An initial application for the proposed Nikolaevsk charter school narrowly passed before the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education during a special meeting on Monday.

Approval of the charter school application required a majority vote of the board, with a minimum of five votes in favor. A motion to approve the application passed with a 5-3 vote. Board members Kelley Cizek, Dianne MacRae, Patti Truesdell, Mica VanBuskirk and Ash-Lee Waddell voted in favor. Board vice president Tim Daugharty and board members Sarah Douthit and Penny Vadla voted against the motion. Board president Jason Tauriainen was not present at the meeting.

During the board’s discussion of the application, several concerns were raised by board members regarding some financial aspects related to the application, as well as the charter school academic policy committee’s intent to reopen Nikolaevsk School, which was closed earlier this year due to low enrollment and as a cost-saving measure for the district in the face of a multi-million dollar deficit, for use by the charter school and the Nikolaevsk community.

According to the Nov. 17 meeting agenda, district administration recommended non-approval of the initial application due to “lack of demonstrated fiscal responsibility and sustainability; unresolved facilities and lease agreement concerns; incomplete and noncompliant enrollment documentation; inconsistencies with KPBSD Board policy and state regulations; and insufficient operational planning and staffing structure.”

“Based on the deficiencies identified above, the District Administration does not believe the Nikolaevsk Charter School application meets the requirements established by KPBSD Board Policy 6187 or the applicable state statutes and regulations,” a summary recommendation reads on Monday’s agenda. “The absence of verified financial data, finalized facilities agreements, compliant enrollment documentation, and a viable staffing and instructional plan poses significant fiscal, operational, and legal risks to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District.”

The Nikolaevsk community has been working to establish a charter school for the past four years. Members of the APC said during the meeting that they completed the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development charter school application, and that they felt they had “done their best” to provide additional information requested by KPBSD and “address every concern and question” brought to them by the district.

“We feel that we have a complete application and have met all DEED requirements,” said Natalie Thomas, vice president of the APC.

KPBSD Assistant Superintendent Kari Dendurent said during the meeting that the charter school’s application had gone through five iterations since the APC submitted their original application on the Oct. 1 deadline.

“There have been some changes, there have definitely been recommendations, but there’s still inaccuracies in this most recent application,” she said.

On the district’s opinion of the application’s lack of fiscal sustainability, district superintendent Clayton Holland said that part of the concern was the charter school’s “extensive” reliance on Alaska Homestead Education, Inc., a recently-formed nonprofit organization, to operate and provide resources for the school.

“AHE has not provided documentation verifying its fiscal capacity to pay fair market lease or sustained operations,” he said.

The charter application estimates a budget of $215,000 for facility operations and insurance costs for the first year of the charter’s operation. But, Holland said, the budget does not include an itemized breakdown of those costs, nor quotes or supporting documentation, and does not provide an estimate of future costs beyond the first year — factors which he said tied into the district’s concerns about unresolved facilities and lease agreements.

Mariah Kerrone, another Nikolaevsk parent and APC member, said that the APC had reached that number based on conversations with the borough.

Regarding a final facilities agreement, APC president and Nikolaevsk parent Blake Sawyer said that the APC has had “many discussions” with the Kenai Peninsula Borough — which owns and maintains school district facilities — about using the Nikolaevsk School building. However, the borough has not yet formally agreed to lease the building to the charter school. Dendurent confirmed Tuesday that the school district has not yet received a written agreement, and that the borough assembly would at a future time need to review and approve the building’s lease.

“It goes back to uncertainty,” Holland said.

According to Sawyer, the charter school currently has 94 students — including 51 homeschool students who are currently enrolled in IDEA — whose parents have signed intent-to-enroll forms. Dendurent said Tuesday that the form — which Holland on Monday called “noncompliant” — more closely resembles an interest survey and does not truly confirm enrollment intent. In that regard, she said, the district had some concerns about enrollment interest versus commitment, and were not really sure about the accuracy of the numbers in the application.

“Where we’re concerned as administration is that the building was closed as a cost-saving measure, and the risk associated if those students don’t materialize or if they leave before the count period, would leave the district on the hook for all those costs,” Holland said during the meeting.

The count period Holland referred to is the period during the academic year — usually in October — in which schools record student attendance and the district submits an official report to the state education department that will help in determining the amount of state funding the district receives.

Before voting on the motion to approve the initial application, several board members said they understood and appreciated the district administration’s concerns. They also expressed appreciation for the Nikolaevsk community’s commitment over the years to establishing a charter school.

“You guys aren’t experts in this, and what you’re trying to do, in my opinion, is a very exciting thing for your community, and I think it matches well with the mission of our school district,” Mica VanBuskirk said.

Others echoed the district administration’s concerns.

“The school had a tremendous enrollment decline over the last 10 years,” Sarah Douthit said. “The last time that the school had the most students, the most you’ve ever had was about 75-77. So going into this first year and projecting at 91 — while that sounds incredible, it is a little bit hard to swallow.”

The Nikolaevsk Charter School initial application will next go to the State Board of Education and Early Development for review and approval. Upon receipt by the state board, the application will go through a technical review committee to determine if any additional information is necessary. Following the review committee’s agreement that the applicant has “demonstrated compliance,” the application will then be scheduled to be addressed by the State Board of Education & Early Development at their next meeting.

The next regular quarterly meeting of the state board of education is scheduled for March 10-11, 2026, in Juneau.

A recording of Monday’s special meeting will be available on the KPBSD BoardDocs website.