►ALERT: All KPBSD schools will open with a TWO HOUR DELAY START on MONDAY, February 18, 2019, due to weather conditions throughout the Peninsula.
If weather and road conditions warrant a full closure for any schools that announcement will be made about 7:00 AM.
All morning Pre-K class sessions are cancelled during a two-hour delay start.
Parents and guardians, if you decide, based on conditions near you to keep your child at home, absences will be excused.
*A two hour delay means that morning buses run two hours later than normal, school begins two hours later than normal, staff arrives at school two hours later than normal, and Pre-K morning sessions are cancelled. The school day ends at the normal time.
News Release
Public Involvement in Superintendent of Schools Selection
Soldotna, February 15, 2019— The KPBSD Board of Education seeks public input into its process to select a superintendent of schools. The school board has sole responsibility for the selection of candidates, final interviews, and selection of the superintendent, but would like to consider the views and interests of the public to help guide those decisions.
A brief, anonymous survey invites public comments and the opportunity to rank which attributes and demonstrated skills in a KPBSD superintendent of schools are most valuable. The school board requests everyone interested in schools, including parents, students, KPBSD staff, site councils, PTAs, volunteers, business and community organizations that partner with schools, community groups, and the public to contribute.
A link to the community survey and important dates is located on the www.KPBSD.org home page in the “Community Interest” section.
Superintendent of Schools Search
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education seeks an educational leader who has strong communication skills, is committed to high student achievement, and has a proven track record in teaching and administration. The position begins July 1, 2019. The online application period is open until midnight, March 15, 2019. Selection of finalists is March 21, 2019, and candidate interviews will be April 4, 2019, or April 11, 2019 if needed. The public may attend and offer written comments.
Online Community Survey open through March 4, 2019
Soldotna, February 14, 2019—Do you understand how the KPBSD school district budget will affect what KPBSD can offer in schools to educate our youth? With drastic state budget cuts to education proposed by the Governor, attend a budget forum in your community.
Learn: KPBSD faces an unprecedented deficit of over $20 million dollars or more if the Governor’s proposed FY20 state budget is passed.
Get Facts: The district is building its FY20 budget, and needs your help. Participate online, or in person, to ask questions about revenue, expenses, funding, and cuts that potentially impact the classroom, teachers and support staff, sports and programs, and class sizes. Become involved so as a community we can make informed decisions that will affect our schools. Parents, staff, students, business partners, community members, and elected officials—it’s time to participate:
Community Budget Forums
Be informed so you can advocate for the 2019-2020 school district budget which will define opportunities and offerings in August, 2019.
“Our annual budget is one of the most important things we do each year, and it’s more important than ever with the potential funding cuts we face,” said Dave Jones, assistant superintendent of instructional support. “We want to give our parents, staff, students, and community members a chance to learn about our budget, participate in the process, and ask questions.”
“Over the past several years the district has been able to gather valuable feedback and input through the budget development process,” said Sean Dusek, superindent. “This year will be especially important as we work to become more efficient while maintaining our priority of small class sizes. We look forward to community participation in the process, especially as the State and Borough deal with economic issues that directly impact school funding.”
Action ideas
If the future success for our KPBSD K-12 students depends on a quality education so graduates will be prepared for college or a career, funding public education is crucial. KPBSD asks everyone to attend a public budget meeting, and become involved in the financial solutions for our school district and state.
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Joel Isaak, Skyview High School, Class of 2007, is a practicing artist, currently enrolled in an Indigenous Studies doctorate degree program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Tribal Liaison for the State of Alaska Department of Education and Early Learning. Isaak says,
“I want to keep growing in learning my Dena’ina people’s language. I love spending time with elders learning language and material culture and passing it on to future generations.”
When he reflects on a message to younger students, or his younger self, he offers:
“Find quality people and focus your energy on working with them. Don’t let negativity or people who are trying to bring you down stop you from working hard towards your goals. Never put an age limit on friendship.”
Following his 2007 graduation from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, he was awarded a Bachelors of Fine Arts Sculpture from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Masters of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Alfred University in New York.
A man with exceptional talents and kind insightful eyes, Joel said, “I would spend hours of time in the art studio after school when I was in high school. This was a safe space for me to learn, do homework, and develop my artistic skill. I had fantastic art teachers. I began my undergraduate studies pursuing a chemistry degree. After several car accidents, I was no longer able to do lab work. I had a friend mentor who encouraged me to pursue art. I still have to be careful with the physical repercussions of my injuries but I am able to work prolifically in sculpture.” His art is truly fantastic; view the video featuring Joel: Fins of Fashion: The Alaskan Artist Creating Salmon Skin Stilettos, and visit his website at https://joelisaak.com/.
