The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is mapping out a strategy for considering school closures in anticipation of future funding shortfalls. The board got its first look at a proposed three-year plan during a work session ahead of Monday’s board meeting.
The school district is projecting a budget shortfall of about $7.5 million heading into next fiscal year. The district says closing schools could help make up the difference.
When considering what schools, if any, to close, District Superintendent Clayton Holland says the district will consider multiple factors, like whether a school is the only one in a community, its projected enrollment, transportation needs, impact on the local economy and the pupil-to-teacher ratio, also called PTR.
“Projected revenues are not adequate to cover expenditures, and consolidation remains a viable long-term option that helps to protect PTR and maintain learning opportunities for students,” he said.
The presentation comes on the heels of a budget cycle where school closures were top of mind. Parents, teachers and students from Sterling Elementary rallied in support of their school after the district considered closure.
The board generally supported a three-year plan presented by district administration. But all agreed they want more information about each scenario before signing off. Under the proposal, the district would review two schools per year for possible closure, pulling from an existing list.
The presentation given to the board suggests Seward Middle and Paul Banks Elementary schools would be first up in the rotation. But Holland says that’s not necessarily the case.
Mica VanBuskirk represents the eastern peninsula on the school board, which includes Seward. She says closing the middle school would harm a community already bearing the brunt of strained school resources. But district officials have previously said closing a school could concentrate more resources into a community’s remaining school. VanBuskirk says that’s what the district should emphasize.
“Seward does not want to close our middle school,” she said. “Period. Seward could be interested in having a conversation about improved opportunities by closing the middle school, not just for the cost basis.”
Data presented to the board earlier this year estimates the potential cost savings of closing certain schools. The district estimates it would save $569,633 the first year after closing Seward Middle. It expects it could save another $838,020 the first year after closing Paul Banks Elementary in Homer.
But those savings would diminish over time due to a provision in state law. Because state education funding is tied to enrollment, the state intervenes after a school closes to prevent a sudden drop-off in funding for relocated students. Five years after closing the school, the savings drop to roughly a quarter of the original amount for both schools.
One consolidation plan is under way. The board signed off on a plan to combine Soldotna and Redoubt elementary schools into the vacant Soldotna Prep School building. That charge was led by the Kenai Peninsula Borough, which has struggled to complete a package of bond projects amid surging costs.
Board President Jason Tauriainen emphasized a decision to close a school would only come after a community meeting with district administration.
“There will be an open discussion,” he said. “Administration is not just going to go off and shut things down. We're going to have discussions. There'll be action before something like that happens.”
That was the case for Nikolaevsk, a Russian Old Believer village about 10 miles east of Anchor Point. Earlier this year, district administrators held a meeting at the school to talk about a possible closure due to cost savings. The board later voted to close the school.
Closing a school has long-term implications. State law says any school closed because of declining enrollment cannot reopen for at least seven years.
The Kenai Peninsula is far from being the only district in Alaska closing schools to save money. The Fairbanks school board voted earlier this year to close three schools. The Anchorage School District also shuttered two schools.
