Preschool teacher challenging longtime member of the school board for seat

Sarah Welton has been on the Mat-Su School Borough School District School Board for 15 years. She is a minster, earned her PhD, and taught at the college as well as owning her own counseling practice. She hopes her experience on the school board will help her get elected again.

“I don’t just represent one group of schools anyway, it’s all of the schools. They’re all my children. When I go and walk into a school visitor sign in who are you here for? I say all of the students,” Welton said.

Welton put a purple streak into her hair when she earned her PhD as an anecdote from a poem she read. She says she used to hide books outside when her parents would kick her out of the house. She has grandkids in the school district and all of her children graduated from MSBSD.

“Besides making workers we need to have it to where people learn about how to be happy and how to enjoy life,” Welton said.

Welton is encouraged by the ‘Capturing Kids Hearts’ program in the district and sees the benefit in the ALICE training, increasing school safety.

“People came to us and said we need to have guns in the schools and things like this, well there’s a pragmatic piece to that,” Welton said.

Welton serves on a variety of nonprofits and has received professional board training.

“I have connections everywhere and those connections help me to see and understand a variety of viewpoints,” Welton said. “A person who’s actually a teacher does a lot of learning in the process and it’s all part of that passion for learning.”

Brittany Harvey is the youngest candidate in the field by far. She teaches preschool in Wasilla and is married to Deputy Mayor James Harvey. She wants to see increased school funding and does not believe that her political inexperience is a problem.

“I think the capability I have is that I am able to connect with people,” Harvey said. “I believe teachers should be paid appropriately.”

Harvey wants to see greater public input, specifically with the certificate of participation programs. She is also in favor of school board term limits, and will continue to push that to Valley legislators even if not elected. Harvey encourages voters to ask as many questions as possible of their candidates.

“You also aren’t getting new people new ideas and they just get used to being in that position and I think that it can lead to the disconnect,” Harvey said. “Our teachers and our students aren’t being properly funded in the classroom where the magic happens per se. Talking to different principals and teachers and stuff, they’re missing key ingredients to their education such as chairs at Burchell or chemistry equipment at the brand new Redington Jr/Sr High. That shouldn’t be happening.”

Harvey describes her family as extremely invested in the community and wants her young children to be able to graduate from successful schools.

Harvey also disagrees with lawsuits facing the board being required to be above $200,000 to receive public input.

“I just thought that number was astronomical that shouldn't have been passed,” Harvey said.