School Board Communication

Updated 4/2/2025

Chugach is at risk of the two Chugach classroom teaching positions cut in ASD's 2025-26 budget not being reinstated. The loss of these positions means we could have multiple family groups with 40-plus students next year. Alternatively, if only one teaching position is reinstated it will likely fill the open Primary position, and Chugach's sixth grade program could be at risk.

The next School Board meeting is Tuesday, April 8, 6-11 p.m. in the ASD Education Center Boardroom at the ASD Education Center (5530 E. Northern Lights Blvd). Here is what we need you to do TODAY:

• Sign up to testify IN PERSON at the ASD School Board meeting on Tuesday, April 8.

  • Please sign up to testify using the link here by 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 7. You can register to provide testimony in-person, by phone or in writing. Please consider IN PERSON testimony for this meeting, but if you cannot be there in person please submit written testimony.

  • We are also encouraging students to sign up to testify, particularly current fifth graders. 

  • Even if you do not sign up to testify, please plan to attend the ASD School Board meeting on April 8 and wear purple for Chugach. We need to fill the room with Chugach supporters. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. and the main room will fill up quickly. Please plan to arrive early if possible to get seats in the boardroom. If you can't be there at 6 p.m., that's OK! Come when you can and stay as long as you can. 

• Write a letter to the school board. You can send it to this email address schoolboard@asdk12.org to reach all members of the school board. Full school board contact information is here. 

Tips and Chugach-Specific Talking Points for April 8, 2025 School Board Meeting Testimony

Below are talking points that we have developed and expanded on specifically for the April 8 ASD School Board meeting. 

A few tips as you prepare your testimony:

• Please sign up to testify by 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 7. (Written testimony must be submitted by this time as well.)

• In-person testimony is usually limited to 3-minutes per person. However, at recent meetings they have shortened that to 2-minutes due to the volume of testimony. Be prepared for 2-minute testimony.

• It’s important that we come from a place of kindness and focus on the uniqueness of our program and its success for more than 50 years. 

• We have provided generic sample scripts here and short scripts based on the below points here that you can tailor. We encourage you to include your own stories or anecdotes about Chugach, if possible.

• Whatever you choose to say in your testimony, please make the ask clear: You are here to support Chugach Optional and we are asking for the reinstatement of two classroom teaching positions. 

1. High Achievement; High Growth: Chugach Optional students are consistently in the top elementary schools for growth and achievement in the district. Chugach’s program is working. Here’s some data:

   • In the 2024-25 school year, 43% of 3rd-6th grade students within ASD scored above the 50th percentile on the MAP Growth Math test compared to 67% of 3rd-6th graders at Chugach. 

   • For the same time period and students, 50% of ASD students scored above the 50th percentile on MAP Growth Reading compared to 79% of Chugach students.
     
     

2. Chugach Philosophy: Chugach Optional currently operates a successful model of alternative public education. Our program operates with a two-year curriculum cycle with multi-age classrooms as an essential component (this is not the same as a combination class). Our program structure also includes differentiated instruction, theme study spanning multiple subjects, and project-based learning. Chugach’s entire program is intentionally designed and a change to one aspect will negatively impact the entire program. The loss of even one teaching position uniquely affects us because every aspect of our program has been purposely designed. Our concern is that as we start to pull at the pieces, the program will fall apart entirely.

3. Streamline Staffing and Program Costs: Chugach already operates with a bare bones staff compared to most elementary schools of our size. For example, we do not have an assistant principal, a full-time counselor, or a reading coach – our teachers, librarian, and support staff support these functions. Chugach also does not provide bussing, a significant cost. Chugach already costs the district less money and yet, as mentioned above, is still an incredibly successful academic program. 

4. Program Capacity: Currently some elementary schools are operating at a 39% program capacity according to ASD’s Six-Year Capital Improvement Plan, while Chugach is operating at 108% program capacity. Increasing our program capacity is a safety issue as we simply do not have a place for more students.

5. Complexity of Hiring Optional Teachers: Hiring teachers for an optional program like Chugach is similar to hiring teachers for other specialized programs, such as language immersion. Optional teachers need to be experienced with team teaching, multi-age teaching, and have experience and belief in the optional philosophy. Losing positions now will make it that much harder to hire qualified optional teachers in the future. 

6. Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Right now, the district’s pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) is 24:1 and will increase to 26:1 next year. Chugach’s current PTR is approximately 25:1. With the loss of two teaching positions, Chugach’s PTR will be 30:1, but because of our multi-aged classroom structure some classes, including our Primary classes made up of first- and second-grade students, will have more than 40 students. We cannot just restructure or shuffle kids to classes at the grade level needed when you have intentional multi-age classrooms. 

7. Long Waitlist, Particularly for Sixth Grade: Chugach currently has a waitlist of dozens of students JUST for sixth grade openings. These are families who want their children to attend Chugach for one year because 1) they want to keep them in elementary school through sixth grade and 2) because Chugach is a strong school with successful academic and social-emotional outcomes.