Molly Sherman: Welcome back. We now have four candidates for two borough school seats, school board seats. For school board seat A, the candidates are Loa Carroll-Hubbard and Tamara Kruse Roselius. And for school board seat B, we have April Smith and Morgan Dulian. Our questionnaires will be joined by North Pole High School student Liam Wade who is representing kids voting tonight and will ask a question he wrote.
A reminder to the candidates, the timekeepers will indicate when a candidate has 15 seconds remaining by holding up a sign like this, their little signs, thank you, and then a stop sign when the time is up. You'll hear a bell when your time to answer has expired. Candidates, please introduce yourself by stating your name, the seat you are running for, and a brief 30 second introduction of yourself.
We'll start with Loa Carol Hubbard.
[00:00:57] Loa Carroll-Hubbard: Thank you. Hi. Thank you for having us. My name is Loa Carol Hubbard. I'm running for school board, seat A. And I am a business owner here in Fairbanks. Um, I was born and raised here. I graduated from Lathrop. And, um, I am a former teacher of high school mathematics. I have a credential in business administration.
Uh, Mathematics and I have a Master's in, um, Education Administration. So I've worn a lot of hats in education and as a business owner, I am, uh, ready to dive in. Thank you.
[00:01:32] Tamara Kruse Roselius: Tamara Kruse Roselius.
Tamara Kruse Roselius, running for seat A. I am running because my boys are the wonderful young men they are today because of our schools, because of our district, because of people that cared.
And now it's my turn to care. And I care and want every student to have the fabulous opportunities that my boys had. Our school district is why we still live here and why we give back to the community. Strong schools are the backbone of a strong community. I love public schools and I am here to support them.
Thank you. April Smith.
[00:02:09] April Smith: Thank you. I'm April Smith. I'm running for seat B. I'm a conservative wife and mother of 10 children. I've lived in Fairbanks for 27 years. I've served on the school board for 3 years previously and I'm ready to go back to work for the community. I have a proven record supporting public education while being a watchdog for parental rights.
School choice and for representing the taxpayers and supporting the tax cap in every decision that I make. Student outcomes focused governance is my passion and accountability and trust are paramount if we want to make our school shine. Morgan Julian.
[00:02:46] Morgan Dulian: Thank you so much. I'm Morgan Julian, candidate for school board seat B.
I'm a working mom of public elementary school kids here in Fairbanks. My husband graduated from West Valley in 98. When talking about schools, I keep hearing the same five words. They used to be better. Student success has been jeopardized by irresponsible and unstable funding. However, in the face of these unprecedented challenges, I'm taking action and focusing my energy on finding solutions.
I think that we can uplift student success for all of our kids.
[00:03:27] Moderator: Thank you. For this first question, you will have one minute to answer and we will start with Tamara Kruse Roselius. How can the school board and the community effectively presents the case for better school funding to the Alaska State Legislature, the Borough Assembly, and the new mayor?
[00:03:46] Tamara Kruse Roselius: Thank you. I would point people to the Alaska Reads Act.
I have been an advocate in many times for schools. I was sent there by Great Alaska Schools. And any time the state has given us money, our school district has taken that money, ran with it, and improved outcomes. With the Alaska Reads Act funding that we received last year, we improved reading outcomes. I believe it was 23 percent in grades 1 through 3.
That is a proven outcome. Targeted funding works. This year, we have the Alaska Reads Act with zero funding, thanks to the governor's veto. That is unacceptable. I will work hard to get that funding back, because if people want good outcomes, we must have the money to provide those outcomes. Thank you.
[00:04:37] Moderator: Thank you, Tamara Kruse Roselius.
April Smith.
[00:04:41] April Smith: Thank you. Um, I'll work to restore funding the way that I have always been working for many years before I served on the school board by lobbying in Juneau, um, and creating relationships with the assembly members and legislators, but also working to make sure that we have policies in place that parents, Um, and community members feel safe about, um, and make sure that our schools are considered trustworthy places for our students to be and places that our employees want to work.
And when our schools are trustworthy and our employees are happy, we will be fundable.
[00:05:23] Moderator: Thank you, April Smith. Morgan Dulian.
[00:05:25] Morgan Dulian: Yeah, thank you. This is a really great question and something I'm really excited to answer. Um, this is where I offer a unique skill set, um, from others who have been in office before.
I work in the world of negotiating multi million dollar donations for work. That's what I do. I know how to present cases for support. And I will bring that to Juneau. I have a proven track record of doing that since 2008. However, we cannot expect for more funding for our schools until we first stabilize and plan more responsibly.
