With some schools already in session and all of the district to be in full-swing by Aug. 24, the Kenai Peninsula Borough school board approved 24 new teacher contracts at its Monday night meeting in Soldotna.

Getting unanimous consent from the board, the new teacher list represents a little more than one-third of 70 new faculty to be hired for the 2009-2010 school year, according to Dr. Steve Atwater, KPBSD superintendent.

"Last year we had 90 (new teachers) so I think this is a pretty typical year," Atwater said.

Also approved by the board Monday were two elementary school assistant principals, something new for district elementary schools.

"There are two elementary schools with one building administrator housing (more than) 400 students: Mountain View and K-Beach," Melody Douglas, the district's chief financial officer wrote in a memo to the board.

"With the increasing responsibilities of building administrators it is becoming more challenging for elementary school principals to maintain and sustain school-district initiatives. By hiring full-time assistant principals for these schools, building principals will be able to better meet the needs of the students."

Jennifer Dowd is the assistant principal for K-Beach Elementary and Teri Diamond will be the assistant principal at Mountain View Elementary.

All KPBSD teachers, both new and old, as well as the rest of the district's certified and instructional support staff, meet Monday at Kenai Central High School for a district-wide in-service. It's the first time an in-service of this magnitude has been done in six or seven years, said Atwater, who anticipates an attendance of approximately 800 staff.

"I feel it's important to bring the staff together for an opening, motivational piece, to gain a sense that everyone belongs to the district instead of just a school, and to share what we're doing with technology," Atwater said.

"It's a good opportunity to take a step back and talk to each other."

Keynote speaker for the event will be Dr. Steven Edwards, a nationally recognized educator, author, professor, speaker, facilitator and trainer.

Edwards is president and chief executive officer of Edwards Educational Services of Alexandria, Va. He will address drop-out situations, the research connected with that and strategies for the district, Atwater said.

Decreasing the number of drop-outs and increasing graduation rates in the district is one of the board's goals.

"We're committed to academic success and the drop-out rate is an indicator that some kids aren't getting that," said Sunni Hilts of Seldovia, board vice president.

"It's been a goal for a long time and it's something we'll continue to work on."

Also to be addressed at Monday's in-service are recent technological advancements at some of the district's locations. Among those is the introduction of student laptop computers at Nikiski Middle School and Razdolna School.

"We're preparing ourselves for a more connected, online learning experience for the kids," Atwater said. "We won't get there immediately, but we're beginning to sow seeds for what that might look like."

The next meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District's board of directors will be held at the Borough Administration Building in Soldotna Sept. 14.

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