By Delcenia Cosman

Reporter, Homer Independent Press

As the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District scrambles to finalize contracts with several communities trying to keep their pools from closing, the Kachemak Swim Club is asking for additional help from local government to ensure the Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center at Homer High School remains open. 

KPBSD decided this year to finally end district support of local pools as one of many cost savings measures in the face of continued inadequate state school funding. All district-operated swimming pools that have not already secured alternative funding and management by June 30 will close July 1.  

Two KSC board members spoke to the Homer City Council Monday at the end of the Committee of the Whole meeting about the future of the Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center. While KSC remains committed to preserving swimming opportunities for youth, families, schools and the broader community, board member Amy Sundheim said, the club needs help to develop a sustainable, long-term operating model. 

Sundheim said all participating entities needed to clearly define their roles, roles, responsibilities, liabilities, funding obligations and insurance requirements. As a small nonprofit, KSC can’t get sufficient liability coverage to operate at a public school.  

“Homer and Kachemak City residents are among the primary beneficiaries of this pool and its programs,” she said “Ensuring continued community access to aquatic education, recreation, fitness and competitive swimming will require meaningful participation and support from all of our governmental entities locally.”

Two of the main challenges standing in the way of KSC’s existing proposal are hiring a pool manager and securing additional insurance.

As a district employee, the current pool manager’s job will end on June 30. KSC board president Stephen Overdorf said they’ve had difficulty finding a new manager, “especially if it’s for low pay and no benefits.” 

KPBSD Director of Planning and Operations Kevin Lyon said he offered to extend the current manager’s job through July, but as they’ve found new employment, that particular route won’t be possible. 

“If you can extend, it’s a little easier than trying to get somebody hired that passes all of the (requirements) and then try to get them instated quickly,” he said. 

Still, it’s not the end of the road. Overdorf said he passed some names on to Lyon for potential pool manager candidates. Lyon said the district is “looking into other options.”

KSC has its own insurance for swim club activities. KPBSD also has insurance to cover their own use of the pool. But the club would need additional insurance to cover community activities like open swim and lap swim.

“Anything that’s outside of what our club does, or the school district — the school district will have their community swimming, they’ll have their own insurance. We have insurance as a club … it’s not that, it’s trying to meet the community need,” Overdorf said. 

According to Lyon, this is an issue that several communities have encountered. 

“What we’ve been running into in a lot of these agreements is they’re having difficulty getting insurance for open swims,” he said. “People would have to join USA Swimming to get insurance for lap swim. These are things that are in motion with both of the clubs at Kenai and Homer, but it’s complicating what they can and can’t do.”

Sundheim told the city council on Monday that the insurance issue also “reflects that the risks associated with operating a public school exceed what a volunteer nonprofit can reasonably assume.” 

“Liability and risk should therefore remain with the governmental entities that possess the legal authority, financial capacity and insurance mechanisms necessary to manage them throughout this process,” she said, calling on the borough and school district. 

Sundheim also said that Seward’s oversight of their pool could be a model for how Homer and Kachemak City play a role in preserving the Homer pool. 

On Monday, the Seward City Council passed a resolution unanimously approving their contract with the district. The new arrangement, effective Jan. 1, 2027, creates an intergovernmental partnership between the borough, KPBSD and the City of Seward to support continued pool operations. Essentially, the city will fund the pool, the school district will operate it and the borough will continue ownership and capital maintenance responsibilities. Like Homer, the Seward pool serves users outside the city limits.

According to Seward Resolution 2026-057, the district has the operational capacity to manage pool staffing, programming and day-to-day operations of the facility, including collection of pool revenues and financial reporting, but does not have the fiscal capacity to independently fund pool operations. 

From July 1 to Dec. 31, Seward pool operations will be funded solely from the existing pool operations account held by the school district, the balance of which is currently about $100,000. Under the agreement, beginning Jan. 1, the City of Seward will provide $200,000 annually to support continued pool operations and access to the facility for Seward residents. The borough will continue structural repairs and mechanical upkeep of the pool facility in addition to ownership and capital maintenance.

Lyon said Tuesday that the contract still awaits signatures from the City of Seward, borough and district, but otherwise he can “check the box off” on Seward. 

For Homer, according to the KSC board, questions of liability insurance, governance and long-term financial feasibility remain up in the air.

“KSC recommends that the governmental entities work collaboratively to develop a formal operating framework that clearly identifies responsibility for, primarily, insurance coverage, legal liability, facility operations, funding commitments and decision-making authority,” Sundheim said. “We remain committed to supporting this process.” 

Mayor pro tem Shelly Erickson told the KSC representatives to submit a formal letter to the city manager that details the situation, the club’s needs “and some hard numbers.” From there, she said, the council would “look and see what our part is or isn’t in this.”

On Tuesday, Lyon was working through the remaining contracts, “trying to get them to somehow work” ahead of June 30.

“I’m working to figure out a solution around it,” he said, referring to the end-of-funding date.

A recording on the June 22 Committee of the Whole meeting will be available on the City of Homer website.