Community swimming pools are important to our students and our communities. They support physical education, athletics, therapy services, recreation, swim lessons, and water safety while providing gathering places for people of all ages.
KPBSD is unique among Alaska school districts. While many pools across the state are located in school buildings, they are operated by municipalities, boroughs, or community recreation organizations. On the Kenai Peninsula, the District has historically operated community pools, making us the exception rather than the rule.
Over the past year, we’ve explored several possible ways to keep pools open, including transferring pool operations to community organizations. Although there was significant interest from some local swim clubs, extensive discussions showed that approach was not practical. We are now working toward a partnership model that allows the District to continue operating community pools while sharing financial responsibility with municipalities, private partners, community organizations, and pool users.
As this partnership model is implemented, the District will continue providing staffing and day to day operations for five of the seven pools. To do this, the District must increase operational revenue by updating user fees and expanding community programming where appropriate. KPBSD will continue providing routine maintenance through its budget and Borough maintenance staff, while the Borough supports larger maintenance projects as they arise. At the same time, we are working with municipalities and other partners to help offset operating expenses, particularly utility costs. By sharing responsibility, we believe we can create a model that preserves community pools while allowing the District to remain focused on its primary mission of educating students.
Seward Pool
The City of Seward has committed up to $200,000 annually beginning in January 2027 to support operation of the Seward Pool.
Seldovia Pool
In Seldovia, voters approved an increase to the recreation service area mill rate to provide ongoing support for the Susan B. English Pool.
Kenai, Soldotna, and Homer Pools
The Cities of Kenai, Soldotna, and Homer are also actively working with the District to develop sustainable long term funding solutions. Each community has expressed a willingness to participate financially as sustainable local partnership models are developed, demonstrating a shared commitment to preserving these important community assets. We are grateful for these partnerships and look forward to building on them in the years ahead. The current status of these pools is as follows:
Kenai Pool
We recently met with the Kenai City Manager and the Kenai Swim Club to develop a plan in which the City of Kenai will offset utility costs while the District raises pool fees to cover pool manager and lifeguard costs. Superintendent Holland will provide additional information to the City of Kenai, and all parties hope to have an agreement in place by mid August that will allow the Kenai Pool to remain open for the school year.
Skyview Pool
The Skyview Pool continues to operate successfully under its existing model and generates sufficient revenue to support operations while serving therapy and recreational programming. Under the partnership model, the Pool Manager will split time between Skyview and Kenai Central, helping reduce operational costs and improve efficiency while maintaining services at both locations.
Homer Pool
The District has also been working with the City of Homer, Kachemak Swim Club, South Peninsula Hospital, and Homer-area community partners to develop a shared solution for the Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center. Superintendent Holland will present to the Homer City Council on July 27, and will provide additional details regarding the partnership model and the level of community investment needed beyond the City’s current $20,000 commitment. KPBSD remains committed to keeping the Homer pool open and working collaboratively with community partners toward a long term agreement.
Current Pool Closures
Soldotna Pool
The Soldotna Pool remains closed while the District and the City of Soldotna work to identify a sustainable operating and funding model that will allow the facility to reopen. Like community pools across the District, the Soldotna Pool cannot be supported through user fees alone and depends on community partnership to offset operating costs. At this time, the pool’s operational account does not have sufficient funding to support reopening. KPBSD will continue working with the City of Soldotna and other community partners to identify opportunities to help close the funding gap and develop a long term solution that may allow the pool to reopen.
Ninilchik Pool
The Ninilchik Pool will remain closed. Following the failure of the recreation service area ballot measure last year, we have not identified a sustainable operational and financial model. The District remains open to future opportunities should additional partnerships or funding become available.
Looking Ahead
KPBSD will continue strengthening community partnerships, aligning user fees more closely with the cost of service, and refining this partnership model to support the long term sustainability of community pools throughout the Kenai Peninsula.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District appreciates the collaboration, conversations, and support we have received from the Borough, the municipalities of Seward, Seldovia, Kenai, Homer, and Soldotna, swim organizations, community members, and the many volunteers who have dedicated their time and energy to finding solutions. We know these pools are valuable community assets. They support our students through physical education, athletics, therapy services, and water safety while also serving families and residents across our communities. Their long term success will depend on continued partnership among the District, the Borough, municipalities, community organizations, pool users, and the State, whose sustained investment in public education has historically made services like these possible. By sharing responsibility, we believe we can preserve these important community resources while allowing the District to remain focused on supporting students in life success.