This story, originally published in the July 11 Juneau Empire, has been moved in front of the Empire’s paywall.
Recall votes for the top two members of the Juneau Board of Education sparked by the district’s financial crisis earlier this year that resulted in a consolidation of schools — although the consolidation itself is not an official reason for the recalls — will be part of the Oct. 1 municipal election.
Board President Deedie Sorensen and Vice President Emil Mackey, whose three-year terms expire in 2025, are the only members of the seven-person board eligible for a recall vote under local rules since two other members were newly elected last year and the other three are up for election this year. Supporters of the recall effort also noted Sorensen and Mackey have served multiple terms and thus are responsible for the developing financial situation that reached a crisis point in January.
”We are profoundly thankful and appreciative of all the help and support we received while collecting signatures for the recall,” Jenny Thomas, one of the leaders of the petition effort, wrote in an email to the Empire.
“To the many community members who came to sign in tears, expressing their concerns and emotions about the current situation, we want you to know that we heard you. Your voices matter, and your support has been a beacon of hope and strength for us all. We also wish to express our gratitude to those who disagreed with the recall but approached us with kindness and respect. Your thoughtful and respectful dialogue has contributed to a more constructive and inclusive conversation within our community.”
Petitioners needed to gather at least 2,359 signatures from eligible Juneau residents— or 25% of voters in the most recent local election — for the recalls of both Sorensen and Mackey. A letter certifying those minimums were met was sent to Thomas by Beth McEwen, municipal clerk for the City and Borough of Juneau.
Both Sorensen and Mackey said they intend to actively campaign against the recall efforts, which they said are based on inaccurate and misguided information. In particular, they noted, officially the petition has nothing to do with the budget situation for the current fiscal year that was the basis for the consolidation of schools that took effect July 1 — rather it’s for deficits incurred previously that resulted in budget cutbacks and other stopgap measures.
“Actually, I’m kind of happy about this because now that it’s going to go to an election we can have a debate with the people that made the false accusations against me and set the record straight for the voters of Juneau,” Mackey said.
Sorensen, in an interview, said the full board voted for budgets in previous years based on information provided by district staff. Much of the blame for the district’s financial crisis has been placed on the district’s former director of administrative services Cassee Olin — with board members and other officials saying information she provided contained major errors — with a long-term decline in student enrollment and flat state funding for many years also cited as factors.
“We dealt with it as directly as we could as we found out about it,” Sorensen said. “The idea that we could have afforded to continue to do business in that ‘24-‘25 budget the same way we were doing it before, that just wasn’t possible. The reason that we’re on fiscally stable ground is because of the consolidations and those decisions that we made. But that isn’t what the recall is about.”
Officially the recall of Sorensen and Mackey is for “failure to understand the FY24 budget and accounting errors resulting in $7.9M deficit and taxpayer loan from CBJ, violating BP3460.” Supporters of the effort say the district’s fiscal struggles were a multiyear developing situation board members were aware of and their failure to address the issue until it reached a crisis stage created a situation where the consolidation of schools was a byproduct.
The $7.9 million deficit referred to in the ballot initiative language was for the fiscal year ending June 30, based on estimates when the recall effort was launched in April. District officials had projected a deficit of $9.5 million in January, including $7.6 million for fiscal 2024 and about $1.9 million in remaining debt from fiscal 2023, but that amount was revised downward as additional information became available by April.
Thomas asserts “there was never a 9.5 million dollar deficit” and that board members received information in January suggesting that amount was incorrect, yet “chose to ignore this information or even review and proceeded forward with tell(ing) the community that we were in debt.” As such, recall supporters argue, the school board took drastic actions that were unnecessary and detrimental to local education programs.
Additional major financial shifts were revealed after the recall effort began, including health insurance costs being $3.5 million lower than expected, the unexpected resignation of dozens of employees beginning in January and the Juneau Assembly voting to take over nearly $4 million in maintenance costs of some buildings used by both the district and municipality. The result was the district was able to end the just-completed fiscal year without a deficit.
The loan referred to in the petition language was for $1 million approved by the Assembly to help cover the deficit for last year, but the school board later voted not to accept the funds due to the district’s updated fiscal situation.
The district was also facing a nearly $10 million deficit for the current fiscal year, but various factors including the consolidation and a one-time state funding increase of $5.2 million resulted in a balanced budget passed by the school board. Thomas, however, said she questions the reliability of the board’s actions and is calling for a third-party audit to determine the budget’s accuracy.
Mackey said many of the claims made by recall supporters are inaccurate — and motivated by anger about the consolidation of schools — and will be a point of emphasis in his effort to keep his seat. He said he wants face-to-face public forums with recall supporters to contest the issues raised.
“When we have people that are willing to say anything out of anger, out of political motivation, or any other motivation that diverts them from telling the truth and misinformation — whether out of ignorance or will — we must set the record straight,” he said.
Mackey also noted that he’s stated publicly since 2017 that a consolidation of schools would be needed due to the district’s long-term enrollment decline that is expected to continue well into the future.
“To hold me responsible for something that I’ve been trying to actively fix since 2017 is counterproductive at best,” he said.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
