Anchorage School District releases Mount Spurr eruption plan

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Anchorage School District leaders have activated their Emergency Operations Center and released their plan if Mt. Spurr — located just 75 miles west of Anchorage — were to erupt, as the Alaska Volcano Observatory has predicted within the next weeks to months.

“We are working daily with the Alaska Volcano Observatory [AVO],” Jared Woody, the Senior Director of the Office of Emergency Management for ASD, said Friday. ”We’re also coordinating with the Municipality of Anchorage Office of Emergency Management and our internal departments to the school districts to make sure that we’re getting ready across the entire district for everything we may need.

“And [EOC] that will start assisting with coordination.”

As of Friday morning, the district said it is prepared if the volcano were to erupt immediately.

“I feel comfortable,” Chief Operating Officer Jim Anderson said, adding the district currently has 22 Connex units across the district ready to be used in case of an emergency.

Each Connex, Anderson said, is filled with enough masks for staff members, students and visitors that may be inside of buildings.

“We have we have a significant number of masks leftover from COVID. Well over 300,000,” Anderson said. “The containers have another 50,000 … we have already ordered about 1,500 pairs of eye protection.”

Additionally, each Connex is equipped with other supplies like menstrual products, diapers, first aid supplies, and bathroom supplies.

Eruption Timeline

Once an eruption occurs, Anderson said the district will work with the observatory, the municipality and JBER leadership to determine how far out ashfall is from falling in the Anchorage Bowl.

If ashfall is approaching Anchorage, the district will end school for the day. If ashfall does not occur, the district will not close schools.

“If they say there is no ash coming to Anchorage, it’s business as usual. We may pre-stage buses, but if they say it’s coming now, we will close schools, we’ll inform the public,” Anderson said. “We’ve already walked us through with transportation and they will start slowly getting kids home as they would a normal end of day.”

If conditions are unsafe for students to leave the building, the district said both middle schools and high schools have the ability for students to shelter in place.

Anderson noted elementary students can temporarily shelter in place and, if needed, can be transferred then to a nearby middle or high school.

Ventilation

The district noted it will also close the school’s exterior H/VAC intake vents to prevent as much ash from getting inside school buildings as possible.

“We can remotely close the external ventilation,” Anderson said. “We’ve already talked to all the principals and given them guidance, you close every window, close all the doors and you do everything you can to prevent ash from coming into the building.”

Closing external vents takes about 15 to 20 minutes to complete.

The district is also advising households to reach out to their school’s leadership to disclose any additional medical needs their students may have.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

Copyright 2025 KTUU. All rights reserved.