Facing $8.6 million shortfall, school district asks for community input

Published 2:30 am Thursday, February 19, 2026

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is facing an $8.6 million shortfall and is asking for community input in balancing the 2027 fiscal year budget.

KPBSD finance director Czarina Voivedich started the Central Peninsula community budget meeting Tuesday night at Kenai Central High Schoool with a summary of the district’s general fund. The district’s projected revenue for the 2027 fiscal year is almost $141 million, but district expenditures are just over $149 million. Additionally, Voivedich said the district is expecting to transfer $345,000 to a fund for pupil transportation.

About half of the shortfall — close to $3.3 million — is because of a decrease in appropriations from the Kenai Peninsula Borough compared to FY26. Another $4.5 million is due to a decrease in state funding, with the largest chunk coming from the borough’s increased estimates of taxable property. The remaining amount is due to a decrease in student enrollment, which the district uses to calculate revenue. Projected enrollment for the 2027 fiscal year is 8,104 students, and the state’s base student allocation is $6,660.

​​Voivedich showed a chart with Alaska’s BSA from 2011 to 2027.

“So this chart means that if Alaska BSA had increased every year to keep up with inflation since 2011, school districts would be getting $1,283 more per student today than they actually are,” ​​Voivedich said. “So instead of $6,660 — if you add that amount to $1,283 — we should be getting $7,943 per student.”

Last year, lawmakers bumped up base per-student funding by $700, creating roughly $11.5 million in funding and resulting in some budget cut reversals. ​​Voivedich said increasing the BSA again to accurately reflect inflation would free up $21.4 million.

Voivedich also mentioned House Bill 261 as a potential silver lining, which seeks to stabilize the state’s education funding process by changing it to rely on student counts from either the previous year or an average of the three previous years. Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, filed the bill ahead of the current legislative session.

The bill would change how alternative schools are counted and require districts to report the number of students in need of special education services. Alternative schools with less than 175 students are currently included in the count of the largest school in the district, which often results in a lack of necessary funding.

The bill also provides an outline for funding school construction projects, boarding schools and early education programs. Additionally, HB 261 would recognize that intensive needs students typically require more staff who can provide for their complex needs and give districts the freedom to adjust the intensive student count during the middle of the school year to accommodate new students.

“I encourage you to testify if you have time,” Voivedich said, speaking in support of HB 261. She also encouraged attendees to advocate for education funding by calling local and state elected officials.

Assistant superintendent Kari Dendurent told attendees to contact the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly. Dendurent said that while Mayor Peter Micciche has promised the assembly will provide $59 million in funding to the district, the borough won’t fund the maximum amount of $68 million this year.

“If you, as a taxpayer in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, would like to, you can reach out to your local assembly people and say, ‘You know what, we feel that there’s value in public education — would you consider funding us?” Dendurent said. “Of course, we want you to reach out to your state legislators, but it’s a lot easier for your voice to be heard on the local level by reaching out to your assembly people.”

Voivedich reminded meeting attendees about Balancing Act, an online tool parents and staff can use to provide input to the Board of Education.

“You can make choices and you can share your ideas,” Voivedich said. “It helps guide discussion about spending and cuts. It allows users or participants to share your ideas.”

She asked attendees to share the link to Balancing Act and provide input by Feb. 23. Feedback will be presented to the board during the March 2 meeting.

The meeting was recorded and is available to watch on the KPBSD Finance webpage.