Construction will start soon on the security upgrades for Kenai Middle School. Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche on Jan. 6 authorized a $246,000 contract to Anchorage-based Nvision Architecture to complete the work.

During a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education on Monday, Feb. 3, Superintendent Clayton Holland said Nvision had held a kickoff meeting on Jan. 30, and is preparing to move forward.

Per previous Clarion reporting, the Kenai Middle School security upgrades are among several key KPBSD maintenance projects included in a bond approved by borough voters in October 2022.

The project is set to reorganize Kenai Middle’s front entrance and offices, expand the school’s kitchen space and make student pickup and drop-off more efficient. Because the school’s office is presently located to the right and down the hall from the building entrance, school administrators said it’s possible for people to gain entry to the school without office staff immediately knowing.

Principal Vaughn Dosko told the Clarion in September 2022 that the design was a quirk of the school’s early 1970s design. He said the security upgrade was also a priority of his predecessor, Paul Sorenson.

“It’s not common to walk into a school and not see the office,” he said.

Kenai Middle’s security upgrades are only the third project included in the bond package to get underway. In 2024, a new football field was installed at Seward High School and a new concessions stand was built at Kenai Central High School.

Other projects, including reconstruction of Soldotna Elementary School, student drop-off improvements, a series of roof replacements and repairs to the front facade of Soldotna High School, have been delayed by increased costs.

The borough in December approved a nearly $400,000 contract with Anchorage-based MCG Explore Design to generate a design for consolidation of several Soldotna schools. The consolidation, if approved, would happen in lieu of the reconstruction of Soldotna Elementary, which borough leadership has said is unaffordable.

Several projects, including the roof replacements, Homer High School entrance renovation and Soldotna High repairs, are expected to get underway this year. Borough Purchasing & Contracting Director John Hedges told the KPBSD Board of Education and Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in September that they were put on hold by a perceived shortage of available contractors — and would be released for bidding in the spring.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.