A month after state lawmakers overrode a gubernatorial veto of education funding, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is restoring some of the budget cuts it implemented earlier this year.
School board members Monday OK’d $1.83 million worth of spending – more than half of the roughly $3 million the district received because of the veto override. Outgoing Board President Zen Kelly says the board’s now had time to digest the news.
“With the override of the governor's veto, the budgetary veto and the full $700 BSA increase coming to the district, we can start this discussion on things that we might want to do moving forward into this year,” he said.
The board spent Monday hashing out how the money should, and shouldn’t, be spent over several hours of meetings.
The board voted to restore money it previously cut for high school extracurricular stipends and transportation, and for school curriculum materials. And the future of the Ninilchik and Seldovia school pools is now secure – at least for another year. The board previously voted to close those facilities due to budget shortfalls, over the protests of community members.
Last month, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly unanimously backed a resolution calling on the school board to restore funding for the two pools. And voters in Ninilchik are preparing to consider a ballot proposition next month that would shift the cost burden to taxpayers in a proposed recreation service area.
But school board members like Virginia Morgan say the borough should help cover pool maintenance costs, given how many non-school groups use the facilities.
“We keep having this conversation every year, and I think we need to be very clear that these pools are community resources,” she said. “They are not just school resources for students.”
The school board didn’t just restore previous cuts. It also approved several new expenses. Those include a new truck for the school district warehouse, five special education aides for students with intensive needs, a contracted communications specialist and a program aimed at helping current district staff become paraeducators.
That’s all in addition to a two-week career and technical education program for rural students and a counseling secretary for the district’s middle college program. That program is also getting most of the funding it lost due to budget cuts.
Multiple board members, however, including Nikiski representative Jason Tauriainen, cautioned against writing checks now the district won’t be able to cash later.
“While we did get this and we have money available, you know, some of this is going to be taken up by continued salary increases, health care increases, and we know that, and so we're trying to make sure that we don't put ourselves in a poor situation,” he said. “So we want to make smart choices here.”
The district will still be in the black by about $2.4 million, even after the new spending approved by board members. One major outstanding expense is ongoing contract negotiations between the district and its two largest employee unions. The two groups’ initial proposals asked for raises with a combined price tag of more than $15 million.
