For the first time, teacher housing is coming to Naknek, funded, in part, through a grant from the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. The Bristol Bay Borough will cover the remaining costs.
In November, the Bristol Bay Borough School District was awarded $464,507 from the corporation's Rural Professional Housing (RPH) Grant Funds to build two duplexes for teachers. The program, funded by the state, supports housing projects for schools, corporations, and other organizations in Alaska communities.
The Bristol Bay School District was among nine awardees of the corporation's 2025 RPH grant funding. The awardees included other school districts, city councils, and tribal organizations around the state. More than $4.7 million in funding was distributed.
Shannon Harvilla is the superintendent of the Bristol Bay Borough School District. He says the need for teacher housing has been on the district’s radar for years.
“The biggest barrier to finding quality candidates is the uncertainty of housing,” said Harvilla. “We've always been willing to talk to local individuals willing to rent but a lot of them only rent in the winter and come occupy their properties in the summer for fishing season. Having year-round residences for the teachers makes them a more integral part of our community.”
However, the grant fell short of the $805,000 the district estimated for the project. So, the Bristol Bay Borough agreed to cover the difference in cost and manage the construction.
Harvilla says the borough’s support during the grant application process was key to moving the project forward.
“As a small district, it was really time-consuming. I worked on it pretty much solely myself. We don't have any support staff over here,” said Harvilla. “But with the support of the Borough Manager, the Borough Staff, and some people with a little more expertise in construction than I have, we were able to pull it together.”
The two duplexes will be built on an empty lot next to the school, across from the basketball court and overlooking the tundra. The project will provide housing for four teachers—nearly half of the 11 teachers currently on staff.
If the units are vacant in the summer, Harvilla says they will house seasonal city employees, such as EMTs, clinicians, and law enforcement.
Once the units are constructed, Harvilla says the school district will work with the Bristol Bay Education Association to determine occupancy policies, such as how long teachers can stay in the units and whether the housing will be subsidized. As of now, Harvilla says they plan to charge market rates for rent. The district does not plan to profit from the project.
Construction is expected to begin this spring, with the goal of completing the housing by December. The contract for the construction is currently out for bid.
