Site Logo
Hope School K-5 teacher Jeremy McKibben assists third grade students with reading skills part of CKLA’s “How Does Your Body Work?” unit on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Hope, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

From Hope to Homer, KPBSD adjusts to Alaska Reads Act

Implementing the standards outlined by the legislation is not a one-size-fits-all approach

An arch marks the entrance to the Church of St. Nicholas on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023 in Nikolaevsk, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

School board rejects Nikolaevsk charter school application

Charter organizers say they plan to appeal that decision to the State of Alaska

Brochures advertise information about the Safe School Helpline near the entrance to Hope School on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2023, in Hope, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

School district launches anonymous helpline

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District staff, students and community members can anonymously report concerns affecting district schools

Jacquelynn Tomrdle, left, and Nicole Murphy, right, present on behalf of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Students in Transition program at the Kenai Peninsula Association of Realtors award ceremony at Kenai Catering on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

News

2 KPBSD staff appointed to state homeless education group

The state group is tasked with reviewing and updating Alaska’s McKinney-Vento policies and procedures

From left, Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education members Jason Tauriainen, Kelley Cizek, Dianne MacRae and Penny Vadla are sworn in by District Secretary Nikkol Sipes during a special school board meeting on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

School board swears in new members, reorganizes

Kelley Cizek, Dianne MacRae, Jason Tauriainen and Penny Vadla took oaths of office during the meeting

Laura Burke speaks during a community conversation on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Home-school meeting draws dozens

The event was hosted by the Kenai Peninsula Borough and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Finance Director Liz Hayes, left, testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a budget work session on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Borough, school district present local funding process

The presentation was the second as part of KPBSD’s “Budget 101”

Soldotna Elementary School Principal Dr. Austin Stevenson walks amid natural gas pipes anchored to the outside of school on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

High costs stall work on school bond

A cost estimate for the reconstruction of Soldotna Elementary School came back $13.5 million over budget

Aurora Borealis Charter School Art and Music Teacher Eleanor Van Sickle leads students in a performance of "Autumn Canon," a Hungarian song at a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meeting on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Student serenade

Aurora Borealis Charter School students sing at the assembly during the regular school board meeting on Monday

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board Member Debbie Cary speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. Cary also served on the borough’s reapportionment board. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

School board president receives award for meritorious service

Debbie Cary, of Ninilchik, is the Alaska Superintendent Association’s 2024 recipient of the Don MacKinnon Excellence in Education…

Dianne MacRae, Debbie Cary, Beverley Romanin and Kelley Cizek participate in a Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education candidate forum at Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

News

School board candidates wrap up forum series

The forum was the eighth in a series hosted by the Clarion and KDLL ahead of the 2023…

Lyndsey Bertoldo, Penny Vadla and Jason Tauriainen participate in a Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education candidate forum at the Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

News

School board candidates tackle budget deficits, home-schooling, school maintenance

The discussion was the first of two forums featuring KPBSD school board candidates

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Finance Director Elizabeth Hayes, left, gives a presentation on the school district’s FY23 budget at Soldotna High School on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. Hayes during the KPBSD Board of Education’s Sept. 11, 2023, meetings, debuted first of an informational “Budget 101 Series.” (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

School district warns of looming $13 million deficit in first ‘Budget 101’ presentation

The first installment explored Alaska’s foundation formula

Assembly members Lane Chesley, left, and Richard Derkevorkian participate in a borough assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Haara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Assembly asks state to allow term limits for school board members

Alaska Statute does not allow term limits to be imposed on school board members

Sidewalk chalk drawings cover the outside of corroding insulation at Soldotna Elementary School on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Soldotna elementary reconstruction cost grows to $35 million

The project initially carried a $21.5 million price tag

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)

News

KPBSD to use grant funds for elementary counselor positions

The district budgeted about $626,000 for elementary school counselors for the current fiscal year

(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)

News

School district prepares to launch ‘Budget 101’ informational meetings

The sessions will be targeted toward the public and will each tackle a different element of the borough’s…

Sample ballots are displayed ahead of the Oct. 4 municipal election at an absentee in-person polling place in Kenai City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Election 2023: Who has already filed for local office

Voters will go to the polls this fall

KPBSD Superintendent Clayton Holland

Opinion

A letter from the superintendent

Dear KPBSD staff, students, families and community members

From left: Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education members Jason Tauriainen, Matt Morse, Virginia Morgan and Beverley Romanin participate in a board meeting on Monday, July 10, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

School board revises policy for challenging instructional materials

The revisions newly limit the number of instructional items that a person can challenge at any given time…