Planning is advancing on a permanent replacement for the Stebbins school, which burned down in 2024. Bering Strait School District (BSSD) confirmed that the new facility will be built uphill from the old site with construction expected to take three to four years once ground work begins.
The district said the design is about 35% complete, with final refinements underway before it goes out to bid.
The new school will be a two-story structure that includes a gym, cafeteria and specialized classrooms, with only the vocational shop located outside the main building.
“We’re actually going two-story with it, just to save on cost,” facilities project manager LA Commack said. “Everything is just more efficient when everything’s compact in a building.”
The uphill site was picked in part because of conversations with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The site of the old school was just 300 feet from the shore of Stebbins and prone to coastal flooding.
“It’s looked at as an emergency shelter,” facilities manager Matt Wirth said. “And that was one thing, was that FEMA had a problem with that. You can’t have an emergency shelter located in the flood zone, because that’s where people are expected to evacuate to.”
The site for the new school is owned by the Stebbins Native Corporation. The land will be leased to the district for at least 55 years, the minimum requirement for state school construction funding according to Commack.
Commack said building on the hill introduced engineering challenges. Test holes showed unstable ground and permafrost, requiring piles driven up to 60 feet into the ground. Water, sewer, and fuel systems will also need to be extended from town.
The new school will be near one of Stebbins’ primary sources of power, a 900kW wind turbine shared with St. Michael.
Within weeks of the old school burning down, temporary classrooms and housing were built so students could remain in Stebbins instead of commuting to St. Michael. Wirth said the effort required long hours and coordination across the geographically-dispersed district.
“It really kind of brought us all together. Just the outpour of support from the office and the higher ups, and then even the rest of the district being like ‘hey, I get you can’t take care of my problem right now. I know you guys got a lot going on’ was impressive.”
After the fire, community members and staff stepped in to keep learning on track. Some even set up temporary kitchens in their homes to keep students fed.
“That just shows the resilience for the whole community down there,” Wirth said, “No matter what happens, they’re going to take care of each other, which is pretty awesome.”
Community involvement has shaped the new school’s design. BSSD invited Stebbins leaders and school staff to review multiple concepts and select a preferred layout out of several options. The new facility will also include modern features like wireless RFID cards to enter the building – a first for BSSD.
Construction work is set to begin with site and civil preparation in the 2026 season. The district estimates the project could be completed as early as 2028, depending on funding. The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development’s Capital Improvement Project budget, passed this spring, placed the project’s estimated cost at just over $111 million. The department listed the Stebbins project as its fifth highest priority project.
