FKPSAA: Spring Borough Wide Student Council Meeting

This memo is to inform the KPBSD Board of Education that the KPSAA Executive Board approved an exception to the KPSAA handbook for the 2018-2019 school year, and approved moving the Borough-Wide Student Council Meeting to this spring.

Background information for your reference regarding this issue:

At the February 20, 2018 Kenai Peninsula Schools Activities Association (KPSAA) meeting, and again at the April 5, 2018 KPSAA meeting, the KPSAA Executive Board discussed moving the Borough Wide Student Council Meeting from the fall to the spring.  There were two primary reasons for considering moving the meeting to the spring:

1. The Borough Wide Student Council Meeting historically happens in September, and that month is full of scheduling conflicts due to sports schedules, and more importantly, various Homecoming events at each of the schools, which are significant conflicts for many schools.  Moving the Borough Wide Student Council Meeting to the spring would reduce the number of scheduling conflict, particularly with Homecoming events.
2. The student representatives to the school board and various district committees are elected at the Borough Wide Student Council Meeting.  When this meeting occurs in September, those student representatives are not able to join any meetings until October at the earliest.  Moving the Borough Wide Student Council Meeting to the spring would allow those student representatives to begin participating in those meetings right at the beginning of the following school year.

During the spring of 2018, the KPSAA board brought to the high school principals, the idea of moving the Borough Wide Student Council Meeting. The principals were overall supportive of moving the meeting from the fall to the spring for the above two reasons.

The proposal was also brought forward and discussed with all the schools’ Student Councils at the September 11, 2018 Borough-Wide Student Council Meeting, at their general business meeting.  The proposal to move the meeting from the fall to the spring was also supported by each of the Student Councils. 

At the September 13, 2018 Kenai Peninsula Schools Activities Association (KPSAA) meeting, a motion was made and approved by the KPSAA Executive Board to change the KPSAA handbook language to reflect moving the Borough Wide Student Council Meeting to the spring of each year.

At the November 13, 2018 KPSAA meeting, the KPSAA Executive Board approved an exception to the KPSAA handbook for the 2018-2019 school year by moving forward and planning to host the Borough-Wide Student Council Meeting this spring. KPSAA has set the date for Monday, March 4, 2019, at Seward High School.

Language to permanently change the KPSAA Handbook and move the date for the Borough Wide Student Council Meeting to the spring of each year will be included for the KPBSD Board of Education approval in the normal approval process beginning in the Spring of 2019.