Some school board members question sustainability, equity of district pool plan

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District has put together a patchwork arrangement to keep some swimming pools running after the school board removed pool funding earlier this year. The move saved more than $1.5 million. Five of the district's seven pools are open this school year through arrangements with community partners, and none receive general school funding, according to Superintendent Clayton Holland. The pools at the Ninilchik K-12 school and Soldotna High School are closed and drained. The Alaska School Activities Association gave permission for Soldotna's swim team to compete with Kenai Central's team.

Each community has a different operating model. Students at Kenai, Skyview and Homer must pay $25, $35 or $45 per semester for physical education classes that use the pool, depending on how often they swim. Students in Seward and Seldovia pay nothing, which Holland says was a condition of the agreements with those communities. Only Homer's Tim Daugharty and Soldotna's Penny Vadla voted against the new fees. Daugharty criticized the plan, and Mica VanBuskirk said she worries it is not sustainable.

Data from the first two months of the fiscal year show no remaining pool has raised enough to cover its estimated yearly costs. Some cities are contributing money, and the district is still working out how to divide those contributions. Holland expects costs to be covered through the end of this school year, but the board did not discuss a long-term plan much.