With the passage of the Fiscal Year 2018 budget this week by the Borough Assembly, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District was able to extend contracts for the upcoming school year beginning on August 22.
Pegge Erkeneff, Communications Liaison with KPBSD…
Erkeneff: “So what we were able to do is immediately offer a handle full of positions that we excepted by local hires yesterday, which was really exciting for just local residents that have worked in our schools and wanted a job and didn’t know what was happening. And then we were able to open up another hand-full of positions that we could be interviewing for and seeking qualified candidates for. We so still have positions that are frozen though.”
The total funding approved by the Borough Assembly was $38.88 million in Local Effort support available for use by KPBSD, and $10.85 million for operations and in-kind support, for a total appropriation of $49,738.432. This included an increase of $1.5 million over FY17 in Ordinance 2017-19.
In addition, a handful of principals are interviewing for positions now open at their school site, with the ability for KPBSD to offer a qualified candidate a position immediately. The remaining positions are still on hold until the state legislature determines education funding, which could range from status quo to a five percent reduction.
KPBSD extends their appreciation to the Mayor and the Assembly.
Erkeneff: “We really want to thank the Mayor and the Assembly for the action that they took. There’s that whole piece of deep appreciation that will all want vibrant communities and schools are so important with our communities and our youth and our employees. So we have a lot of gratitude roght now for the Assembly and the borough.”