And that takes making tough decisions about resizing our district for the population that we have in Juneau. We cannot expect more unless we do that work first, and that is what I'm absolutely committed to doing for our school district, because we need to improve student outcomes and stabilize our schools first, and then we can get more funding from our state.
Thank you.
[00:06:30] Moderator: Thank you, Morgan Dulian. Loa Carroll-Hubbard.
[00:06:36] Loa Carroll-Hubbard: I believe that, um, we need to focus on outcomes as well. Um, when we are looking at reading literacy, um, we need to be focused on getting these, getting our students to be able to read better so that when Our legislators are looking at the product that we are, um, producing at the end of the day that they actually want to support us, that they want to provide more funding.
I don't think they want to provide more funding to a school system that is ranking number 49 or 48. Um, so I really want to see us, uh, increase our, increase the student outcomes. Uh, part of that is going to be, uh, included in, in balancing our budget. And in, uh, reducing the number of schools that we have, if that was done last year, we would have already accomplished this.
But right now, what we need to be doing is tightening it up. And we need to take that money and repurpose. Thank you Loa Carroll-Hubbard.
[00:07:42] Cater DeJong: Thank you. Um, you have 45 seconds for this question. Um, and we'll start with Miss Smith. Um, what would you do, or I'm sorry, what challenge to the school district will be your top priority to tackle if elected?
Miss Smith.
[00:07:58] April Smith: Maintaining class size will be my main priority. That priority facilitates my overall goal of improving student outcomes.
Students are more than test scores and grades, and I want students to be math and reading literate, not so they're a good product, because they're not products, or a valuable asset to our community as workers, but also so that they can have a quality life of their choosing. A person's value is not found in what they can do for others or what they can produce, and every person deserves the tools to learn, and small class sizes help them.
[00:08:39] Cater DeJong: Thank you, April Smith. Um, Morgan Dulian.
[00:08:42] Morgan Dulian: Yeah, thank you. So my priorities is absolutely going to be to stabilize the budget. So for far too long, we have kicked the can down the road. We have not addressed real expenditure cuts that resize our district. We've had the chances to do it and we haven't done it.
We've used one time funding to balance our budget, which from my board experience, from my executive director experience, that is an irresponsible way to manage a business, to manage a district. So, now we're at a fiscal cliff. We have to stabilize that. And when you stabilize schools and strengthen them, you then can really invest more money in the classroom, and more money in, for each of our schools, and also attract and retain educators.
And that is my priority.
[00:09:31] Cater DeJong: Thank you, Morgan Dulian. Uh, next we'll go to Loa Carroll-Hubbard.
[00:09:35] Loa Carroll-Hubbard: My priorities would be to make sure that we do balance the budget, um, that we, that we take the money that we have, that we repurpose some of these schools that are, uh, under, uh, populated, that we move those children to another location, and that we stop funding facilities, and that we start funding the students.
Um, I would also like to focus on, um, student attendance, so that we can, if we've got the kids at school, then they actually have the opportunity to learn. So between attendance and, and, uh, The budget. I think those are two, uh, very important things that we need to focus on.
[00:10:20] Cater DeJong: Thank you, Laura Carol Hubbard. Um, next we'll go to Tamara Roselius.
[00:10:24] Tamara Kruse Roselius: Thank you. My priority, uh, my priorities are realizing that we have a 20 million at least budget deficit because of legislators failure to To inflation proof or BSA and because of the lack of courage of some legislators to override the governor's veto, we are in a tough position, but I'll tell you what I'll focus on.
I'll focus on the positives. I want to focus on increasing our enrollment. We have a plethora of opportunities in our district for children. We have so many different schools. We've got Star of the North with dual college enrollment. We've got so many CTE programs. We're Students can learn anything and be career ready out of high school.
We have charter schools, we have so many schools, and we want to increase our enrollment. Thank you.
[00:11:18] Moderator: For this question, you will have one minute, and we will begin with Morgan Dulian. What would you do to recapture student enrollment and engagement that dipped during the pandemic?
[00:11:30] Morgan Dulian: Yeah, I think that that's a great question.
It's still dipping. So this year right now, I just met with the superintendent this morning and we're looking at enrollment that's down close to 350 students just today. We have had a 20 year trend of decreasing enrollment. So this isn't just a pandemic thing. Our borough is shrinking. We've known this for 20 years.
We, when I talk to folks, um, in the community, there's always questions about, you know, do we really need all of the schools that we have, all the school buildings that we have? We look at capacity, some are at 60%. We need to make tough decisions about consolidating those schools. And when you consolidate those schools, you strengthen them.
