School Board discusses tabled resolution

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough School Board discussed previously tabled Resolution 21-007, which was last discussed in June. The resolution called for term limits, change in pay for school board members and requirements for how winners of close votes would be determined.

MSBSD Superintendent Dr. Randy Trani presented information on the other large school districts in the state. While there is no term limit requirement in the Mat-Su, Kenai, Juneau or Fairbanks for school board members, Anchorage School Board members must take a one year break following three consecutive terms.

“We did some investigating in the first was the salaries and emoluments clause that the borough has for setting the salaries or suggesting the salaries for the board and the borough had not done that for a long, long, many, many years. They just hadn’t had that and as we understand it now they’ve communicated with us that they are reconstituting that and so that resolution the way it was written was asking them to basically do that and sounds like it’s already done,” said Trani.

In the Mat-Su, a tie vote between candidates for school board goes to a recount. If the candidates still have the same number of votes, the winner is decided by a coin flip. In Anchorage, a runoff election is triggered when the margin of victory for any school board candidate is at or under one half of one percentage point. In Kenai, Fairbanks and Juneau the candidate with the greatest number of votes is elected. School Board Member Dwight Probasco asked about the feasibility of splitting Ordinance 21-007 into three parts with each pertaining to a specific issue.

“I concur with member Probasco. We have three separate unrelated items, we should break them apart into three separate resolutions to be dealt with each individually on their own merit and the emolument portion of that was in essence from the debate last spring of the angst that was generated over the board being in the position of setting their own pay raise,” said Member Tom Bergey. “The borough is the one who set the board pay raises, not the school board. We need not be in the position to where we are rewarding ourselves. We have a higher organization.”

Member Sarah Welton will not seek reelection, and is the longest serving member of the school board. Welton said she was opposed to term limits and questioned if the move to ranked choice voting in Alaska would affect local elections, which Trani stated was not the case.

“I don’t feel this subject should even be on this board. I don’t even think we should be discussing it. It’s up to the voters whether we stay or not. Our pay, we shouldn’t even address that. I’m glad that’s at the borough but these are subjects that it just doesn’t feel right discussing,” said Member Jeff Taylor.