The Anchorage School District revised the list of schools scheduled to close in an email to parents on Wednesday. Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt announced that Bear Valley, Tudor and Wonder Park elementary schools are no longer on the list of possible school closures.

The district also changed the schedule for the four remaining schools on the list, Baxter, Fire Lake, Lake Hood and Nunaka Valley. Instead of a three-year closure plan, the updated proposal calls for all four schools to close at the end of the spring semester. The Anchorage School Board will make the final decision on Dec. 17.

In a memo to the school board, leaders wrote that community feedback led them to change their minds about the number of schools to close.

Adrienne Michel has two children who attend Bear Valley. She said it has been an emotional time for her family since the closure list was announced.

“A lot of us feel like we’ve kind of lost the month of November and the holiday spirit isn’t there as much anymore because we’ve just been so busy with all the things,” Michel said. “I’m truly grateful that this weekend I can breathe a sigh of relief and be thankful once again and be with our families 100%.”

Michel said Bear Valley parents mobilized within minutes of the first size list being released. Dozens of Bear Valley parents and students spoke during public testimony at two school board meetings this month, and parents attended every community meeting hosted by the district.

“At the beginning of this process, it felt very final,” Michel said. “They saw that there was legitimate opposition for very legitimate reasons, and the further we got into the community conversations, the more the tone was, ‘Hey, we’re still in the process of fact-finding.’ We’re still collecting data like we’re looking for the parts we left out.’”

Andy Holleman, president of the Anchorage school board, said board members will carefully consider the decision.

“It’s about making sure we don’t cause unintentional harm,” Holleman said. “We have to close some schools. We need to increase the numbers in fewer buildings, but whether that will be exactly what the board decides we won’t know until it decides.”

Holleman encouraged parents to continue to provide feedback to district staff and school board members.

Board member Kelly Lessens reiterated her call for increased state funding for schools.

“Although the administration talks about right-sizing improving service delivery, the reality at the end of the day is that if we don’t, services for all students in all schools and at all grade levels will be terribly compromised “If we pass our budget in mid-February, we will not have any additional funds available,” said Lessens.

Bryant announced in April that the district would need to close more schools to more efficiently serve its ever-shrinking student population. The district proposed closing six schools in 2022, but ultimately chose to close only Abbott Loop Elementary after an outcry from parents. The district also closed two schools at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in the last decade.

“The district’s limited resources are not robust enough to meet the needs of all students, and these pressures are particularly evident in very small schools,” the memo to board members said. “While the district recognizes the benefits of small schools, the state does not support the resources the district needs to provide the same level of academic performance to all schools.”

The district released its initial list of schools scheduled to close on Nov. 4 and held five meetings with community members to discuss the plan with families. In the memo, administrators wrote that Bear Valley plans to fill empty classrooms with child care. Tudor Montessori students said they did not plan to move to Denali Montessori as the district intended, but instead wanted to attend Lake Otis Elementary School. Additional students from Tudor would have overwhelmed Lake Otis Elementary School’s capacity. Wonder Park has been removed from the right-size list to accommodate preschool students from Nunaka Valley, which is still scheduled to close.