Kenai Peninsula Borough School District

On today’s episode of the Kenai Conversation, we’re joined by Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland.

State lawmakers put $144 million in bonus funding for K-12 schools in the state operating budget, of which Kenai Peninsula schools would get around $9.5 million. The additional funding is subject to approval by Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

Middle and high school coaches and directors would also be required to complete mandatory reporting training, although those adults would not become mandatory reporters. All school district volunteers are already required to pass a background check.

Schools will get at least as much local money for operations as they did last year after borough assembly members on Tuesday pledged to give the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District around $62.5 million.

It’s been over a year since the district and its two largest employee unions swapped contract proposals. Union members say they’re frustrated with the sluggish process.

Nikiski Middle/High School’s Bulldog Theater opens ‘Anything Goes’ on May 1. The show features romance and humor on a cruise ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean, and marks the final performance for some of the school’s seniors.

City Manager Terry Eubank says he’s met with other city managers and the borough mayor to talk through possible solutions, and that Kenai’s all-age nonprofit swim team has been proactive. Starting July 1, the school district will stop funding the pool.

The school board budget closes four schools and cuts millions of dollars in programs and employees. But board members said they’d reverse certain cuts if the assembly funded the school district at the same level as last year.

The school district wants an inflationary bump to what it got from the borough last year. That still comes with millions in cuts to programs and staff. That’s why others are asking the borough for the maximum funding allowable under state law, also called the ‘cap.’

Representatives of the Soldotna Silver Salmon Swim Team have ideas for making the pool profitable, and say Soldotna has a vibrant enough base of swimmers to keep the schedule busy.