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For K-Selo residents, advocating for a new school doesn’t come easily

Renee Gross, KBBI News

On Tuesday, Kenai Peninsula voters will decide on ballot Proposition 1, which will appropriate roughly $5.4 million for a new school in the small village of Kachemak Selo. The three school buildings in the village have been disintegrating for years. However, for most community members advocating for the new school doesn’t come easily.  

 

 

Nine-year-old Matfey knows all the reasons Kachemak Selo needs a new school from the slanted floors and occasional flooding to the mold growing in various crevices of the elementary school building.

 

“[My] Mom wants to get a new school too because she doesn't feel safe, and she doesn't want her family, well, she doesn't want anyone to die in the village,” he said.

 

Matfey’s mother brings him and his siblings to speak at Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meetings and other events to advocate for the bond that would help fund a new school.

 

His mother doesn’t speak at the meetings, and recently, it’s Matfey and his siblings testifying to decision makers, almost like they’re the de-facto spokespeople for the small village.

 

“They’re [the meetings] are practically like you’re in "America’s Got Talent" and you speak in a speaker,” he said. “The first time I was shy, but then the second time got a little normal. Third time: really normal.”

Getting to these meetings isn’t easy. There is no legal road leading out of the village. The steep switchback residents use to get in and out of town is dangerous to drive on, especially in the wintertime.

 

Sometimes men are also out fishing during meetings. But there is another reason it can be hard: residents do not want to draw attention to themselves.

 

“A lot of the Russians tend to be reserved,” said Arena White, an Old Believer who lives in a neighboring village and teaches Russian at Kachemak Selo.

 

She’s also not a fan of public speaking. She says that reserved nature has been helpful to Old Believer’s survival, and it’s what lead them to live in a remote location near the head of Kachemak Bay.

“It helps preserve the culture and the language,” she said.

 

She knows firsthand how culture can be lost with assimilation. She went to a public school in Canada. Half of the students were non-Russian and half were Russian.

 

“I did see a lot of them struggling and maybe wanting to fit in more with non-Russians,” she said. “They would lose the language because they would be afraid to speak it. People would make fun of you. You know, you speak Russian or you dress different.”

 

Now she’s committed to keeping the Russian language and culture alive. She and other residents agree a new school will do just that. Some families have promoted the school around the peninsula. Some traveled to Juneau to speak with legislators.  

 

The Legislature responded to residents uncharacteristic public attempts to advocate for the school. It appropriated roughly $10 million for the project, which is set to expire in 2019.

 

Still, it’s unclear if the battle for a new school is won.

 

At the last Kenai Peninsula Borough meeting before the election, there were no Kachemak Selo residents to be seen. But elected officials and residents on both sides of the issue spoke passionately about the school. Representative Paul Seaton reminded voters that the state is legally obligated to pay for a safe school and that the borough would typically be on the hook for the entire school, which is roughly $15.5 million.

 

“I don’t think there will ever be a better deal for the Kenai Peninsula Borough to build a school where you have up-front two-thirds of the project funded by the state and not have to bond for that and anticipate bond at reimbursement," he said.

 

If the borough doesn’t provide a safe school in a timely manner, he said it’s likely the issue will be settled in court.

  

Everyone who spoke at the meeting agreed the students deserve an education. But people wondered if there were cheaper ways to provide it. Ninilchik resident Ruby Denison said she wants to see the students go to school online, though state law requires schools to be built in communities with at least 10 school-aged children.

 

“They’ve chosen to live in a remote place and the people who live there have to take more responsibility for their own situation,” she said. “They cannot expect to have downtown services when they live in such a remote location.”

 

Back in Kachemak Selo, White and her students sing a song in Russian together. She is committed to teaching them their native language. She says it honors the sacrifices her ancestors made moving from country to country.

 

“They had moved all these places trying to find the best place that they could be themselves, and preserve their ways, hoping their children would follow in their footsteps,” she said. “And I just feel like it would be such a big let down if we don't try.”

 

The municipal election is this upcoming Tuesday.

 

Renee joined KBBI in 2017 as a general assignment reporter and host. Her work has appeared on such shows as Weekend Edition Saturday, The World, Marketplace and Studio 360. Renee previously interned as a reporter for KPCC in Los Angeles and as a producer for Stateside at Michigan Radio. Her work has earned her numerous press club awards. She holds an M.S. in journalism from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in women's studies from the University of Michigan.
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