Soldotna Elementary parents and staff propose a charter that keeps neighborhood enrollment

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District board on Monday will review a plan by Soldotna Elementary parents and staff to turn their neighborhood school into a charter school, without changing who gets to go there.

Children who live in the school's attendance boundary would still enroll the usual way, with no application, no lottery and no parent contract. Families who don't want a charter would be placed at another district school. The K-6 charter would open in 2027-28 with about 290 students.

The plan grew out of uncertainty about the school's future. District and borough plans for consolidation, redevelopment and potential partial demolition may affect the building, the parents' application says. One parent who wondered whether a charter was feasible "given our current financial climate" still wrote that "many other parents are highly opposed to [combining] with Redoubt" and that a charter "is our only hope for being heard." Another respondent opposed the idea over the cost.

A committee of parents and staff would run the school. The plan calls for dedicated science, music and PE teachers, weekly social and emotional lessons, and hands-on projects that tie subjects together.

The applicants say what sets them apart is who they'd serve. Most of the other peninsula charter schools in the applicants' comparison ask families for signed contracts or other commitments. "Our goal is to reduce barriers to entry for families, not increase them," their presentation says. They expect about a quarter of their students to need special education, a higher share than at any of the other charters they list figures for.

That pitch drew questions when the district's charter oversight committee first heard the plan Oct. 5. Two charter school principals on the committee asked about families who don't want a charter. One, Cody McCanna, said a charter usually provides something the community doesn't already have. The committee sent a revised version to the full board this month, Alaska News reported earlier.

Where the school would be is still open. The options include temporary use of the current building, space at the Soldotna Prep or Redoubt campus, or another district, borough or leased building.

The budget projects about $6 million in first-year revenue, with the district keeping about $1.3 million for administration, services and rent. In the applicants' survey, 49 of 57 responding families said they were likely to attend, along with 14 of 16 teachers.

Monday's work session is for discussion, not a vote. The school board must approve the plan before it goes to the State Board of Education.