Juneau School Board of Education announces 3 superintendent finalists

Published 12:50 pm Wednesday, March 4, 2026

The Juneau School Board of Education announced three superintendent finalists on Feb. 24 who would replace Juneau School District Superintendent Frank Hauser. The finalists will attend a community forum at Thunder Mountain Middle School from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 4.

Two of the finalists, Shawn Arnold and Carlee Simon, currently live in Juneau, and the third, Kevin Shipley, moved from Juneau to Texas in 2019.

Each finalist has experience as superintendent.

Arnold worked as superintendent of Nome and then Valdez school districts for a total of seven years before moving to Juneau where, five years later, he serves as the principal of Thunder Mountain Middle School.

Arnold says he has experience as an administrator working on teacher recruitment and retention, student enrollment and legislative advocacy.

When asked on a call with the Empire why he applied for the position, Arnold replied, “Juneau is my home now, and it’s somewhere I’ve committed to. With some of the changes the past couple of years, I thought it’s a good opportunity to step back into the ranks as a superintendent.”

Simon worked as a superintendent for two years during Covid in Florida. Between 2023 and 2025, she worked as the Dean of the School of Education at University of Alaska Southeast.

When Simon arrived in Juneau in 2023, two of her three boys attended the Juneau Douglas High School.

“There’s definitely a part of me now knowing more about the community and seeing the changes that has more perspective to share,” Simon said on a call with the Empire.

If selected for the position, Simon plans to increase dual enrollment opportunities and expand access to childcare.

“My focus would be on a very robust schedule of listening and learning,” Simon said when asked what she would begin doing if she were hired as Superintendent. “I have learned that in every environment, you’re going to go in with assumptions, and you need to have an open mind to find out that one of your assumptions could be wrong, or they could be partially right, or they could be exactly what you thought they were.”

Simon became the Planning Commissioner for the City and Borough of Juneau in 2026 and says she sees a connection between the declining enrollment in public education, teacher recruitment and access to affordable housing in Juneau.

Shipley has worked as superintendent of three different districts, including the Kake City School District, for a total of 10 years. During his tenure in these districts, the Kake Elementary School improved its reading skills by two grade levels and three middle schools and one elementary school in Texas improved the school performance rating from ‘F’ to passing or ‘B’.

Shipley currently works as a superintendent at an ‘A’ rated school district in Texas, where he received accommodations from the Texas Commissioner of Education and state board for improving student test scores.

On a call with the Empire, Shipley emphasized collaboration and suggested the public appeal of a $24 million bond he passed in Evadale evinces his collaborative skillset.

“We sat down, talked to them about what they wanted and needed, and how we could accomplish those things,” Shipley said of the bond project. “We were able to come up with solutions and pass the bond with a 69% public approval rating and a five to two vote [by the School Board].”

Arnold, Simon and Shipley will be available for questions at Thunder Mountain Middle school from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 4.