown for each project with the
information.
Number 220
CAPTAIN PORTER said he would and that it would consist
mainly of code violations.
Number 221
SENATOR LEMAN asked if there was a breakdown of the
information.
Number 222
CAPTAIN PORTER said there was a little bit of breakdown in
the priority list and on the dollar amount, too.
Number 225
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER raised the issue of touring the
schools to see what they were actually talking about. He
asked if members of the task force would find that helpful.
Number 230
COLONEL VAKALIS said that Elmendorf had invited members of
the school board to do this. He said they also went through
Fort Richardson and it was very beneficial for them.
Number 247
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER stated that the task force would be
having a meeting in Fairbanks, so they could do the same
thing there, as well.
Number 253
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES mentioned that physical disability
requirements of the schools should also be considered.
COLONEL VAKALIS stated that he thought all the schools had
this problem.
Number 259
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said she thought they did too, and
probably none of them were up to speed on this issue.
Number 260
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked Captain Porter if he recalled
whether the requirements passed by ADA since 1990 had been
taken into consideration.
Number 264
CAPTAIN PORTER responded yes, and cited Ursa Major as one of
the problems.
Number 269
COLONEL VAKALIS said that someone should probably point out
those problems to the district engineers.
Number 274
MS. STOKESBURY stated she would be glad to arrange something
for the morning of September 30.
Number 276
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER invited Representative James to come
down and take the tour with the rest of the members.
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said she would like to do that.
Number 281
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN mentioned integrating the needs of the
military school kids with the state school needs. He
mentioned the possibility of inviting the Governor's office
and Commissioner Covey to come up and look at the schools
and make it a joint effort. He said that he thought, from a
state level, that all the schools and kids should be treated
equally, no matter where they were located and regardless of
what agreement may have been made in the past. He stated
that he felt the military had been paying its way but had
not been getting services.
Number 313
MS. STOKESBURY said the school district did a research
project with General Ralston last spring, specifically on
major maintenance, that showed over $800,000 had been spent
on the military schools. This was in addition to regular
preventative maintenance. She stated that some of them were
above $25,000. She said they looked at the priorities of
what was needed at the schools as they developed the budget.
The military schools were not treated any differently when
they were looking at general operations.
Number 330
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER requested a list of the maintenance
projects for the Anchorage and Fairbanks School Districts.
Number 336
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN stated that he would open his mind to
it if it was over and above the grants that the school
district had gotten from the legislature.
Number 338
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES commented that in Fairbanks, staff were
doing an extensive amount of maintenance to keep under the
limit. She said she thought the schools needed more money
for capital projects.
Number 346
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER responded that there never seemed to
be enough money for capital projects.
Number 348
COLONEL VAKALIS asked how the military schools rated
compared to the others on a total priority list of schools.
Number 357
MS. STOKESBURY referred to a 1991 study and stated that all
the schools had been looked at in Anchorage and ranked on a
grid. It showed that the military schools were not on the
bottom.
Number 370
COLONEL VAKALIS asked about the schools in Fairbanks.
Number 371
MS. MARTIN responded that a CIP list showed what had been
submitted to the state this year as their priorities.
Number 374
LT. COLONEL DAVID MELCHER, U.S. ARMY, said that Eielson Air
Force Base was the number one priority. Anderson elementary
and Ben Eielson high school were on the list for
improvements in 1996 and 1997. He stated that he thought
military schools were getting their due in the Fairbanks
area.
Number 379
CAPTAIN PORTER said the 1991 study showed that Mt. Spurr was
the fifth worst school in Anchorage. He said that on the
list of priorities it was number 13, and was now down to
number 11. He said the study was much more in-depth than
what had been found in 1990.
Number 397
COLONEL VAKALIS said he was not inferring that military
schools were in any worse shape in the local area. He said
the problem with them was the question of who owned them.
Number 401
CAPTAIN PORTER agreed that was the problem.
Number 403
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER said once the ownership question was
resolved, the overall problem could be readdressed more
realistically. He said he believed the military in
Fairbanks and Anchorage had been accepted as an integral
part of the community and were very important to the
economy.
Number 410
COLONEL VAKALIS said he had never been anywhere that
supported its military community as well as Anchorage and
Fairbanks.
Number 418
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER thanked people for participating and
thought government should work in this fashion. That is,
by bringing people together in the community; school
districts, military, and the legislature to try to overcome
this problem.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER introduced Nancy Miller.
Number 436
NANCY MILLER, PARENT ADVOCACY COMMITTEE, stated that out of
the seven on-base schools in the Anchorage area, five were
in the top 50 percent of the neediest schools in the
district. She also said that the on-base schools had been
built between 1964 and 1962. She said she got involved with
the task force when she found out the condition of Mt. Spurr
school, which her children attend. She said she was excited
about what the task force could accomplish.
