Northeast Anchorage council backs School Board district seats, asks Assembly to wait

Northeast Community Council leaders are asking the Anchorage Assembly to send voters a charter amendment electing six Anchorage School Board members by Assembly district. They also want the Assembly to continue its public hearing on the measure, which opens Wednesday, Nov. 4, past November so community councils can formally respond.

If the Assembly approves the measure, voters would decide on the April 6, 2027 ballot whether to replace the board's seven citywide seats with six district seats and one at-large seat. Passage in the Assembly requires a two-thirds vote, according to the ordinance. Each district member would represent about 48,000 residents instead of about 288,000, the council's letter says.

Council President Pamela Raygor, Vice President Nathan CJ Martin and Secretary Kyle Rehberg signed the letter. They acknowledged the School Board's 6-1 vote on Oct. 20 to oppose the plan but wrote that "how members of an elected body are chosen should be decided by voters, not by those who already hold the seats."

The council cites an informal Facebook group poll in which 12 of 16 respondents favored six district seats plus one citywide. The letter says the poll is not scientific and respondents selected themselves. It also cites 2004 and 2020 studies on at-large elections and minority representation.

The ordinance was introduced Oct. 6. The letter says "big charter changes are moving faster than residents and community councils can efficiently and effectively follow."

In a separate letter, the council's board opposes another ordinance on the Nov. 4 agenda that would require School Board and mayoral candidates to file petitions signed by 250 voters, and Assembly candidates 50. It asks the Assembly to reject that measure or wait until after the council votes Nov. 19.

The School Board directed its president to write the Assembly urging rejection of the district plan, as Alaska News reported in covering that Oct. 20 vote. Board member Margo Bellamy said at that meeting that district elections could encourage members to put neighborhood interests ahead of students' needs. "Anchorage must maintain a school board that is united around every student," she said.

Assembly Member Donald Handeland of Chugiak-Eagle River sponsors the measure. His Sept. 29 announcement said district seats would give residents "a direct point of contact for questions, concerns, and local school needs."

Written or phone testimony is due by 5 pm Tuesday, Nov. 3, through the Public Testimony Form, according to the Assembly's public hearing notice. The hearing opens at 6 pm Wednesday in the Assembly Chambers at the Loussac Library.