Anchorage School District elections (2016)

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2017 → ← 2015
Anchorage School District Elections
General election date:
April 5, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
48,159 students

Two of seven seats on the Anchorage School District school board in Alaska were up for at-large general election on April 5, 2016.

Incumbent Bettye Davis defeated challenger Brent Hughes for Seat A. Although the race was officially nonpartisan, political blog "The Midnight Sun" wrote that the Seat B race had inter-party politics between Republicans David Nees and Kay Schuster as they prepared to run against Democrat Starr Marsett. Marsett defeated Schuster and Nees for the seat.

See also: Alaska GOP leaves out Republican candidate in robocalls

Elections

Voter and candidate information

The Anchorage School Board consists of seven members who run for specific seats but are elected at large. Members serve three-year terms. There was no primary election, and Seats A and B were up for general election on April 5, 2016. The board members elect a president, vice president, clerk and treasurer during an organizational meeting held in April.

Candidates began to file affidavits of candidacy on January 29, 2016. The filing deadline for school board candidates to get on the ballot in the general election was February 12, 2016. Candidates must be a registered voter in the municipality of Anchorage. Any school board member who has served three consecutive terms on the board may not file for re-election. They may be re-elected after a one-term break.

Seat A

Results

Anchorage School District, Seat A General Election, 3-Year Term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Bettye Davis Incumbent	57.16%	25,881
Brent Hughes	41.78%	18,916
Write-in votes	1.06%	482
Total Votes		45,279
Source: Anchorage, Alaska, "Election Summary Report," accessed May 18, 2016

Candidates

Bettye Davis		Brent Hughes
	Incumbent Retired social worker, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Former senator, Alaska State Senate Former representative, Alaska House of Representatives Bachelor's degree, Grambling State University

Seat B

Results

Anchorage School District, Seat B General Election, 3-Year Term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Starr Marsett	34.74%	14,839
Kay Schuster	34.58%	14,772
David Nees	29.47%	12,587
Write-in votes	1.21%	516
Total Votes		42,714
Source: Anchorage, Alaska, "Election Summary Report," accessed May 18, 2016

Candidates

David Nees		Starr Marsett		Kay Schuster
	Retired educator, Anchorage School District Ramp supervisor, Delta Global Bachelor's degree, Pacific University Bachelor's degree, University of Alaska Anchorage		Realtor Bachelor's degree, Northern Michigan University		Educator, Anchorage School District Bachelor's degree, University of Alaska Anchorage

Additional elections

See also: Alaska elections, 2016

The Anchorage School District election shared the ballot with other municipal elections, including elections for seats on the Anchorage Assembly and various service boards.

Key deadlines

The following dates are key deadlines for the Anchorage School District in 2016:

Deadline	Event
January 29-February 12, 2016	Candidate filing period
February 17, 2016	Candidate withdrawal deadline
March 6, 2016	Last day to register to vote
March 7, 2016	First campaign finance deadline
March 29, 2016	Second campaign finance deadline
April 5, 2016	Election Day
May 20, 2016	Final campaign finance deadline

Endorsements

There were no official endorsements during this election.

Campaign finance

Candidates received a total of $39,120.50 and spent a total of $22,158.67 during the election, according to the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
Seat A
Bettye Davis	$8,564.00	$1,483.82	$7,080.18
Brent Hughes	No reports filed during the election.
Seat B
David Nees	No reports filed during the election.
Starr Marsett	$15,895.00	$12,649.57	$3,245.43
Kay Schuster	$14,661.50	$8,025.28	$6,636.22

Past elections

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

2015 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 2014 Anchorage School District, Seat C General Election, 3-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Pat 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

What was at stake?

2016

Issues in the election

Alaska GOP leaves out Republican candidate in robocalls

The Alaskan Republican Party

Less than a month before the municipal election in Anchorage, the Alaskan Republican Party issued a robocall that identified the conservative candidates in the races across Alaska. Anchorage School Board candidate Kay Schuster was identified as one of the Republican candidates. Candidate David Nees was not mentioned in the call despite his record as a conservative activist.

The chairman of the group, Peter Goldberg, issued an apology to Nees after the incident and offered to send out another robocall that included Schuster and Nees.

