Aniak’s junior and senior high school has been suddenly closed due to structural concerns in the school’s gymnasium. The district is considering a controlled demolition of the school to preserve an attached elementary school.
Kuspuk School District Superintendent Madeline Aguillard said that the district has long been aware of structural concerns at the aging junior and senior high school. But during the recent winter break, she said that she was shocked at what one of the school’s basketball coaches observed in the gymnasium during practice.
"All of a sudden they start hearing, like, these really loud cracks. And then eventually someone looked up and was like, ‘Oh, well, there's also a giant crack in the ceiling,’ Aguillard said.
Aguillard said that the gym has been closed since Jan. 5. On Jan. 19, the district abruptly closed the whole school and instructed students in grades six through 12 to report to the attached, recently constructed elementary school. The gym has become too unsafe.
"Those cracks started off to be about 2 inches there on the ridge line. It went the whole ridge line of the gym, and now they're about, it's about 6 inches," Aguillard said. "It appears that most of the gymnasium roof joists have already broken. The structural engineer is estimating there may be about a quarter of them left."
If the gymnasium were to collapse, Aguillard said that it would be catastrophic for the adjoining elementary school as well.
"If that high school side goes down on its own, it's taking every single system down with it. And we absolutely will not be able to have school in that building for the rest of this year, for sure," Aguillard said.
Aguillard said that the district is working to continue holding classes for displaced middle and high school students in the district office and other spaces in the community. She said that the structural engineer recommended staying away from the junior and senior high school building altogether.
"They strongly recommended the gym be demolished immediately and that no one be allowed near it until demolition or collapse is complete," Aguillard said.
Aguillard said that she doesn’t know where funding for a demolition would come from. She said that she’s trying to convince the state education department that the two adjoining buildings are separate schools eligible for separate levels of funding.
The district is one of 19 in Alaska that rely nearly entirely on state funds due to an inability to collect significant local taxes, according to reporting by the Anchorage Daily News.
Aguillard has worked for the district for seven years – the last four as superintendent. She that said she’s not sure how Aniak’s schools ended up being connected. It was before her time.
"I assume it's unlikely that a whole lot of places build a brand new building onto a 40-year-old building. And I don't know how that went through any sort of approval process," Aguillard said.
Aguillard said that a school demolition would represent more than the loss of cherished space for generations of Aniak residents who have passed through the school’s halls.
"There's nowhere else to go play an actual game of basketball. Even a funeral, like, we were that space, and we are that, you know, space for a birthday party. We are that space for emergency response," Aguillard said.
Aguillard said that the news has hit her like a ton of bricks. She said that the district is rushing to meet with its insurer and take the next steps toward potentially leveling Aniaks’s junior and senior high school.
