Recently, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District asked parents of students in the Russian Old Believer community of Voznesenka, how they felt about their children going to a new school, outside their community.
The District and the community have been arguing about a lease agreement for buildings that house the school for nearly a year.
District officials started the conversation with parents in Vosnesenka in March. They’re working on the budget for 2017. And they say if they can’t come to an agreement with the community on the lease they may have to close the school. It all revolves around the cost of water at the school.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District leases school buildings in some Russian Old Believer communities on the southern Kenai Peninsula. That’s the case in Voznesenka, near the head of Kachemak Bay.
Peggy Erkeneffis a spokesperson for the School District. She says the district recently asked the Principal at Voznesenka School, Mike Wojciak, to talk with parents about what might happen if a lease agreement is not reached.
“The Assistant Superintendent did ask our principal there to speak to the families and find out what they would choose to do if KPBSD was forced to close that school and look at what other options that we have for elementary, middle school and high school students in the Homer area as well as our Connections Home School [program],” said Erkeneff.
Erkeneff says the district had a contractor do a study last year which came up with a market rate for leasing the school at $1.05 per square foot, including water.
“Where we’re stuck with the water now is that the district does not want to pay an additional cost of water on top of the $1.05 per square foot to compensate for separate water payments and then VCCI has not yet provided any substantiation of the increased water costs that it seeks,” said Erkeneff.
Vosnesenka Community Council Incorporated, or VCCI, is a non-profit that owns the school property and buildings. Erkeneff says the District has agreed to lease the existing Voznesenka School buildings and, once it’s finished, an additional building that the community started constructing without consulting the District for a grand total of about $112,000 per year. They’ve also agreed to add 2 percent a year to the lease, moving forward.
But VCCI’s attorney, Lindsay Wolter, says that amount excludes the cost of water which is substantial in the village. She says the community feels bullied by the district.
“Being pushed back by the school district every step of the way, it does feel a little bit like they’re just being stepped on again and again and again,” said Wolter.
Wolter says the community’s goal from the very beginning has always been to do the best they can for the children of Voznesenka.
“The community has been trying to get a fair rental rate so that they can help provide these amenities like a library and a gymnasium for these students but they have to have the money to do so which means they need to collect a fair rent,” said Wolter.
VCCI, is asking for an additional $750 per month, or $9,000 per year, to pay for water at the school. Wolter, says the district’s market analysis, which includes water is flawed.
“That report is based on comparables with Homer commercial properties, none of which are like Voznesenka School nor are they reflective of what water rates actually are at the school. So for example, the building where my office is could have been used as a comparable. I pay about $70 a month in water. That’s ten times less than what Voznesenka pays for water,” said Wolter.
The Council and the District have been arguing about the terms of the lease for more than a year. The lease expired last June.
If an agreement is not reached VCCI’s attorney says they intend to enforce a $300 per day penalty on the district and if they can’t come to an agreement soon, the matter could end up in court.
District officials say a work session about the Voznesenka School lease is scheduled for the next meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School Board in Soldotna on April 4th.
