Board members for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District chose their president for the next year at a meeting on Monday. That decision came right after the two successful candidates from the October municipal election took their oaths of office.
Members selected Bobby Burgess for the school board’s top leadership role by passing slips of paper with their vote to the district’s superintendent, Luke Meinert. Burgess got the job over fellow board member Tim Doran, who had also been nominated.
The school board president presides over meetings, sets agendas, calls special meetings and appoints committee members, according to the board’s bylaws. They also act as a spokesperson for the board and as a mediator between other members when necessary.
Melissa Burnett most recently held the president post, but she’s no longer on the school board. She lost her bid for reelection this year to challenger Naomi Hewitt.
Burgess told reporters after the meeting that he wasn’t surprised to have been nominated for the role, but flattered to have been chosen. He said he feels ready to tackle the new responsibilities, and that former school board presidents have offered to help him learn the ropes.
“I do feel prepared. Like any new position, I’m sure there will be a learning curve,” he said. “I think I have the support I need to make sure that I learn the job and really can jump in with both feet starting tomorrow.”
Burgess has been on the school board since 2023. He most recently held the title of board clerk. That role involves keeping records of the meetings. It’s also third in line to fulfill the president’s duties in their absence, behind vice president and treasurer.
Burgess said, as president, he wants to make improving the board’s communication with staff and community a top priority. That’s among a couple other goals.
“We have a great strategic plan that the community helped to develop. I look forward to overseeing the implementation of that plan,” he said. “And I also want to continue to strengthen relationships with the Borough Assembly and other community stakeholders and organizations that the district partners with.”
The vote for board president was the first action taken by two new school board members: Naomi Hewitt and Audra Hull. They’d been sworn in minutes before by Fairbanks Superior Court Judge Earl Peterson and began their terms immediately.
Hewitt won her race against Burnett, the former board president, for Seat D by about 330 votes. Hull beat her opponent, Sam Spencer, by about 840 votes for Seat C.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly certified the borough elections last week.