Deadline to apply for school board seat near

MAT-SU -- Candidates interested in serving on the Mat-Su school board have until Jan. 9 to turn in a resume, and they won't be getting any test questions ahead of time.

Carl Gatto's seat on the Mat-Su school board opens up at the end of the year as he prepares to go to Juneau as the Republican representative for the newly created House District 13 in Greater Palmer. Beginning this weekend, the school district began advertising for the vacant seat, which represents the entire Mat-Su Borough.

The district is requesting interested applicants submit letters of interest and a resume no later than 4:30 p.m. Jan. 9.

At least two possible candidates have shown interest in the seat -- former school board member Helene Antel Brooks and Carolyne Enloe, last election's unsuccessful challenger to incumbent Mike Chmielewski.

The appointment will be up to the remaining six members of the school board, and at a meeting last week they discussed which questions they would ask during interviews and whether the candidates should get the questions in advance.

"Some of these questions take a little research," school board member Larry DeVilbiss said as he reviewed a list proposed by the administration. DeVilbiss said he favored choosing the questions and then making them public so as to allow candidates to prepare their answers.

School board member Dan Contini seemed to agree that some of the proposed questions, which were never made public at the meeting, seemed challenging.

"I hope somebody has the answers to these questions," he said. "Questions one and two don't take a rocket scientist to figure out, but I'd throw three and four out … I don't even know the answers yet."

In the end, though, Contini and other board members opted to choose six questions that wouldn't require the candidates to do research in advance but would be best answered by someone who has kept current on issues the board is facing.

"If you give out the questions ahead of time, you get a textbook answer," Contini said.

The board members voted on the questions by secret ballot and kept them under wraps.

On Jan. 10, school district administration will prepare packets with each applicant's letter and resume for school board members to review.

At a Jan. 15 public school board meeting, the members will vote on each applicant to determine who will be interviewed for the open seat. To be considered for an interview, each candidate must receive a majority vote of the board, but there will be no limit as to how many candidates the board can interview.

A special meeting has then been slated for 6 p.m. Jan. 22, in the school board chambers at the Palmer High School library. Candidates will be interviewed publicly at half-hour intervals. Applicants who are not being interviewed at the time will be sequestered in a separate room so they will not hear the questions in advance. The board will then vote on each candidate, choosing one to fill the vacant seat.

Once an appointee has been named, he or she will be required to file a conflict-of-interest form with the Mat-Su Borough clerk.

The board-chosen appointee is expected to be sworn in at the Feb. 5 meeting and will serve until next fall's local elections when the seat will go on the ballot.

Letters of interest and resumes may be submitted to Mike Chmielewski, School Board President, Mat-Su Borough School District, 125 W. Evergreen, Palmer AK 99645. More information is available by calling 746-9272.