Anchorage School District elections (2015)

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2015 Anchorage School District Elections
General Election date:
April 7, 2015
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
Alaska Anchorage School District Anchorage, Alaska ballot measures Local ballot measures, Alaska

Three seats on the Anchorage School Board were up for general election on April 7, 2015.

In the Seat E election, incumbent Kathleen Plunkett took on challenger Derrick Slaughter. Tam Agosti-Gisler‌‌ faced David Nees in the Seat F election. Nees ran unsuccessfully for the board in both 2012 and 2013. Starr Marsett and Elisa Snelling competed for Seat G, since incumbent Natasha von Imhof did not file for re-election. Marsett previously made a run for the board in 2012, losing to von Imhof.

Two of the six candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey. Check out the "Ballotpedia survey responses" section to see their answers.

Plunkett defeated Slaughter for Seat E. Agosti-Gisler also won re-election to Seat F by defeating Nees. Snelling defeated Marsett for Seat G.

About the district

See also: Anchorage School District, Alaska

The Anchorage School District is located in Anchorage, Alaska.

The Anchorage School District is located in Anchorage, Alaska. Anchorage was home to an estimated 300,950 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau. The Anchorage School District was the largest school district in Alaska, serving 48,765 students during the 2011-2012 school year.

Demographics

Anchorage outperformed the rest of Alaska in terms of education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 32.8 percent of Anchorage residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 27.5 percent for Alaska as a whole. The median household income for Anchorage was $77,454 compared to $70,760 for the state of Alaska. The percentage of people below poverty level for Anchorage was 7.9 percent while it is 9.9 percent for the state of Alaska.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	Anchorage (%)	Alaska (%)
White	66.0	66.7
Black or African American	5.6	3.3
American Indian and Alaska Native	7.9	14.8
Asian	8.1	5.4
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	2.0	1.0
Two or more races	8.1	7.3
Hispanic or Latino	7.6	5.5

Anchorage Party Affiliation, 2013
Party	Registered voters	% of total
Independence Party	14,558	3
Republican Party	124,229	25.9
Democratic Party	74,732	15.4
Libertarian Party	9,220	1.9
Veterans Party	1,941	0.4
Green Party	2,426	0.5
Nonpartisan	77,644	16
Undeclared	176,153	36.3

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Voter and candidate information

The Anchorage School Board consists of seven members elected to three-year terms by geographic electoral districts. Seats C and D were up for election in April 2014, and Seats E, F and G were up for election in April 2015. There was no primary election, and the general election was on April 7, 2015.

Candidates began to file affidavits of candidacy on January 30, 2015. The filing deadline for school board candidates to get on the ballot in the general election was February 13, 2015.

Seat E

• Kathleen Plunkett
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate, University of Alaska Anchorage
  • Accountant, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc.
• Derrick Slaughter
  • Graduate, Charter College and Grand Canyon University
  • Owner, Unique Blends Barbershop

Seat F

• Tam Agosti-Gisler‌‌
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate, Stanford University
  • Retired educator
• David Nees
  • Retired educator

Seat G

• Starr Marsett
  • Graduate, Northern Michigan University
  • Realtor
• Elisa Snelling
  • Account manager, Glacier Brewhouse and Orso

Election results

Seat E

Anchorage School District, Seat E General Election, 3-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Kathleen Plunkett Incumbent	66.6%	29,734
	Nonpartisan	Derrick Slaughter	32.1%	14,306
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	1.3%	580
Total Votes				44,620
Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Election Summary Report," accessed May 26, 2015

Seat F

Anchorage School District, Seat F General Election, 3-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Tam Agosti-Gisler‌‌ Incumbent	56.1%	25,623
	Nonpartisan	David Nees	42.9%	19,572
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	1%	443
Total Votes				45,638
Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Election Summary Report," accessed May 26, 2015

Seat G

Anchorage School District, Seat G General Election, 3-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Elisa Snelling	51.6%	22,532
	Nonpartisan	Starr Marsett	47.2%	20,581
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	1.2%	528
Total Votes				43,641
Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Election Summary Report," accessed May 26, 2015

Endorsements

The Anchorage Education Association endorsed Seat E candidate Kathleen Plunkett, Seat F candidate Tam Agosti-Gisler‌‌ and Seat G candidate Starr Marsett.

