A recent freeze on certain federal education grants will short Kenai Peninsula schools roughly $3 million in money previously approved by Congress. The grants pay for Kenai Peninsula Borough School District programs targeting migrant students, English language learners and teacher efficacy.
Superintendent Clayton Holland told school board members earlier this month the freeze is the latest blow in what he calls a “year of uncertainty.”
“We don’t know if this is a temporary freeze,” he said. “We don’t know if this is going to come back in a different time or not.”
The cuts directly touch four district programs:
- $1.26 million in Title I-C to Migrant Education
- $1.15 million in Title II-A to Supporting Effective Instruction
- $45,000 in Title III-A to Language Instruction for English Learners
- $606,000 in Title IV-A to Student Support and Academic Enrichment
But Holland says the money overlaps with others in some cases.
The cuts to migrant education eliminate five district employee positions. The district doesn’t have enough of its own money to rehire those employees. Four are moving to open classroom positions. The fifth will be paid with grant funds the district carried over from the previous year.
Another program impacted is the 21st Century Community Learning Centers. It gives money to organizations that partner with schools to provide learning and enrichment opportunities outside of school hours, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Kenai Peninsula.
Shanette Wik is the CEO of the Kenai Peninsula clubs. She declined to be interviewed, but said via email the freeze has “serious implications” for clubs across Alaska.
According to the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Kenai Peninsula, four of the peninsula’s seven clubhouses get money through the federal community learning program. Those four operate at school district facilities including the Kasilof clubhouse at Tustumena Elementary School.
“We are focused today on creating awareness of this issue and bringing together all our supporters on the Kenai Peninsula and in the State of Alaska to advocate for the continuation of this critical investment in our kids,” Wik said.
Last month, the organization’s Kasilof Clubhouse announced its application for federal funding was “unsuccessful.” As a result, the clubhouse said it won’t reopen after summer programming ends Aug. 1. But Wik says the closure of their Kasilof Clubhouse is unrelated to the federal freeze.
Holland says Sterling Elementary School applied for money through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers. But the school didn’t hear back about the application status before the funds were frozen.
The federal education department said last week it would release about a fifth of the frozen funds for after-school programs.
Ruby Glaser, a spokesperson for Kenai Peninsula College said via email Wednesday the college doesn’t have enough information to say whether any of its programming will be impacted. Last year, the college received a federal grant worth $2.3 million to launch a program to support migrant students.
This week, a trio of Alaska school districts joined others around the country in suing the federal government over the funding freeze. The complaint says the Trump administration’s decision to withhold money already approved by Congress violates federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
Holland says the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District was not approached about participating in the suit.
