schools didn't make the cut

The Anchorage School District is set to go without a $79 million bond for building repairs after voters rejected the measure in this week's round of ballot counting. A companion education tax levy, which would have raised $11.8 million to hire 80 new classroom teachers and support staff, is trailing by nearly the same margin. Both measures appeared on the same municipal ballot as Proposition 2, a roads and drainage bond, and a separate parks bond.

The rejection means families and teachers across Anchorage's school buildings, some of which haven't seen major upgrades in decades, will not see the funded repairs unless the district finds another funding source. This is the first time in recent memory that Anchorage voters have turned down a school bond.

Proposition 2 passed with more than 60 percent approval, and the parks bond cleared 55 percent, showing a clear gap between how voters treated infrastructure measures and how they treated school funding on the same ballot.

Final certification of the election results is scheduled for April 28. Unless remaining ballots produce a dramatic swing, both the school bond and the education tax levy will fail, leaving the Anchorage School District to address building repairs without the new money voters declined to approve.