At its Tuesday meeting, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly set the floor for its school district contribution at $56.2 million.

The Southern Kenai Peninsula is home to several villages of Russian Old Believers. In the public schools in the villages, Old Believer culture and bilingual education run throughout the school day. This is the third part in our five-part series about schools on the Kenai Peninsula.

Three of the Kenai Peninsula’s smallest schools are in the rural communities of Moose Pass, Cooper Landing and Hope. Small populations mean individualized education, multigrade extracurriculars and a distinct social environment. This is the second installment in a five-part series about schools on the Kenai Peninsula.

With 42 schools spread across a land area bigger than West Virginia, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is a good candidate for ‘Most Unique District in America’ according to its superintendent. This is the first in a five-part series about the diversity of schools on the peninsula.

This year marks 60 years since Sterling Elementary School has been a part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. In commemoration of the anniversary, the school held a birthday celebration, which brought together teachers, families and current and former students.

Two former Kenai Peninsula coaches will soon be inducted into the Alaska High School Hall of Fame. Founded in 2006, the hall of fame recognizes former coaches and players who exhibit high standards and integrity in high school sports.

The Southern Kenai Peninsula is home to several villages of Russian Old Believers, a group that split from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1654 and came to the United States in the 1960s. In the public schools in the villages, Old Believer culture and bilingual education run throughout the school day. For the third part in our series about the peninsula’s schools, KDLL’s Riley Board visited three Old Believer communities. Plus, the Kenai Peninsula Borough set the funding level for the school district next year, with some wiggle room.

Three of the Kenai Peninsula’s smallest schools are connected to the road system but serve small towns where they become a community hub. As KDLL’s Riley Board learned when she visited the schools, small populations mean individualized education, multigrade extracurriculars and an entirely distinct social environment. Plus, there are 17 offshore oil platforms in the waters of Cook Inlet and six sit idle. Casey Grove, with Alaska Public Media, sits down with investigative journalist Nat Herz to find out why they're still standing.

Our guests this week are some of the organizers behind the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, an annual birding event in Homer. We’re also joined Ted Floyd, editor of Birding Magazine.

Our guest this week is Mary McCubbins, who organizes the lineup for the Levitt AMP Soldotna summer music series.