Marsett also received endorsements from Alaska Laborers Local 341, Operating Engineers Local 302, Alaska Women for Political Action, IBEW Local 1547, Alaska Public Employees Association/AFT, Carpenters Local 1231, Alaska AFL-CIO and IUPAT-Painters & Allied Trades, Local 1959.

Derrick Slaughter received endorsements from the Alaska Democratic Party Executive Director, the Alaska Democratic Party and the Central Labor Council

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2014 Anchorage School District, Seat C General Election, 3-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Patt Higgins Incumbent 51.9% 20,250      Nonpartisan Dean Williams 28% 10,914      Nonpartisan Liz Ross 18.7% 7,308      Nonpartisan Write-in 1.4% 531 Total Votes 39,003 Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Election Results," accessed June 3, 2014 Anchorage School District, Seat D General Election, 3-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Kameron Perez-Verdia Incumbent 57% 23,830      Nonpartisan Don Smith 41.9% 17,550      Nonpartisan Write-in 1.1% 460 Total Votes 41,840 Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Election Results," accessed June 3, 2014 2013 Anchorage School District, Seat A General Election, 3-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Bettye Davis 54.5% 21,678      Nonpartisan Don Smith 44.8% 17,797      Nonpartisan Write-in 0.7% 286 Total Votes 39,761 Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Election History," accessed February 10, 2014 Anchorage School District, Seat B General Election, 3-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Eric Croft 59.6% 22,546      Nonpartisan David Nees 26.6% 10,051      Nonpartisan Ste Cornwell-George 12.8% 4,852      Nonpartisan Write-in 1% 388 Total Votes 37,837 Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Election History," accessed February 10, 2014 2012 Anchorage School District, Seat E General Election, 3-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Kathleen Plunkett Incumbent 63% 34,898      Nonpartisan David Nees 35.9% 19,915      Nonpartisan Write-in 1.1% 613 Total Votes 55,426 Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Election History," accessed February 10, 2014 Anchorage School District, Seat F General Election, 3-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Tam Agosti-Gisler‌‌ 61.3% 32,864      Nonpartisan Richard Wanda 37.3% 19,975      Nonpartisan Write-in 1.4% 776 Total Votes 53,615 Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Election History," accessed February 10, 2014 Anchorage School District, Seat G General Election, 3-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Natasha Von Imhof 56.5% 31,621      Nonpartisan Starr Marsett 42.4% 23,697      Nonpartisan Write-in 1.1% 603 Total Votes 55,921 Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Election History," accessed February 10, 2014

What was at stake?

2015

There were three open seats on the Anchorage School Board in 2015. Incumbents Kathleen Plunkett and Tam Agosti-Gisler‌‌ both faced challengers for Seat E and Seat F, respectively. Since there was no incumbent running for Seat G, at least one new member joined the board. The school board fought ongoing budget battles with the state legislature regarding distribution of one-time funds promised to the Anchorage School District last year. There was also a controversial bill regarding debt reimbursement from the state for approved bond projects.

Issues in the district

State legislature disapproves of school district budget

See also: Alaska state budget and finances

When the school board presented the 2014-2015 budget to the Anchorage Assembly last year, the school district faced a significant funding gap that called for the elimination of over 200 positions. The Alaska State Legislature and Anchorage Assembly stepped in and provided the necessary funds to prevent massive layoffs. The one-time funds totaled approximately $35 million to be distributed over three years.

Governor of Alaska Bill Walker (I) has proposed budget cuts that, if approved, will eliminate distribution of the one-time funds. This would amount to $11.8 million in 2015 for the Anchorage School District. The Anchorage School Board presented their 2015-2016 budget to the Anchorage Assembly in March. The budget included a 2.3 percent increase in spending from last year's budget and revenue that Gov. Walker cut from his proposed state budget.

The Anchorage Assembly did approve the budget presented to them by the school board but showed concern regarding the inclusion of funds that are not likely to be there in a few months. Assembly member Jennifer Johnston introduced an amendment that would cut $9.5 million from the budget in an effort to reduce the shortfall that would occur if the state operating budget is passed with the proposed funding cuts. The amendment failed with only four assembly members voting in favor of it. The budget passed with eight members who approved and three members who voted no. Assembly member Dick Traini mentioned that he would like to change the process that requires the school district to present its budget to the assembly before the adoption of the state budget by the legislature.

