Homer Alaska - News

Razdolna residents and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District agree: Youngsters in that Russian Old Believer community at the head of the bay deserve an education.

The problem is how to provide a school building adequate for the job.

The Village of Razdolna Inc., a nonprofit, has a solution but needs help from the school district to make it happen.

"I am sure the KPBSD is aware of the fact that some of our children are learning in one of the most rundown and horrific shaped buildings in the state of Alaska," Razdolna parent Siveryan Basargin wrote in a letter to the school board. "I say 'some of our children' because there is no room for the rest of them."

Currently, Razdolna School is located in a 25-year-old privately built and owned structure leased by the school district. In 2003, electrical problems threatened temporary closure of the school. In 2006, the 37-foot-by-80-foot building, suffering from sagging floors, doors that wouldn't open and cracks in the walls, required a new foundation.

At 3,000 square feet, it can, by code, accommodate a total of 50 people, including staff, according to Razdolna Principal Doug Waclawski.

"We had 55 students last year, so we were probably 15-20 people over occupancy," said Waclawski.

To alleviate that problem, prior to the start of the 2009-2010 school year, the school district closed grades 7-12. The village's middle and high school students were offered the opportunity to enroll at Voznesenka School. The villages are approximately 12 miles apart, linked by poorly maintained gravel roads.

Keeping Razdolna youngsters close to home is a priority in the community. Rather than bus them to Voznesenka, many Razdolna families chose to enroll the students in Connections, the district's correspondence program.

"Both of those options are failing to a sad degree," Basargin wrote in his letter.

Nikita Basargin, president of the Village of Razdolna Inc., is one of the parents who chose to enroll his children — ninth, 10th and 11th graders — in Connections.

"It's not working that great," Nikita Basargin told the Homer News. "They're working at home, but I'd rather they go to a village school."

A two-acre parcel of land owned by a village family and located across the street from the existing school has been made available to the Village of Razdolna Inc. The nonprofit's plan calls for building a 3,500-square-foot school, complete with the necessary sprinkler system, to accommodate 100 students and teachers, according to Waclawski. The price tag for such a structure is estimated at $650,000. The current building would continue to provide space as needed.

To secure funding to build the school, the nonprofit is seeking a long-term lease commitment from the school district.

"We are aware of the fact that, somehow, other villages in rural Alaska receive up to several millions of dollars to build new schools with attendance smaller than ours," Basargin wrote. "Here is the thing: We are not asking for millions, though millions would be nice. We are asking the KPBSD to commit to giving the Village of Razdolna Inc. a minimum of 7-10 year lease at the current lease rates per square foot per month so we can build a new school building."

The district has other ideas, according to Dave Spence, director of the district's planning and operations.

"We do have the possibility at looking at trying to locate a portable out there if that's feasible," Spence said, citing the use of portables at Voznesenka as an example. "If there were a place, a foundation or a pad constructed to place (a portable) on and utilities available, it's not necessary (for the district) to own the land if we could work out a lease arrangement on a piece of property."

Spence also said village residents had already constructed a foundation next to the existing school in preparation for putting a building on it.

"There's a possibility that, if they were in agreement on it, maybe we (the district) could put a portable on it," he said.

The community's growth, the building's deterioration and the space issues come as no surprise.

"We knew this was coming when I came here," said Waclawski, who has been at Razdolna for two years. "The community has worked very hard to not have this happen. We knew at the rate we were growing, in four or five years we'd be at 90 students. We just haven't been able to get over the road blocks."

In September, KPBSD Superintendent Steve Atwater and district officials met with residents of Voznesenka, Razdolna and Kachemak Selo to discuss the status of the village schools and options for the future.

"The district feels that Kachemak Selo, Razdolna and Voznesenka deserve the best education for your children. We don't think these buildings are adequate from a space perspective," Atwater told those attending the meeting, referring to existing buildings.

"Looking ahead, the current facilities are not a long-term solution. Now is a good opportunity to try to do something different."

Sunni Hilts of Seldovia represents Razdolna and other southern Kenai Peninsula schools on the school board. She said work between Razdolna and the district has been ongoing.

"It's still in the working stages, but we definitely hope to have something, a portable, there by next year," she said. "We definitely want them to have a school. The Razdolna people are really helpful. They want a good education for their children."

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky.@homernews.com.