The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education continued its discussion in earnest on Tuesday of the potential closure of nine different peninsula schools. The board met to review the cost savings associated with each school in the event it was to be closed and consolidated into one or more nearby schools.
While shuttering one or more schools would result in immediate cost savings to the district, Finance Director Elizabeth Hayes explained how the money allotted annually for closed schools does reduce over time. According to Hayes, the district would continue to receive 100% of the funding allotted to a closed school based on its funding the year before the closure, and that funding would continue into the following year as well. In the third year, the district would see a 33% reduction in the funding from a closed school, then a 66% funding decrease in the fourth year, and no funding in the fifth year following closure.
Hayes added that closed schools may not be reopened for a defined period of time, barring certain extenuating criteria. “If you close the school, there’s a section here that talks about [how] you may not reopen that school [until] seven or more years have passed since the school closure in the district,” Hayes said. “You could reopen it if the district can provide evidence satisfactory to the department that the schools affected by the consolidation are now over capacity. That would allow you to reopen a building within a seven-year time frame.”
Superintendent Clayton Holland expanded on the criteria discussed when considering schools for closure and consolidation: “When we came up with the savings that could be associated with each consolidation, we looked at the following: the certified salaries, noncertified salaries, employee benefits, travel utilities, purchase services, and supplies.”
Holland expanded on the unique challenge of closing schools on the peninsula, where many of the 42 KPBSD schools are in remote locations. Consolidation would present a number of challenges, not the least of which is the travel required for students from closed schools.
“I’ve had pressures on closing these schools for a while, and I’ve often said this isn’t the same as Anchorage or Fairbanks. I’ll be quite frank, it’d be easier to close a school in one of our bigger cities,” Holland said. “For some of these communities, this is the heartbeat of the community. So these aren’t easy.”
The school board will continue its discussion as the Juneau legislature debates how to address district budget shortfalls statewide.
Tuesday’s school closure discussion and associated work sessions will be available to stream on the school district’s BoardDocs website.
