Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland will be around for at least another three years. Holland’s contract as district superintendent was renewed by the board of education on Monday night.
“Yeah, I’m pretty excited to be back here again,” said Holland, who has served as the superintendent for the KPBSD since 2021 when he took over for former superintendent John O’Brien.
Several board members commended Holland for his leadership of the school district and encouraged him to accept the contract offer.
“You’ve been a blessing to me and in my life, and I think our district is fortunate to have somebody of your caliber, somebody that works as hard as you do,” said board member Patty Truesdell. “We’re lucky to have you.”
“We are very blessed to have Superintendent Holland, and I really do hope you signed that contract,” said board member Matt Morse, who smiled as he added, “Get that pen out and sign that contract.”
Holland took the district’s reigns during COVID-19 when life for students and staff had taken a dramatic turn, requiring unprecedented adjustments to school attendance and academic plans. He readily admits the challenges of those early years.
“I have to admit, yeah, it was a rough [first] three years. The first, you know, one and a half or so, we were kind of stepping into the middle of the pandemic, and [that] was kind of a wild time and a lot of things to go through. And then you kind of add on a, a different mix too, as far as, you know, we had a lot of turnover in the district during that time period. I had a new team here almost completely that we onboarded. So, some challenges at the same time that offered a lot of opportunities.”
Holland’s new contract is a step up from the original. The superintendent’s previous contract offered $179,000 per year with no raises. The updated offer, however, increases the base salary to $195,000 with 2% raises in the second and third years of his tenure.