You can reduce class sizes, you stabilize the finances, and then you can attract and retain educators. And then what you can do is Is through stable strong schools you can start attracting kids back and that's my priority there. Thank you
[00:12:30] Moderator: Thank you morgan. Julian
[00:12:32] Loa Carroll-Hubbard: loa carol hubbard I have to agree with morgan.
I believe that attracting students back to this District and and back to our schools is going to be a matter of providing them with better opportunities And if we have more money to put into the classrooms instead of Promoting facilities. We're going to be promoting education. So, my biggest, my, my absolute biggest thing is reading literacy and mathematics literacy.
Um, if people cannot read and they can't do math, what's the purpose of school? Um, I, I know that, that, that there's a lot more to a child than just education or academic achievement, but if kids can't read, um, they have a hard time. And so, I want to see us really pour money back into the classroom. The teachers need the support.
I've been a teacher with 40 kids in every single class, 240 kids a day. It's a lot of work. But we need more help in every single classroom in this entire district. Thank you, Loa Carol Hubbard.
[00:13:38] Tamara Kruse Roselius: Tamara Kruse Roselius. Thank you. We, everything everybody said here is valid. It comes down to money, money, money, but let me tell you, there are things we can do right now.
I've been speaking with people in the community. We have to look at our workforce development right along with our education and what we are supplying our students. We have hair stylists, hair salons in town that cannot Higher beauty, uh, consultants. We have a dearth of opportunities. We have the opportunity to use some of that unused space to house beauty schools.
To work with what the school district does best with a curriculum and a program. And work with the places that need those people, put them into internships, have, that have the space available. We don't even have to redo space for that. Somebody said it'd cost 50, 50, 000 to make a space for a beauty school.
We don't need that. We can do curriculum in schools and we can use our businesses for internships and have kids come out career ready.
[00:14:44] Moderator: Thank you, Tamara Kruse Rosiles. Uh, April Smith.
[00:14:48] April Smith: Thank you. This question is difficult for me because I'm a school choice and parental rights advocate. I do not believe that mainstream classroom is right for every student, um, especially at the secondary level.
I would increase the value that the school district is offering families. I would encourage safe, moderate, respectful materials that help families trust and partner with building based schools if that's what's right for them. I would do what I've always done and support growing outside the box solutions through best homeschool or many alternative learning programs.
And I would like to remind the public at this time that Best Homeschool is the only program that you really have a voice in and get to vote for your representation on. It's kind of a big thing for me because people might be shocked at the policies and programs that the funding from their student enrollment in other districts are supporting.
So I would just encourage everyone who is homeschooling to vote. Take a take a hard look at best.
[00:15:54] Moderator: Thank you April Smith.
[00:15:56] Cater DeJong: Thank you For this question, you'll have 45 seconds to respond and we'll start with Loa Carol Hubbard Um, if the school district again faces a significant deficit, what criteria would you use to make the necessary cuts?
[00:16:11] Loa Carroll-Hubbard: As part of the task force right now, uh, that is evaluating schools, we're looking at a lot of different, um, different facts on the schools. We're looking at lots of different views. Um, I believe that, uh, you know, we need to consider the location of the school. There's lots of different things. Um, it's gonna take us months to kind of whittle it down because we're gonna do this as a group and as a community so that it's just not one tiny little, uh, committee making a decision for the entire community.
So, um, it's going to take some time to figure that out. And once we do, you know, we're going to be presenting that and it's going to be a benefit to the school district. I, I can't stress enough that taking,
[00:17:01] Cater DeJong: Lola Carol Hubbard. Next we'll go to Tamra Kruse Rosely.
[00:17:05] Tamara Kruse Roselius: Um, We have a difficult budget. We need to look at everything.
Everything's on the table. But we need to look at it with a view towards challenges and opportunities. Uh, anything that happens has to be student focused. We must use our process with logic and reason and classroom metrics to decide what we need to do by the numbers. We will have the facility report in November and What a concept we will be able to plan before we budget.
And that's something that, uh, this school district lacks with our state funding. But, everything is going to come down to the kids. We have to write the, ask the right questions. And then we have to talk with all our partners. Parents, families, students, teachers are all our partners.
[00:17:55] Cater DeJong: Thank you, Tamara Kruse Roselius.
Next, we'll go to April Smith.
[00:17:59] April Smith: Thank you. This is not a question of if they do face a deficit in the future. There will always be a deficit. Um, I have spent three years on the school board, I deeply understand where the deficit comes from and why it exists. I will just take this time to let you know that the reason that there will always be a deficit is because all of our employees receive a step increase every year, which costs over four million dollars.