Shout-out to special teachers
“Teachers inspired me to follow my career path. I now work in education and I had some amazing teachers in my K-12 and university studies. These teachers became mentors to me and encouraged me to learn and explore a diverse range of studies. I would like to thank several of my teachers from my high school years—they provided safe classroom space for me in school when I was going through a lot. Thank you to David Schmidt and Clark Fair for letting me eat lunch in their classrooms on a regular basis, Teri Zoph-Schoessler, and all of my art teachers at Skyview.”
“I am passionate about developing an educational model that addresses the clashing of European colonialism with indigenous peoples. Fundamental to healing this rift is stemming the loss indigenous languages and treating all people with respect. This need is evidence by the staggering history of abuse of women that needs to stop. I hope that my art and working to educate can help bring awareness and change in a positive direction.”
–Joel Isaak, Skyview High School Class of 2007
Today his home is back on the Kenai Peninsula, he works with DEED, creates meaningful art, and continues to pursue life with purpose and passion.
Do you have a story tip about a KPBSD graduate to profile in our Wednesday Inspiration? Kindly email Pegge Erkeneff, KPBSD communications liaison, Pegge@KPBSD.org.
February 13, 2019 Communication to KPBSD staff and Key Communicators:
Today Governor Michael J. Dunleavy released an amended FY20 budget with a significant reduction to education funding. The budget documentation made available to this point does not give us the detail we need to determine the amounts specific to our district.
We are communicating with the Department of Education, and are hearing the cut will come from under-funding K-12 Education Foundation Formula, not reducing the Base Student Allocation (BSA) value as some media is reporting. This is significant to us because of the way the BSA corresponds to the minimum and maximum range the Borough can contribute to K-12 education. In contrast, under-funding the foundation formula and keeping the BSA intact would not reduce the range the Borough can fund to education.
In the next two days, we expect to provide you accurate information for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. It is important to remember that this is the start of a process that will also proceed through the Senate and House. We ask the public to focus on the future they value and want to build in Alaska, and communicate that to family, friends, coworkers, and especially our elected officials in local, state, and national government.
As soon as we have details, we will share accurate facts about the Governor’s FY20 amended budget and the potential reduction in revenue impact to KPBSD’s FY20 budget.
link: The Legislature and KPBSD
*How-to understand funding
The Foundation Formula is the funding mechanism for K-12 education and has many steps in it. Included in the Foundation Formula is the BSA – Base Student Allocation that is a fixed amount every year. A tricky part to understand school funding and a cut is that two ways exist for reductions or increases, and one impacts the local required minimum and maximum allowable amount the Borough can contribute, the other does not.
The legislature can under-fund the Foundation Formula, or change the BSA amount. When only the Foundation Formula is under-funded, it doesn’t affect a borough or municipality contribution to K-12 education. The local (Borough) contribution is tied to the BSA fixed amount to determine the required minimum contribution and maximum allowable contribution to schools, and so if the BSA changes (decrease or increase) it also creates an adjustment percentage to the required minimum contribution and maximum range the Borough can contribute to education funding.
Soldotna, February 13, 2019–The Board of Education of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District (KPBSD) is searching for a superintendent; applications are open until March 15, 2019. The Board of Education accepted Superintendent Dusek’s retirement in January, and approved the search for a new superintendent to open during their February 11, 2019, board meeting. The detailed position description and application details are online at http://bit.ly/2N1JFZV.
The successful candidate will have outstanding educational leadership and advocacy skills. They will possess and demonstrate a strong background in improving student learning in a culturally responsive and student-centered approach. The board is especially interested in a leader with high integrity who has proven experience as an effective educational administrator and school system leader. The preferred candidate should have demonstrated expertise in school district finance and budget management, human resources and effective curriculum and instruction implementation. The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is perhaps one of the most diverse districts in the state regarding community size, ethnicity, and religious composition.
Application and Timetable
The Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB) is facilitating the search. The following is the timetable the Board has established for the superintendent search:
Application deadline: March 15, 2019 (midnight)
Selection of Finalists: March 21, 2019
Onsite Interviews with the Board: April 4 (Alternate date is April 11th if needed)
Employment begins: July 1, 2019
Application Materials should be sent to:
[Digital submission of materials is highly desired, preferably as PDF files.]
Association of Alaska School Boards
1111 W. 9th St., Juneau, Alaska 99801
Phone: (907) 586-1083
Email: khultengren@aasb.org
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is one of the top performing districts in the state of Alaska encompassing 21 communities within 25,600 square miles and serves nearly 9,000 students. Four of the district’s schools are accessible only by water or air; one by hiking or all-terrain vehicle. Each school day, more than 2,700 students are transported a total of 7,200 miles on school buses throughout the District.
Links