Three Kenai Peninsula schools could be closed if a proposal to increase the minimum amount of students required for a school to receive state funding is passed by the Alaskan Legislature.
School district Spokeswoman Pegge Erkeneff says the idea to increase the number from ten to 20 students would affect K-12 schools in Cooper Landing, Moose Pass, and Hope.
Erkeneff: “Our small schools are serving these communities and there could be unintended consequences when we close those schools of costs that happen, for example, in transportation. If our school closed in Cooper Landing, we still have a responsibility to educate those students so we need to get those students to potentially Sterling, or the next closest school would be in Seward.”
She says during the last session there was even talk about increasing the minimum student requirement to 50 and the Kenai Peninsula School District has been very involved in the conversations.
The School Board will be reviewing the current proposal in the coming months in order to construct a formal resolution to send to the legislature.