The Anchorage delegation in the Alaska House Majority Caucus disapproved of the budget passed by the school board and the assembly. They sent a letter to the superintendent urging the school board to consider the $11.8 million in cuts that would occur if the governor's state budget is adopted.

“	The district's budget, as it currently stands, represents an irresponsible and short-sided proposal for Anchorage's future. It is unclear why the district would choose to overlook the Governor's elimination of one-time state assistance, and we can only presume that this will result in an immediate shortfall for the district upon the passage of the state's operating budget.	”
—Anchorage House Majority Caucus

The school board responded saying they do not feel it is necessary to reflect the cuts in their budget until the state budget with the proposed cuts is officially passed in the legislature. They plan to make any necessary adjustments when the state's operating budget is passed. Superintendent Eric Croft wrote a letter to the legislators from Anchorage defending the school board's decision not to include the proposed funding cuts in the budget.

“	I am also puzzled by the suggestion in your letter that the district should have immediately implemented the cuts proposed by the Governor even before the legislature had acted. My recollection, possibly antiquated, was that both Republican and Democratic Legislators vigorously defended their role in the budget process and would never willingly let the Governor have sole responsibility in this area. Put another way, if the district had made cuts simply based on the Governor's proposal, that would mean we believed that you lacked the power or will to change it. I continue to believe in the legislative role in the budget process.	”
—Anchorage Superintendent, Eric Croft

Debt reimbursement for proposed bonds on the chopping block

Along with school board candidates, voters approved a $59.3 million bond package for Anchorage School District. This bond package was intended to help the district perform significant updates and renovations on four elementary schools as well as smaller renovations on four additional schools. In November 2014, the bond package was approved to appear on the ballot in April 2015. Historically, the state has provided 60 to 70 percent reimbursement for bond projects in the Anchorage School District.

The state legislature introduced a bill that would eliminate the option of state reimbursement for all bonds issued after January 1, 2015. This would include the bond package up for election on April 7 by Anchorage residents. The bill passed in the Senate and the House. It was not signed by Gov. Walker before the election on April 7, 2015.

Ballotpedia survey responses

Two of the six candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Seat F incumbent Tam Agosti-Gisler‌‌ and challenger David Nees.

Top priorities

When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Seat F incumbent Tam Agosti-Gisler‌‌ stated:

“	Implementation of our CTE initatives Expansion of our optional programs, particularly in language immersion Pilot 21st digital classrooms at elementary, middle and high Mitigate impact of continued revenue shortfalls on the student experience	”
—Tam Agosti-Gisler (2015)

When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Seat F challenger David Nees stated:

“	Budget, teacher retention.	”
—David Nees (2015)

Ranking the issues

The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays the candidates' rankings:

Issue importance ranking
Issue	Agosti-Gisler's ranking (Seat F)	Nees' ranking (Seat F)
Expanding arts education	1	6
Expanding career-technical education	4	5
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget	7	1
Improving college readiness	2	7
Closing the achievement gap	6	2
Improving education for special needs students	3	4
Expanding school choice options	5	3

Positions on the issues

The candidates were asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to the candidates' responses can be found below.

• Tam Agosti-Gisler‌‌ survey responses
• David Nees survey responses

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Anchorage School District election in 2015:

Deadline	Event
January 30, 2015	First day to file affidavits of candidacy
February 13, 2015	Last day to file affidavits of candidacy
February 17, 2015	Last day to withdraw candidacy
March 8, 2015	Last day to register to vote
March 23, 2015	Early and absentee voting begins
April 7, 2015	Election day
April 21, 2015	Election certification

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Alaska elections, 2015

This election shared the ballot with municipal and other local offices. It included races for mayor and various assembly positions.

Residents also voted on the approval of a $59.3 million bond package for improvements to eight schools in the Anchorage School District.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Anchorage School District Alaska. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Anchorage School District elections (2015) - Google News

See also

Anchorage School District	Alaska	School Boards
Anchorage School District elections (2014) List of school districts in Alaska	Alaska school board elections, 2015 Public education in Alaska Local ballot measures, Alaska	School board elections, 2015 School board elections, 2014 School board election data analysis, 2015 School board election data analysis, 2014

External links

Suggest a link

• Anchorage School District
• Municipality of Anchorage