Right there, every year, just from the step increases, you're looking at a four million dollar deficit. Next, you have the contracted raises. That's 5 percent of 88 percent of the budget, so there will be a deficit of those 5 percent raises. Um, and in other contracts, they're 1 or 3%. This is not if, this is when, and just like I heard Senator Myers explain, Um, it happens to the state, it happens to the school.
[00:18:50] Cater DeJong: Thank you, April Smith.
[00:18:52] Morgan Dulian: Yeah. Thank you so much. I actually want to make a correction. Um, the, the step increases are 8 million in the budget. Um, but you, of course there's always going to be a deficit, but this is a fiscal cliff. And Andy DeGraw was, was warning about this five years ago. During, right before COVID, that was being warned about that we were going to face this fiscal cliff.
So the criteria for cuts. I'm on the Facility Utilization Task Force to be a part of this recommendation of what schools we will consolidate. I'm already doing that work. The way that we need to do that though, I say this, it's thoughtfully. Thousands of people will be impacted by these decisions and I do not take that lightly.
This is something that we are going to have to bring the community together through and I'm committed to that work.
[00:19:44] Cater DeJong: Thank you, Morgan. Julian.
[00:19:48] Liam Wade: Hello. I am Liam Wade, a Norfolk High School student and a representative of Kids Voting. Here is my question. For this question, you have 45 seconds to respond. Tamar Kruse Roselius. Senate Bill 173, proposed by Senator Shelley Hughes, was a proposed act requiring school districts to grant qualified persons an assigned duty to carry a concealed handgun.
Do you believe in this proposed Senate Bill and what it seeks to offer? In terms of protection for both faculty and students alike.
[00:20:19] Tamara Kruse Roselius: To require, wasn't it?
[00:20:21] Liam Wade: Was a proposed act requiring school districts to grant qualified persons an assigned duty to carry a concealed handgun.
[00:20:31] Tamara Kruse Roselius: I called into the legislature and testified against that. I am against it.
[00:20:39] Liam Wade: Thank you, Tamara Kruse Roselius. April Smith.
[00:20:44] April Smith: Thank you. Um, for employees who would like to be granted.
Uh, the right to carry a handgun in school. I support that.
[00:20:55] Liam Wade: Thank you, April Smith. Morgan Dulian.
[00:20:57] Morgan Dulian: Yeah, I think that this is such a sad thing that we have to deal with, right? You know, I have a first grader and when he came home from school talking about the ALICE drills, the active shooter drills, um, that's something that really hits you hard.
As a parent, and it's a reality that we've had to face since 1999, uh, when Columbine happened. Um, I don't think that there's a real right answer to this, and so when it comes to, when it comes to concealed carry, yes, I think that that is a, that I believe in that, but when it comes to having that in school.
Um, I think that there's other ways that we can partner with law enforcement to keep our schools safe in a, in a more regulated space. Thank you.
[00:21:48] Liam Wade: Thank you, Morgan Dulian. Loa Carroll-Hubbard.
[00:21:52] Loa Carroll-Hubbard: A short answer would be yes. Um, I would actually support having um, a, uh, concealed carry at school, but I, I come, I, I taught in California and I've actually been in three lockdowns.
We've had two active shooters and, um, they weren't on our campus, but they were in the vicinity and I've been locked down for three and a half hours at a time and it's terrifying. Uh, and so I don't object, but I, but what I'd like to see is us have a. Uh, a security officer. I think that would just be a police officer whose job is to go to the school every single day.
We had one at every single school that I taught at in California, and it was just a normal daily occurrence that they were there.
[00:22:41] Liam Wade: Thank you, Loa Carol Hobart.
[00:22:44] Moderator: For this question, you will have 30 seconds and we will begin with April Smith. What ideas do you have about how to improve civil discussion in school board hearings?
Well, as
[00:22:56] April Smith: a person who served on the school board during three of the most contentious years in public education during COVID, I have personally experienced being a testifier as well as the person receiving the testimony. And it's quite difficult on both ends. And, uh, mostly I would remind the sitting representatives in the assembly and the school board that they're there to listen to the people and not interrogate them.
[00:23:31] Moderator: Thank you, April Smith. Morgan Dulian.
[00:23:33] Morgan Dulian: Yeah. When people, um. When people are very loud and I say that in a way of, of, uh, when they're speaking up, when they bring really contentious, um, things to public forums, what I hear is that they're not feeling heard and they don't feel valued. So, public sitting officials need to do more to outreach to those communities that are showing up.
