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Kenai Peninsula College graduates proceed into the Renee C. Henderson Auditorium for Kenai Peninsula College’s 53rd annual commencement on Thursday, May 11, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

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Celebrating ‘a milestone’

Kenai Peninsula College graduates honored at commencement ceremony

Elementary students prepare to stock rainbow trout in Johnson Lake during Salmon Celebration on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at Johnson Lake in Kasilof, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

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Kids gather for annual Salmon Celebration at Johnson Lake

They stocked rainbow trout in the lake and visited dozens of booths to learn about fish, wildlife, habitat…

Kenai Middle School Principal Vaughn Dosko points out elements of a redesign plan for the front of the school on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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School board considers capital improvement plan

Of the 13 projects included on the district’s priority list, eight are being funded through the school maintenance…

A trombone player in the robes of a jedi warms up during Pops in the Parking Lot at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

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Kenai bands take annual concert outside

“Pops in the Parking Lot” stood in for Kenai Central High School’s year-end band concert

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland, center, addresses the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a budget work session on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Assembly OKs max school funding

The borough will contribute $54.8 million to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District for fiscal year 2024

First Place Winner Paxton McKnight, of Cook Inlet Academy, is introduced by Merrill Sikorski at the Caring for the Kenai Awards Celebration held during a Joint Chamber Luncheon on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

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Chambers honor Caring for the Kenai finalists

The contest challenges peninsula students to devise ways to improve the environment or prepare for a natural disaster

The Alaska Capitol is photographed in January 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file)

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School funding tops district’s priority list

“Parental rights” legislation and defined benefit plans were also among concerns discussed

The logo for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is displayed inside the George A. Navarre Borough Admin Building on Thursday, July 22, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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School board briefed on remote learning opportunities

Members of the school board’s small schools committee were briefed Monday about the kinds of remote learning opportunities…

A sign welcomes employees and visitors at the Kenai Peninsula Borough administration building on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

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Assembly to get first crack at proposed budget Tuesday

Lower property taxes and full funding for education are included in a draft version of the budget

Apayauq Reitan, the first transgender woman to participate in the Iditarod, tells the House Education Committee on March 30, 2023, why she opposes a bill restricting sex and gender content in schools. A second meeting for public testimony is scheduled Thursday. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

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Peninsula voices among ‘parental rights’ debate in Juneau

People who spoke in opposition outnumbered those who spoke in support by three to one

All 12 finalists of the Caring for the Kenai competition receive their awards at Kenai Central High School on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. (Clarion file)

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Caring for the Kenai finalists to present Thursday

12 high school finalists are expected to take the stage to present their proposals

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meets on Monday, April 10, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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School board OKs policy revisions

Changes to the policy, which was first adopted in 2006, came as part of a routine review

Mountain View Elementary School teacher Kristin Perkins demonstrates with students “phonemic awareness” with practices from Heggerty during a Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meeting on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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District to debut new English language curriculum this fall

The curriculum was selected to align with with state standards and the Alaska Reads Act

From left: Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education member Penny Vadla; Assistant Superintendent Kari Dendurent; Board members Jason Tauriainen and Matt Morse; and student representative Ashley Dahlman participate in a board meeting on Monday, April 11, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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School board sends KPBSD budget, with cuts, to borough assembly

Among the cuts put forth were the elimination of theater technicians and pool supervisors

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meets on Monday, April 10, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Connections looks to boost home-school enrollment

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche has pointed to state money that goes to non-KPBSD home-schooled students

Kenai City Council member Henry Knackstedt (left), Kenai Vice Mayor James Baisden (center) and Kenai City Council member Teea Winger (right) debate a resolution that would have voiced the city’s support for a legislative increase in school district funding during a city council meeting on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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After heated debate, Kenai council kills — then postpones — resolution calling for school funding increase

Resolution would have called for BSA increase

Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire
Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on March 28 in Juneau.
Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

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House bill aims to boost Alaska Performance Scholarship use

The scholarship is awarded to support education after high school graduation

State representatives Tom McKay, R-Anchorage, and Andi Story, D-Juneau, offering competing amendments to a bill increasing the per-student funding formula for public schools by $1,250 during a House Education Committee meeting Wednesday morning. McKay’s proposal to lower the increase to $150 was defeated. Story’s proposal to implement an increase during the next two years was approved, after her proposed amounts totalling about $1,500 were reduced to $800.

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Borough, Soldotna call on Legislature to increase school funding

The City of Soldotna last week became the latest entity to call on the Alaska Legislature to increase…

The members of Sankofa Dance Theater Alaska perform for a crowd of students during an opening performance at Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science in Kenai, Alaska on Monday, March 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

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Uniting through movement

Kaleidoscope students learn about western African dances and music with in-residence artists

Foreground: Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland, left, and KPBSD Finance Director Liz Hayes, right, speak about the district’s fiscal year 2024 budget during a work session with the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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School district, borough mull budget shortfall as cuts loom

The two groups convened for a work session Tuesday