Number 481
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if anyone else on the task force
had another perspective or something they thought should be
focused on in the near future.
Number 484
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN mentioned that he had seen some of the
schools in Magadan and they were much worse. He said he
planned to send letters to the PTA regarding sending books
to the different schools there. In turn, Russian books
would be sent to Alaska.
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN said he thought that, under the new
reapportionment plan, the military now had true
representation in the legislature, and this should really
help the schools there that needed things the most.
Number 525
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER said he would like to come up with
some realistic proposals and/or solutions at this task force
meeting. He said he thought the task force should review
the suggestions made by Captain Porter, as a starting point.
He repeated the recommendations; put pressure on the U.S.
Department of Education to meet their financial requirements
or obligation, take into consideration Governor Hickel's
matching fund program concept, and develop a strategy to
lobby the Department of Defense and the Department of
Education for additional funds and give a framework of how
much money was needed.
Number 589
BONNIE CARROLL, GOVERNOR'S APPOINTEE, ANCHORAGE, mentioned
the issue of who owned the schools and the land.
Number 594
COLONEL VAKALIS said there were three entities that made it
complicated: the Department of Education who owned the
schools, the district who was responsible for managing the
general upkeep of the schools, and the Bureau of Land
Management that owned the land. He said once there was a
single owner, many of the problems would go away. He said
the mission right now was to try to get a single owner, that
being the respective districts.
Number 612
MS. CARROLL thanked Colonel Vakalis for what he had done and
said it was very impressive.
Number 615
MS. MARTIN stated that there was another party that had not
yet been mentioned and that made things more complicated
than what had already been mentioned. She referred to the
municipalities being the landlord of the school buildings
and having separate statute authority. She said that the
school district could not take ownership, for example, of a
school on Eielson before the assembly.
Number 633
COLONEL VAKALIS asked if that was not primarily a rubber
stamp, once all the requirements of the district had been
met.
Number 635
MS. MARTIN said that was true, to the extent of levying
taxes. She said the district did not levy taxes. She
further stated if the municipality was being asked to take
ownership of a building that needed to be repaired and if it
set the taxes on their taxpayers, it would be an important
aspect.
Number 644
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked Sue Wilken to comment on her
perspective of the situation there. Were they willing to
accept a long-term financial obligation?
Number 653
SUE WILKEN, GOVERNOR'S APPOINTEE, FAIRBANKS, responded that
some people there would be very concerned about having
ownership transferred to the borough, mainly because of the
obligation for taxes. She also said there was a segment of
the population that did not understand the relationship of
money flow, etc. from the military. She said much would
depend on how the task force stayed cohesive in its
information and how the members from Fairbanks delivered
that kind of information.
Number 702
MS. MARTIN responded that her committee had been very
supportive in taking responsibility for the future. She
said they had the new schools and were responsible for the
future of those schools.
Number 715
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said that, for example, on Eielson
there are students who are not necessarily military; she
wanted to know if this was also the case in Anchorage.
Number 723
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked her the question again.
Number 726
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said she was saying that the students
at Eielson were from the vicinity in the community, and were
not necessarily all military students.
Number 728
COLONEL VAKALIS responded that at Fort Richardson, they were
all military on-base schools and students. He said that at
Fort Wainwright, about 95 percent were military and the
other small percentage were not.
Number 742
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER explained that there were only
elementary schools on the bases in Anchorage; once the
students reached junior high or senior high school, they
went to community schools, for example, Bartlett and
Clark.
Number 756
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES stated that she thought this made
Eielson schools a little different because they were a local
school district by themselves.
TAPE 93-2, SIDE A
Number 005
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER said that Ms. Wilken had brought up a
good point, that one of the outcomes of the task force was
that once a plan had been put together, the members would
have to sell it to their constituents for support and
endorsement. He said before taking the plan to Washington,
D.C., or Juneau, it would be important to have a letter of
endorsement from the Fairbanks North Star Borough and
Fairbanks School District and the same for Anchorage,
stating that they supported the idea and were willing to
participate.
Number 017
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES commented that for the most part, there
was a lot of support for the military and they were
integrated very well.
Number 025
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if there were any other comments
or considerations.
Number 032
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES commented that the legislation setting
up the task force had a deadline of November 15 for
recommendations.
Number 035
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER said she was correct and future
meetings were scheduled for September 30 in Anchorage,
October 12 in Fairbanks, and October 25 in Anchorage.
