Student Advisory Board Representative and recent high school graduate announces candidacy for School Board

Following a school year fraught with controversy surrounding his position as the Student Advisory Board Representative, in which the position was removed from the dais, Ben Kolendo, a recent high school graduate, announced that he is entering the race for Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) school board member.

“I am honored to stand before you today to announce my candidacy for school board district one," Kolendo said during the board's regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday evening.

He said that it has been an honor to have served as the Student Advisory Board and represent the students of the MSBSD for the past six years, some of those years as a school board member.

"Our district is at a critical juncture, and the decisions we make now will shape the educational experiences for our students for years to come," he said before laying out his platform.

Kolendo says he believes in a bipartisan approach to governance that transcends party lines and instead focuses on the needs of the students and the community. He then laid out the three principles of his platform

"Fiscal responsibility, streamlined education, and a committment to traditional education system."

He told the audience that he would like to cut spending nd reallocate funds to sources that directly impact students including classroom supplies, technology, and supportive services that would ehance learning. Kolendo said supports a smaller, less absolute administration that would save money and empower teachers, staff, and parents to make decisions that best serve the students..And lastly, he said he believes in maintaining a traditional curriculum structure emphasizing foundational knowledge and skills.

"I firmly support the rights and freedoms and students and parents. It is not the district's job to raise our children, but to educate them. Parents should have a say in their children's education, and students should feel supported in the pursuit of knowledge and personal growth."

He finished by saying that through a collaborative relationship between district and families, the educational goals of each child can be met.

“I am committed to making our district a place where every student can thrive, teachers are supported, and parents are respected partners in the education system.”

His announcement comes just one week after receiving his high school diploma, and giving his speech during the Mat-Su Career and Technical High School ceremony, where he told his fellow graduates, they possess the power to shape their own destinies, defy expectations, and leave their mark.

“As we stand on the brink of our future, let us embrace one profound truth-our destinies are not dictated by the names we inherit, but the choices we make and the actions we take in our lives,” he said, reminding the graduates that they are the ones who write their own narratives and are in control of their fates. He also said that he hopes that others will carry on what his fellow graduates have begun-a spirit of unity and empowerment, integrity and persistence. “With integrity and persistence as our allies, there is no limit to what we can achieve together.”

He is seeking the District 1 spot.

MSBSD Policy 9220 says that any person eligible to be a voter in the district is eligible for Board membership, unless that person is a district employee.

During the 2023-2024school year, the school board made headlines when it announced a policy change that removed the SABR from the dais, where Kolendo and previous SABRs sat alongside the school board members and superintendents. This action was met with swift protests from the Student Advisory Board and students across the district, actions which were later investigated the district following morning protests and student walkouts.

Kolendo is also engaged in a lawsuit against the MSBSD, citing the district violated their right to free speech. In a press release from the Northern Justice Project, which is representing Kolendo and Quin Schachle, another recent graduate in the district, attorney Savannah Fletcher says that following a September 6, 2023 school board meeting, when the board announced the ordinance to remove the SABR from the dais, and both Kolendo and Schachle spoke at the meeting, the district ordered administrators at their high schools to interrogate students about their participation in the public meeting. Kolendo and Schachle say they were both removed from their classes and maintain that they were questioned about their participation, the experience leaving them feeling intimidated by the district.

Additionally, the men say that the district outright prohibited “anything political” to be discussed by students at a student walkout in October, and students were ordered to leave campus during a second walkout in November for engaging in political speech.

The school board has broad but clearly limited powers. The exercise of its authority is restricted to the functions required or permitted by law, and then only when it acts in a legally constituted meeting. Individual Board members shall submit requests for research or administrative studies to the entire Board for consideration.

School Board members are elected for a three-year term in accordance with procedures established by ordinance for Mat-Su Borough elections or by state regulations for regional educational attendance areas.