“You need their voice to succeed” Mat Su school board seeks to change student rep role on board

During the first regularly scheduled meeting of the new school year, the Matanuska Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) school board introduced a board policy change that would change the role of the student representative role on the school board.

Proposed changes to Board Policy 9110, Board Membership, would drastically reduce the role of the Student Advisory Board (SAB) Representative Member from an active member in the quasi-judicial school board from an active part of the proceedings, able to ask questions and voice concerns from the students’ viewpoint to merely giving a report as a representative of the SAB.

Removed from the proposed policy was a section, in its entirety, that stated that read “student board members shall have the right to attend public meetings of the Board, be recognized at meetings, participate in questioning witnesses and discussing issues and shall receive all materials presented to Board members except those related to executive sessions.”

Also removed was the section that said the student board members may cast preferential votes on all matters except those subject to executive session discussion or personnel matters. Preferential votes are cast prior to the official Board vote and do not affect the outcome of a vote, but are recorded into the Board minutes.

Added into the policy was the following: “The student advisory member may, as determined by the Board President, present a brief report regarding the actions of the MSBSD Student Advisory Board during the reports section of the meeting agenda.”

Katie Gardner, Deputy Superintendent of Business and Operations, said before the proposal was read into the record, that this was an item that was addressed during the Board retreat and that the Policy Committee, with the superintendent, worked on these revisions and put them forward for the Board’s consideration.

The current school board Policy Committee members are Kathy McCollum, Jacob Butcher, and Ole Larson.

A visible change at the meeting was that the current student filling the position, Ben Kolendo, was no longer seated upon the dais with the other school board members as he, and previous student representatives had, but rather in the audience.

The move had already been met with swift reaction on social media leading up to the meeting, with many questioning why the board feels it is necessary to reduce the role and silence the lone student voice on the school board.

“Our current student rep is an amazing voice for the student body. In the past, he has asked questions, presented the student opinion, and relayed his personal experience with eloquence. Silencing this voice, and future student voices, is a huge step backwards in student representation to the school board,” said Dena McChargue.

Gage Saxton spoke out at the meeting in opposition of the proposal, telling the school board members: “It blatantly strips the student body’s sole influence on this board, shutting out any actual power our students have to tell you what they need in order to thrive in school and in life.” He implored the board to reconsider.

“We are, all of us, trying to protect and provide for our families, and we all want the best education for our children…do not make any changes to the member status of the student representative because you need their voice to succeed.”

School board member Ted Swanson made motion to amend the policy that would have put back in the removed portions of the policy, but it failed to get a second from any of the other board members.

“I believe that the student advisory board representative is a valuable voice to have up here and participate in the meetings, and ask questions,” he said.

Meanwhile, school board member Jacob Butcher, who said he was not present when the policy change was proposed, said that he sees the student advisor representative role in a different light.

“It’s more of a privilege for the student body than an elected official to serve on the board and be privy to access the documents and questioning witnesses and delving into executive session matters.”

Butcher also implied that external influences to the student representative position, are in part responsible for the proposed changes, though he did not elaborate or provide specifics.

“Like a lot of other good faith efforts, this position is subject to pressures from outside, which I felt like from my remote position, is what happened. Unfortunately, that’s kind of forced the body to do a restructure in order to effectively and efficiently carry out our business and to maintain the authority and not be undermining the role of elected officials on this board.”

Ultimately, Butcher said that the proposed change is a compromise for all.

“I feel like the proposed language and the policy update is a solid compromise to still maintain that relationship with the student body.”

School board member Jubilee Underwood said that whenever the SAB is giving their reports or presentations, that it not be scripted, but that the students do have the freedom to say whatever it is they are wanting to express, and feel free to do a question and answer during that time.

Kolendo, utilizing his role as a board member, asked the school board committee that rewrote the policy for the reasoning behind the changes in light of the fact that most policies the school board addresses affect the students themselves.

“The affect students so much more than the people up on this board. So shouldn’t I be able to answer questions with the policy as well as bring to attention some things that board members might not notice? Because they don’t sit in a classroom all day, every day. They don’t see their teachers that they employ all day, every day.”

No one from the school board answered his questions nor made a reply.

Dianne Shibe, who has announced that she is running for the MSBSD School Board in District 6, said she was disappointed by the proposal and the curtail of the students in matters that pertain to them.

“This is one more voice that they have silenced or curtailed. We have had a Student Advisor on the Board for as long as I can remember. Anchorage has a Student Advisor as well. Students as well as adults in our community need and deserve a voice!”

She praised Kolendo, calling him “an exceptional young person who is the most vocal of any in his position that I have seen.”

She, and others on social media, believe that the proposed change is in response to his acting the role of the student representative, making comments and asking questions of the board.

“He has made comments and asked questions that the Board clearly does not appreciate, and they have at least twice refused to answer. However, disapproving of such comments and questions is not a valid reason to silence him and all future Student Advisors.”

As recently as May, after being elected as the Student Representative and MSBSD teachers had voted to authorize a strike, Kolendo spoke out in support of the teachers, telling the school board, “We’re acting as if that’s not a big deal…as a student, I want my teachers at school.”

Meanwhile, when presenting his report to the school board, Kolendo told the board that among the Student Advisory Board’s future goals is to elevate the voice of the students and get the student advisory board more involved with the community.

The next MSBSD school board meeting is scheduled for September 6 at 6:00 pm at the MSBSD Administration Building in Palmer.