And we need to build inroads and listen.
[00:24:10] Loa Carroll-Hubbard: We serve the public. It's all about, it's all about you. We're here to listen, and we're here to help. And we have to be patient. Sometimes issues are charged, and they're charged on both sides of the aisle. And our job is to be kind, to be compassionate, and to listen to every single person who wants to speak, who has an opinion.
[00:24:37] Moderator: Thank
you, Loa carol Hubbard. Tamara Kruse Rosilis.
[00:24:41] Tamara Kruse Roselius: I think we can model respect by looking at the school board we have seated right now. They had a contentious, contentious meeting this morning. a couple weeks ago and they held their cool. They kept their heads. They spoke respectfully. That is all any of us can do.
Board meetings are always going to be an open setting for people to come and share their opinions and that's a fantastic thing. That's what America is. But we have to, we have to interject respect. We have to make sure that people understand we hold them to that standard.
[00:25:19] Moderator: Tamara Kruse Rosillas.
[00:25:22] Cater DeJong: All right, next we'll go to closing comments where you'll have one minute and we will start with April Smith.
[00:25:29] April Smith: Thank you Um, I want to thank all these candidates It may seem to the casual listener that we're not all all that different but I Understand that many of the candidates have recently come around to a newfound respect for the tax cap For parental rights for student outcomes and a great fervor for schools But in my lengthy experience listening to public testimony from them and serving on school board committees with them, this has not been the case.
I'm glad that everyone has become so conservative, but I've always been an advocate for the tax cap, always fighting for smaller government and respecting parental rights, and I didn't come around to this way of thinking this summer. And I won't be straying from it the minute that I'm elected either.
[00:26:17] Cater DeJong: April Smith. Next, we'll go to Morgan Dulian.
[00:26:19] Morgan Dulian: Yeah, thank you so much for your time today and for this opportunity. So, I'd like to state something that this election isn't about me. It isn't about any of us sitting up here. It's about our kids, and it's about this election. So in 2014 15, I was a special education aide in the Fairbanks Public Elementary Schools.
Since 2008, I've served on boards, led non profits, and have negotiated multi million dollar donations. Just today, I was described in the news minor as being skilled in diplomacy. So, the ability to balance needs from different communities to find solutions. I offer my professional skills, my classroom experience, and my dedication to strengthening our schools from my position as a mother of public elementary school kids.
I'm committed to the hard and necessary work ahead to design a public education system that uplifts student outcomes. This election is about their futures and that's why I'm asking for your vote on October 1st or during early voting September 16th through 26th.
[00:27:31] Cater DeJong: Thank you, Morgan Julian. Next we'll go to, uh, Loa Carroll Halbert.
[00:27:36] Loa Carroll-Hubbard: I am passionate about advocating, uh, for educational priorities in this community. Reading, to me, is the most important foundation of education. Parental involvement is also, um, key to successful student achievement. And I think together, between the, the parents, the students, the administrators, the families, the communities.
the teachers. We can all provide, uh, such a wonderful community. Um, we have to balance our budget, we have to, uh, spend responsibly, and we have to ensure that resources are utilized effectively. Um, we need to, uh, really focus on math and reading, and I want to focus also on. On attendance, we have to get kids to school, that means somebody has to get them up, somebody has to get them to school.
Somebody has to make sure that, that, that kids are, are, that, that kids are educated. So, I'm here to help, I, I want to help. Thank you.
[00:28:43] Cater DeJong: Thank you, Lowell Carroll-Hubbard. Roselius.
[00:28:47] Tamara Kruse Roselius: I haven't changed a thing about who I am. I'm a parent advocate. I've always been an advocate for students in our school. Advocacy has run through everything I do.
My work, my passion, my attendance at school board meetings for 20 years. Uh, I want, I work to ensure learning opportunities for all our kids. And you know why? My kids aren't in school right now, but we are all a part of this district. Our whole community is a part of this district. Our workforce is a part of this district.
We all want the same thing. Strong schools, a strong workforce, a strong golden heart community. And I would appreciate your help to help me help us get there. Thank you.
[00:29:32] Cater DeJong: Thank you, Tamara Kruse Roselius.
[00:29:34] Molly Sherman: Thanks to the school board candidates.
KUAC appreciates corrections to typos in the above transcription.
The entire forum can be heard here: https://fm.kuac.org/local-government/2024-09-15/lwv-hosts-municipal-candidate-forum
Candidates for Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly and Mayor, Fairbanks and North Pole City Councils and North Pole Mayor, Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board and Interior Gas Utility Board are running in the October 1 municipal election.