Alaska Legislature approves millions for facilities upgrades at Mt. Edgecumbe High School

Mt Edgecumbe High School student dormitories are seen on Oct. 6, 2025 (Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

By Corinne Smith

Alaska Beacon

The Alaska Legislature approved millions for immediate upgrades to the facilities at the state-run boarding school, Mt. Edgecumbe High School. 

Mt. Edgecumbe has been the focus of public concern and legislative hearings this year, after more than 100 students disenrolled during the school year. Lawmakers called the state’s management of the school into question after witnessing deteriorating facilities, particularly dorms and student living areas. 

In response, legislators designated funding in next year’s budget for improvements at the boarding school: $10 million to renovate the dining hall and kitchen, $3 million to replace dorm windows, and thousands to replace mattresses, dorm furniture and decades-old laundry machines. They also approved a new maintenance manager position at the school and earmarked $450,000 for student travel, utilities costs, student activities, and mental health services.

Lawmakers also approved a bill to include Mt. Edgecumbe in a state grant program for funding major maintenance and construction projects in rural school districts. Lawmakers say the change will help streamline funding and prioritize improvement projects at the state-run boarding school moving forward. 

Senate Bill 146 passed the Legislature and now goes to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for consideration. If approved, the bill would add Mt. Edgecumbe construction and maintenance projects to be included among those eligible for the state’s Regional Education Attendance Area and Small Municipal School District fund. The grant program is run by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development for rural school districts’ major maintenance and construction in areas without local municipal governments contributing funds. 

Rep. Robyn Frier, D-Utgiavik, the bill’s sponsor, is a third-generation alumna of the school, and her son graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe this year. “So this school is deeply meaningful to me and to many rural Alaskans across our state,” she said on the House floor Tuesday.

Frier noted that students from over 100 rural, mostly Alaska Native communities attend Mt. Edgecumbe every year. 

“Unlike other schools in the state, Mt. Edgecumbe is not included on the school construction and major maintenance grant list. Instead, the school falls under statewide departmental maintenance list and must rely on the department to prioritize and advance maintenance requests. This differs greatly from other districts around the state, which are able to advocate directly for their own projects and apply for major maintenance funding,” she said. 

If approved, the bill would also lift the $70 million cap on the REAA fund, allowing the Legislature to put more state dollars into the fund.

Maintenance at Mt. Edgecumbe was managed by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities up until 2022, and then transferred to DEED. 

Officials with DEED did not provide details about how Mt. Edgecumbe maintenance is managed or how projects are prioritized within the department on Thursday. 

A similar proposal that would have changed the funding source for Mt. Edgecumbe as well as allow that money to go to maintain rural teacher housing was passed by the Legislature last year with bipartisan support, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed it. In a veto message, the governor wrote that expanding the fund for teacher housing would “diminish equity across school districts” by “diverting already scarce dollars away from critical classroom repairs and complicating grant rankings.”

The governor also opposed repealing the cap on the REAA fund. He objected to the additional state money going into the fund “without project deadlines and adding ongoing operating costs to the state.”

In the current bill, a provision to include funding for teacher housing maintenance projects was removed. Frier noted that any funding above $70 million that goes unused will be lapsed back into the state’s general fund at the end of the fiscal year. 

• Corinne Smith started reporting in Alaska in 2020, serving as a radio reporter for several local stations across the state including in Petersburg, Haines, Homer and Dillingham. She spent two summers covering the Bristol Bay fishing season. Originally from Oakland, California, she got her start as a reporter, then morning show producer, at KPFA Radio in Berkeley. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.