The Kenaitze Indian Tribe might open its Tułen Charter School as soon as the next school year, after approval Monday by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education.
Monday’s meeting is the fourth time since Oct. 14 that the tribe has brought their charter application before the school board, first to its Charter School Oversight Committee and then this month to the board proper. The application will next be forwarded to the State Department of Education and Early Department, expected to be heard at a March 10 and 11 meeting.
Since the first meeting, the tribe has made several modifications to its application in response to board questions. They’ve refined their calendar, daily schedule, academic policy committee responsibilities and staffing.
The application was written for an initial enrollment of 40 students, but Kenaitze Education Director Kyle McFall said that they now have 48 students projected. On Monday, he said they added a certified teacher to their staffing plans, allowing Tułen to offer two full kindergarten classes.
In previous meetings, McFall said the school is intended to provide education that is grounded in Indigenous culture — specifically Dena’ina culture.
“Our vision is to be a beacon for educational excellence and cultural pride,” McFall said on Oct. 14. “We envision a school where the richness of Dena’ina cultural heritage is interwoven into every aspect of learning.”
To that end, the charter application describes goals of integrating Dena’ina language and culture, maintaining small class sizes, establishing intergenerational mentorship and addressing historical trauma.
The school will start small, McFall said. Only kindergarten through third grade would be planned for the next school year. They propose adding a grade each year following, through the 2028-2029 school year when they plan to add sixth grade.
The school will use standards-based assessments and report cards. Proposed curriculum include Raven Writes, i-Ready Reading, i-Ready Math, STEAM and others. The school calendar would largely be similar to the general district calendar, excepting “Subsistence Week” — the week of Labor Day when the school would be closed to students and staff.
The board on Monday unanimously approved the charter application, with a contingency that a memorandum of understanding between the tribe and the school district be finalized later. That memorandum would define the responsibilities taken on by the tribe to provide certain staffing and services, like custodians, food service, nurses, Dena’ina language instructors and others. Those roles will not be included in Tułen’s budget.
That memorandum, KPBSD Assistant Superintendent Kari Dendurent said, is still being reviewed by tribal and district staff. The details of food service and nurses, in particular, are still being refined.
“I feel very confident that we’re going to be able to move forward,” she said. “I do support the approval of this charter school, knowing that it is contingent upon the MOU that is definitely far along in the process of being completed and signed.”
Donita Slawson, who said she is a local teacher and a director for the tribe’s Yaghanen language and cultural program, was the only person to speak during a period for public comment. She said that she was excited to see her granddaughter one day attend a school in the KPBSD system where she can “learn my heritage, my language, my culture, my history.”
“It’s been a long road,” she said. “It’s been a dream — not only of mine but of other parents who are Dena’ina people — for this charter school to happen.”
School board members thanked McFall and the tribe for their work on the application, the thought and effort involved with creating a comprehensive vision for their charter, and their responsiveness to board questions.
“I think we’re just at the starting point,” member Kelley Cizek said. “I think you guys might even be surprised by the number of people who want to come and try something different … I look forward to seeing it grow. I think it will.”
KPBSD Superintendent Clayton Holland said that he was excited to welcome what may soon become the district’s 43rd school.
“A long time coming, I think, something needed for our community,” he said. “We’ve had a great, long-term partnership with Kenaitze over the years, so I look forward to that, just in a different matter.”
The board unanimously voted in favor of advancing the application to the state.
A full recording of the meeting, and the previous meetings on this year’s charter applications, can be found at the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s BoardDocs website.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