Number 039
SENATOR LEMAN suggested leveraging some money through
volunteer work. He cited the super playground built on
Elmendorf as an example of organized volunteer work. He
thought there would be a lot of people probably willing to
volunteer their time and talent on Elmendorf, Fort
Richardson, Eielson and Fort Wainwright, plus other people
from the community. He thought this might be a way to
expedite getting something done without having to wait
several years.
Number 073
Ms. CARROLL said she also had that thought in the back of
her mind. She thought it could be a good example for the
community and the nation. She wanted to know if this had
been discussed in the past.
Number 089
LT. COLONEL MELCHER responded that from his perspective, he
had two combat heavy engineer companies under him and while
he would like to break ground and do some volunteer work, he
was prohibited from doing so. He was not allowed to compete
with local contractors and take away their opportunity to
compete for contracts.
Number 094
MS. CARROLL asked if this was true even on base.
Number 095
LT. COLONEL MELCHER replied, that yes, this was the case
even on base. The use of military assets for use other than
small scale local troop construction projects was
prohibited.
Number 097
MS. CARROLL asked if he could do it if he went out and got
letters of nonopposition from all of the construction
companies.
Number 098
Someone replied that was correct.
Number 102
LT. COLONEL MELCHER brought up the fact that they were
talking about projects of large magnitude. He cited a $14
million project at Eielson Air Force Base as an example. He
said they would at least have to go to every contractor in
the state and possibly other places, as well.
Number 104
MS. CARROLL said maybe little things, such as handicapped
access could be put in to make a difference.
Number 110
COLONEL VAKALIS stated if the community came up with the
resources, materials and designs, it would be more of a
possibility because those things all cost money. He said he
thought Senator Leman had mainly been referring to volunteer
labor. He stressed that materials would still be needed and
any work done would have to be code inspected. The
volunteer work would have to be overseen. He agreed that
volunteer labor could cut down the overall cost, but it
would take a lot of effort to put it together.
Number 125
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER said the complicating factor was that
this was not a church that was being raised, it was a
multimillion dollar school. But he welcomed the idea of
volunteers and invited members of the task force to come up
with further ideas to show community participation.
Number 141
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN said he agreed. He recommended the
task force write a letter on behalf of each of the school
districts and bases saying that the state legislature would
advocate the matching leveraging of federal money available
from the Department of Defense or Department of Education.
Perhaps this would encourage them by showing what Alaska was
willing to do by matching the money.
Number 162
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER pointed out that the deadline of
November 15 was chosen because the Governor would put out
his budget shortly thereafter. That was the idea behind
encouraging the Governor to go on a tour to try to get his
support.
CAPTAIN PORTER said perhaps the task force could look at the
review coming back from the seven schools in Anchorage, as
far as life safety code issues. He did not know if this had
been done up at Eielson. He asked if any of the items
identified in 1988 or 1989 had been accomplished.
Number 187
MS. MARTIN responded that the study was updated in 1990, but
she did not know, comparing that to maintenance that may
have been done, what had been taken care of.
Number 190
COLONEL VAKALIS said he thought the leveraging was a good
idea because it was enticement. However, he said it really
would not be military dollars, but instead Department of
Defense and/or Department of Education dollars.
Number 195
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN said what he had meant was to go
through the Department of Defense to address the Department
of Education.
Number 196
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER summarized that the focus of this
meetings discussion had been the successful transfer of the
base schools to the local school districts. He asked if
that was a fair assessment of Fairbanks.
Number 202
MS. MARTIN asked if what he meant was that Fairbanks was
interested in the transferring.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER responded yes.
Number 204
MS. MARTIN said they had always been agreeable to the
transfer under the conditions they had set out in their
plan. She said, for example, they were not willing to
accept Taylor and Pennel elementary in their current
condition, instead they wanted a new school. They were
willing to accept Anderson and Ben Eielson if they were
renovated.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER reiterated that seemed to be the focus
and premise.
Number 212
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES commented that she thought todays
meeting was very constructive and planned to get additional
ideas on paper to the task force.
Number 215
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER stated that the next meeting would be
Thursday, September 30. He said the task force would tour
Elmendorf and Fort Richardson schools and said the Governor
would be invited to go on the tour and attend the task force
meeting.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER continued that he hoped to either have
Senator Stevens or a member of his staff on line for that
meeting to give them a better assessment of where things
presently stood in Washington, D.C. He further stated he
had met with Senator Stevens the previous week and he had
indicated that he held out some hope for additional funds to
be identified.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked the school district members to
look through the list of priorities and highlight any they
felt might be able to be accomplished through volunteer
labor.
ADJOURNMENT
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER adjourned the meeting at 3:32 p.m.
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