“	On behalf of the Alaska Republican Party, I extend our apologies to David Nees, candidate for Anchorage School Board Seat B in the upcoming muncipal election, because his name was inadvertently left off of an automated telephone message delivered throughout the muncipality on March 10, 2016. When there is more than one Republican candidate in an election, the officers of the party and any official communication from the party should be neutral.	”
—Peter Goldberg (2016)

A political blog in Alaska, The Midnight Sun, identified former party chairman Randy Ruedrich as the person behind the calls. During his campaign, Nees suggested that members of the party tried to pressure him to drop out of the race in order to set up race between Kay Schuster (R) and Starr Marsett (D) for Seat B on the Anchorage School Board.

Issues in the district

Superintendent search

Ed Graff, superintendent of Anchorage School District

In October 2015, the Anchorage School Board announced their decision to let Superintendent Ed Graff's contract expire on March 18, 2016. They did offer a short-term extension through June 30, 2016, in order to ease the transition between Graff and the new superintendent. He was hired as superintendent in 2013 when Jim Browder left the position after less than a year on the job. Graff had worked in the district for 22 years before becoming superintendent and stayed in another administrative position in the district after he left his position as superintendent.

Board President Kameron Perez-Verdia explained the board's decision to the public during a press conference: "The board’s reason for seeking new leadership is primarily centered around moving forward. And in order to achieve those goals we need to identify a new leader."

Graff responded to the press conference by saying,

“	For me, it’s been more important to see the success of students than it is to have the title of superintendent. I remain committed to students. I remain committed to our staff, and public education. And if I can do that in any capacity in our district then I will do that.	”
—Ed Graff (2015)

While the school board had been meeting in a closed executive session to discuss Graff's contract over several months, the news of his firing surprised some. Andy Holleman, the president of the Anchorage Education Association, had this to say: "I didn't see it coming. I think a lot of people will be shocked." He went on to respond to doubts about Graff's political savvy, saying, "He's always seemed happier in front of school children than assembly members or other politicians."

The board assembled an advisory committee made up of four members with ties to the school district to assist with the search process. In February 2016, they approved a payment of $39,800 to the executive search firm Ray and Associates, Inc. to conduct a nationwide search for candidates.

Board passes budget that cuts teachers and administrators

Facing an $11 million deficit, the Anchorage School Board passed a preliminary budget on February 18, 2016. The original version of the budget was presented at a press conference in January 2016. After a delayed vote by the school board, all members approved the $768 million budget for the 2016-2017 school year. The Anchorage Assembly must approve the budget as well.

The budget cut 52 full-time teaching positions and three assistant principal positions. This increased pupil to student ratio by one student in all grade levels. The budget did allow for additional special education teachers and paraprofessionals to help with forecasted increases in students. The president of the Anchorage Education Association, Andy Holleman, did not think the cuts in teaching positions would result in layoffs since approximately 200 teachers per year leave the district.

While the school board made necessary cuts to face the district's deficit, the budget was based on $332.2 million in revenue from the state. The Alaska State Legislature was facing its own deficit and made decisions on its budget later in 2016.

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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 southern Alaska in the borough of Anchorage. Anchorage was home to 301,010 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 48,159 students.

Demographics

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

Racial Demographics, 2014
Race	Anchorage (%)	Alaska (%)
White	66.1%	66.9%
Black or African American	6.3%	3.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native	8.2%	14.8%
Asian	9.2%	6.1%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	2.4%	1.3%
Two or more races	7.8%	7.1%
Hispanic or Latino	8.9%	6.8%

Party Affiliation, Alaska, 2016
Party	Registered Voters	% of Total
Independence Party	16,499	3.2%
Republican Party	136,229	26.5%
Democratic Party	70,596	13.7%
Libertarian Party	7,486	1.4%
Veterans Party	1,124	0.2%
Green Party	1,716	0.3%
Nonpartisan	89,318	17.3%
Undeclared	190,922	37.1%

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.

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 (2016) - Google News

See also

Anchorage School District	Alaska	School Boards
Anchorage School District elections (2015) Anchorage School District elections (2014) List of school districts in Alaska	Alaska school board elections, 2016 Public education in Alaska Local ballot measures, Alaska	School board elections, 2016 School board elections, 2015 School board election data analysis, 2016 School board election data analysis, 2015

External links

• Anchorage School District website
• Municipality of Anchorage Elections