Mat-Su charter school construction on hold pending district vote on three school closures

What you need to know:

• Mat-Su Borough has paused funding and construction of the $26.6 million Birchtree Charter School building until the school district decides whether to close three neighborhood schools.
• If those schools close, officials may move Birchtree into an existing vacant building instead of constructing a new one. Funding and construction American and Academy Charter schools is already in progress, and is expected to continue regardless of school closure.
• The district faces a nearly $23 million budget gap, and a vote on school closures expected Wednesday will determine whether the Birchtree project moves forward or remains on hold.

• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

PALMER – Mat-Su Borough officials have paused funding and the construction process for the new $26.6 million Birchtree Charter School building pending a district decision on whether to close a trio of neighborhood schools.

If those traditional schools close, officials will look to move Birchtree into one of the empty spaces rather than construct a new facility, Borough Manager Mike Brown said in an interview Tuesday. Construction on the Birchtree building was set to start this summer but is now on hold, he said.

“Why would we be building a new building if the district's like, ‘here's a couple of empty ones?’” he said.

A Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District 2026-27 budget plan set for a vote Wednesday includes closing Glacier View School and Larson and Meadow Lakes elementary schools near Wasilla as part of a series of cuts designed to make up for a nearly $23 million anticipated funding gap.

Birchtree needs to relocate from its current facility near Palmer because its enrollment has outgrown the space and because the building’s owner does not plan to renew the lease. Its new building is slated for borough-owned property adjacent to Shaw Elementary School in Wasilla.

The Mat-Su School Board unanimously approved the nearly finished $2.5 million design for Birchtree’s new, nearly 50,000-square-foot, two-story building early last month. 

That plan includes heated flooring, large windows and a nature-focused build that meshes with the school’s holistic Waldorf education focus, architect Paul Baril told the school board. A construction contract was set to go out for bids next month, and the building was slated for completion in time for the 2027-28 school year.

Bonds to fund Birchtree’s new building were set for sale early this week, but the plan was halted because of the proposed school closures, Brown said. Vacant school buildings are managed by the borough, which can opt to use them for any purpose, he said.

Construction of the new Birchtree school building is part of a trio of Mat-Su school district public charter school building projects approved by voters in 2024 and includes a total of $58.1 million of work for Birchtree, Academy and American Charter schools.

Birchtree’s new building is the most expensive of the three projects, according to borough documents. 

Bonds for the other two projects were already sold, and construction on American’s building is in progress, putting that work past a stopping point, Brown said. But that is not the case for Birchtree, he said. 

Mat-Su School District officials said they understand the borough’s decision to pause work on Birchtree.

“The district has been exploring options for how existing facilities could be used in the future, including potential scenarios involving charter schools,” district spokesman John Notestine said in a statement Wednesday. “The School Board is scheduled to vote on the superintendent’s FY27 proposed budget tonight, and that decision will inform the district’s next steps.”

If the school is relocated to an existing building, staff would forgo the customized space and instead take over a decades-old facility. Larson Elementary School was built in 2001; Meadow Lakes Elementary School was constructed in 2000.

Mat-Su voters approved funding for Birchtree’s new building in 2024 as part of a $58.1 million bond debt package. That measure also covers the cost of the $15 million new campus and buildings for American Charter School and a $16.4 million expansion of Academy Charter School’s campus in Palmer to provide space for a new high school program.

Borough bond sales and debt provide up-front funding for construction and require Mat-Su property owners to cover repayment costs through future tax payments. The full $58.1 million package was expected to cost taxpayers an extra $31.40 per $100,000 in assessed value each year until the bonds are paid off, according to the ballot measure.

Voter approval for bond-funded projects gives the borough the option to sell debt to pursue construction but does not require it to ultimately take on the project or the debt, borough officials said.

The borough can restart the Birchtree construction bond process if the district ultimately chooses to keep neighborhood school buildings open, Brown said Tuesday.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com