For the first time in three years the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District did not make Adequate Yearly Progress.

AYP is used as a measure by the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate how public schools are performing according to standards based testing.

A district's report card is composed of different sub categories.

For example, if there is a large enough contingent of a certain ethnic group of students, then they will become a component of whether or not the district makes AYP.

The KPBSD is evaluated on 30 sub-groups.

For the 2008-09 school year, the district made AYP in all of them except for students with disabilities' mathematics proficiency.

"None of the large school districts in Alaska make AYP. While we're disappointed we didn't make it, our overall performance is the highest in the state for a large school district," said Steve Atwater, district superintendent.

He said he nonetheless plans to use some the federal stimulus money the district is set to receive and target special education programs.

"I believe the special education programs continue to do a good job. We'll devote stimulus money to bolster some of the resources they're using," he said.

KPBSD was the only large Alaska school district to make AYP in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years.

Since 2005 KPBSD has lead other large Alaska school districts in their graduation rate while showing improved proficiency in reading, writing and math.

Fund balance

While budget time is still a long way off, Melody Douglas, chief financial officer for the district, addressed the school board this week on the current state of the fund balance.

Douglas said her office and the Department of Education are auditing the balance to make sure the funds within it are marked appropriately.

"We have reviewed how we're accounting for certain items and determining that they need to be accounted for in a different fund by nature of what they are," Douglas said.

She noted, for example, that monies placed in the general fund to support the district's next major technology overhaul are better reflected in the equipment fund rather than general fund.

State statue requires that school districts not accumulate an unreserved fund balance greater than 10 percent of the general fund for that fiscal year.

If the DOE finds that a district has an oversized fund balance, the state withholds the value of the excess amount in aid that would otherwise be due to the district.

Last spring the district's fund balance became a hot topic in budget discussions with the borough.

"There's been increasing public interest in the district's fund balance which is welcome and appropriate because it's part of the accountability work we do, but I'm mindful of this increased interest in wanting to be in a situation of full disclosure," Douglas said.

She noted as well that the Fiscal Year 2010 budget needs to be adjusted for the estimated costs involved in the ongoing collective bargaining process.

"If the cost of collective bargaining exceeds revenue then there needs to be

an allocation from the fund balance to make up a difference," she said.

Dante Petri is a reporter for the Peninsula Clarion.