Borough presentation says Soldotna Elementary rebuild stays within voter-approved bond

A Kenai Peninsula Borough presentation to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education on Monday says the Soldotna Elementary reconstruction "stays within the school bond budget as intended by the voters" and that consolidating Soldotna-area schools "creates efficiencies that benefits all KPBSD students."

Dana Cannava and John Hedges, both with the borough, were listed as presenters for the board's Nov. 2 work session. Their slides say the plan aligns with a 2019 district plan "that recognizes that consolidation is imperative to survival" and gives the school board "viable options for the future." The presentation names no other Soldotna-area school.

The 2019 district proposal would have moved Soldotna Prep's ninth-graders to Soldotna High School and closed the Soldotna Prep building. A district notice at the time said declining enrollment at both schools would cost teaching staff, and projected the move would save about $630,000 a year.

The reconstruction renovates the former Soldotna Prep building on West Redoubt Avenue. The borough's 2024 design contract called for renovating existing buildings to house Soldotna Elementary, Redoubt Elementary, the Montessori charter school, River City Academy and the Connections Home School program.

An earlier district project update put the reconstruction budget at $21.5 million and estimated the full project at about $37 million. It said the project was on hold until the board approved education specifications and a request for design proposals. That update said moving programs into the former Soldotna Prep building would ease crowding at Skyview Middle School and prepare for a smaller, consolidated Soldotna Elementary, and that replacing aging building systems would cut operating and maintenance costs.

On June 18, Mayor Peter Micciche approved awarding the construction contract to Blazy Construction of Soldotna, whose cost proposal was about $30.2 million. The project uses a construction manager/general contractor method, which brings the builder into the design process before construction is fully underway. Blazy joined the design team when plans were about 65% complete, according to the slides, which also say early work is advancing. The slides list goals including age-specific and small-group spaces and flexible rooms for different teaching methods.

The district's February consolidation document proposed, as one phase for board consideration, continuing to combine Soldotna Elementary and Redoubt Elementary.

That merger has drawn objections from some Soldotna Elementary families. "I know myself and many other parents are highly opposed to [combining] with redoubt," one parent wrote in an input form included in a charter school application.

Parents and staff have separately applied to convert Soldotna Elementary to a charter school. District leaders urged the board to reject that application, citing a budget gap and no secured building, and the board was scheduled to vote on it Monday, Alaska News reported Nov. 1.