The Juneau Board of Education will have at least one new member this fall, as one sitting member and two challengers are running for two spots in the Oct. 3 election.
Current board member Sean O’Brien is not running for re-election, guaranteeing that a newcomer will take a spot on the board. Brian Holst, the president of the board, is running for re-election, while Kevin Allen and Jeff Short have registered as challengers.
Turnover on the board has been common as of late, Holst said. He’s finishing his first term now, and said he’s quickly becoming one of the seasoned veterans.
“When I came on the board, I was the first new board member in a few years and we’ve had almost a complete transition to a new board,” Holst said. “When Sean leaves, if I were to be re-elected, in my first year of my second term, I’d be the second-longest tenured board member.”
Allen, a 2016 Thunder Mountain High School graduate who also ran in the race last year, registered with the City and Borough of Juneau a few hours before the deadline this past Monday. Short, who is running for the first time, is looking forward to having some competition.
“I’ve not met Mr. Allen but I was glad to see him enter the race to be honest,” Short said, “because I think it’s really great that someone who’s young and energetic is taking some engagement.”
Allen finished fourth last year but was encouraged by the level of support he received as a young candidate and said he’s learned quite a bit from last year’s run. He said he’s been more involved in the community during the past year, particularly with Alaska Native organizations, and he hopes to be a more effective communicator during this campaign.
Allen was a student representative on the school board when he was in high school and said he intimately understands the strengths and weaknesses of the school system. He said he’d like to see more Native programming in schools and would like to see curriculum closely monitored to make sure classes are effective.
“I was in the Juneau school system all my life,” Allen said, “from pre-K over at Headstart to Riverbend to Floyd Dryden to Montessori to Thunder Mountain, and I don’t really believe I was fully equipped with math skills that really helped me in the outside world past high school.”
Why is the board
important?
Allen also pointed out that the board will have to continue making tough budgetary decisions as the state economy struggles. Just last year, there were major statewide cuts to schools. Allen said he’d be more in favor of an approach where a little bit of spending gets cut for various programs instead of full programs getting cut in order to make room in the budget.
Juneau School District Superintendent Mark Miller said that role — setting the budget — is probably the most important one that the board serves. As millions of dollars in personnel costs get cut at the state level, making sound fiscal decisions locally is vital, Miller said.
“Just like any board of directors,” Miller said, “they make key decisions about how those dollars get spent.”
Both Holst and Short are thinking economically as they enter this election. Holst, who serves as the executive director of the Juneau Economic Development Council, said the school district is one of the biggest factors in a successful local economy.
“A strong economy needs great schools,” Holst said. “I think we have very good schools. I think we all want them to be better, and having that economy that works for all of us is hand in hand with great education.”
Short has also talked about the importance of the school system in having a strong economy. He said the two biggest effects the school system has are the way it prepares children and the way it affects the local economy when those children enter the workforce.
One of the best ways to improve the school system, Short said, is to listen to teachers and to value them. He’s been talking with teachers across the school district already, searching for ideas.
“My overarching philosophical thrust is to try and recover some support for teachers,” Short said, “and build more institutional trust both within the school district and between the school district and the community. Those are philosophically where I’m coming from.”
Allen urged people to get out and vote in this election, just as they did in last year’s election. Getting involved and making sure that the Board of Education has upstanding representatives, Allen said, can make a major difference in a child’s education.
“These are the people that are managing that very education,” Allen said. “We need to make sure that they’re the kind of people that can bring about changes within the district that’ll bring max benefit to these students and also the parents.”
Follow their campaigns
Kevin Allen
Facebook: Kevin Allen for School Board
Brian Holst
Facebook: Brian Holst, Juneau Board of Education
Jeff Short
Facebook: Jeff Short for School Board
Website: jeffshortforschoolboard.wordpress.com
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com.
Brian Holst
