Lone school board race lost in media circus

MAT-SU — This election season has proved to be light on candidates for Mat-Su Borough races. Perhaps one of the least-watched races in the Mat-Su Valley so far is Seat D on the Mat-Su Borough School District Board of Education.

The seat is the only contested race for school board this year, pitting incumbent Pat Purcell against Palmer resident R. Ole Larson.

On Thursday, both candidates said with local voters entranced by the the national political spotlight on Gov. Sarah Palin, they hope voters will still pay attention to local races.

Issues, issues

Both candidates mentioned different goals Thursday on which they’d like to concentrate should voters put them in office.

For Larson, plowing head-on into creating more after-school opportunities for students is at the top of his list.

After 29 years working in correctional facilities, some of them housing youths, Larson said he’s seen what can happen when kids aren’t impacted in a positive way early.

“We have to figure out the price of ignorance,” Larson said.

To jump-start more after-school programs, Larson said he’d create committees — calling them action committees “that get stuff done” — to look at what works in other communities and implement those strategies here.

Larson said the benefits of good after-school programs always outweigh the cost.

“It would be nice to bring those programs before they (students) get incarcerated,” Larson said.

For Purcell, who is finishing her first term on the school board, continuing to advance the relatively new program based budgeting method adopted by the board is important.

Program based budgeting uses funding packages prioritized based on the district’s mission, beliefs, objectives and strategies. According to the district, focusing on student learning, the budget provides resources to help achieve No Child Left Behind mandates.

Purcell said she ran for her seat the first time because the previous budget was “a little rough.”

But since the board has been using the new budgeting process for about two years, Purcell said the refining process is making program based budgeting run smoother.

“I feel like I’m right in the middle of the development of something really, really good,” Purcell said.

Who’s the best candidate

So far, the race for Seat D on the school board has lacked mudslinging. Still, Larson and Purcell each gave very different reasons as to why they are more qualified than the other to sit on the board.

Purcell, the incumbent, said her vast community involvement over the past 20 years puts her in the position to be more familiar with the needs of the community.

“I’m in the schools, I know the teachers, I know the principals,” said Purcell, who won the Dorothy Jones Volunteer of the Year award recently.

Her experience during the past three years on the board also gives her an edge over Larson, she said.

“I’m familiar with all the aspects, both large school and small schools,” Purcell said.

Larson touts his management experience as one of the main reasons he’s the qualified candidate.

A former Matanuska Electric Association board member, Larson said he has decades of experience in leadership roles and management. During his time working in the correctional system, Larson said he managed employees, multi-million dollar budgets and dealt with unions.

All that would benefit the board, he said.

Both Larson and Purcell, however, said they don’t know much about each other’s background.

The election

Ballots for school board can be cast Oct. 7 during the borough’s municipal elections. All registered voters in the borough can vote for school board because board members represent the entire district.

Also running for the board, but unopposed, are Big Lake resident Myrl Thompson and Palmer resident Brian Sullivan.

Thompson occupies Seat G, to which he was appointed earlier this year. Sullivan, who is a former Washington state legislator now working as a military police officer at Fort Richardson, is a political newcomer in the borough.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.