The Kenai School District is experiencing the effects of a profound shift impacting government-run education across Alaska. Students are leaving, budgets are shrinking and the old model is rapidly losing public support.

This reality is on full display in a new report from the Kenai School District.

Like many areas around Alaska, the Kenai District has been forced to shutter schools, cut teachers and grapple with the rise of homeschooling and private education. This is coupled with a shrinking number of children, overall, due to declining birth rates.

According to a recent report from the district, its student enrollment has fallen by 744 students over the past 12 years – from 8,974 to just 8,230. Eeven greater declines are projected in the years ahead. By 2030, the district expects to lose another 578 students – the equivalent of two extra-large elementary schools.

In the wake of Covid, families are increasingly aware that they have far more options.

The losses are largely coming from traditional brick-and-mortar neighborhood schools. Most Kenai charter schools are holding steady or increasing enrollment, and the Kenai District’s homeschool program – Connections – is bursting at the seams. With 1,288 students, it is by far the largest school in the Kenai Borough.

According to state population data, the Kenai Borough’s overall population has increased by 6.21% since 2016, and yet public school enrollment has declined by nearly 6% during the same time period. In fact, enrollment has dropped from a high of 10,384 students in 1998 to less than 8,300 in 2025.

While there may be less children living in the borough, there is another factor contributing to the population drop at traditional public schools.

In the wake of Covid, families are increasingly aware that they have far more options. In addition to the Kenai District’s charter and homeschool programs, students can attend any number of statewide homeschool programs that are run by competing districts around the state.

Without ever leaving the Kenai Borough, students can enroll in programs like Interior Distant Education of Alaska (IDEA), which is the largest statewide homeschool program with nearly 7,500 students.

Developed by the Galena City School District, IDEA began in 1997 as the first statewide homeschool program that allowed families to develop individual curriculums, unique educational methods and use expanded options to educate their children as they see fit.

As a result of IDEA’s unprecedented popularity, there are now dozens of similar programs throughout Alaska, many of which accept students from anywhere in the state. These programs issue annual homeschool allotments to parents who can use the money to provide tailored educational experiences for their children.

In response, local school districts have tried to increase their homeschool allotments and expand charter school options to adapt to the ongoing revolution. At the same time, however, the status-quo bureaucracy has attempted to press the State Legislature for more money per student to make up for the fact that fewer children attend standard government run schools.

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