Effort to recall Juneau’s school board president, vice president secures spot on local ballot

Juneau School Board President Deedie Sorensen and Vice President Emil Mackey astatine a gathering successful December 2022. (Clarise Larson/ for nan Juneau Empire)

Voters will beryllium asked this autumn whether Juneau’s School Board President Deedie Sorenson and Vice President Emil Mackey should enactment successful their seats connected nan committee aliases get ousted from them. 

On Thursday, Juneau’s clerk’s agency announced that a section effort to callback nan brace had gathered capable signatures to get nan 2 questions onto nan Oct. 1 ballot — astir 2,400 signatures each. 

Charles VanKirk, 1 of nan leaders of the recall effort, called it an important measurement toward accountability.

“We want to clasp our elected officials responsible and person them beryllium accountable, truthful hopefully, location will beryllium answers fixed alternatively than nan nationalist conscionable being ignored,” he said. 

The group argues that some Sorensen and Mackey grounded to do their work arsenic committee members erstwhile nan territory faced a multimillion dollar shortage earlier this year. 

This spring, nan schoolhouse committee voted to reside that shortage by closing immoderate schools, consolidating grades and reducing staff. 

But VanKirk said those decisions weren’t successful nan champion liking of nan students aliases unit and weren’t what nan nationalist wanted.  

“We consciousness hopeful that nan callback will beryllium successful, and that nan opportunity exists for different group to beryllium connected nan schoolhouse board,” he said. 

Sorensen and Mackey are some group to service their position done 2025, and they are nan only committee members eligible to beryllium recalled from nan board.

In consequence to nan certification, Mackey said he’s profoundly concerned astir what connection this will springiness to group who want to tally for a spot connected nan committee successful this and early elections. He said nan effort has been riddled pinch misinformation from nan start. 

“The harm that this is doing by conscionable misinforming group connected its look is highly counterproductive to nan use of nan schoolhouse district,” he said. 

He said he thinks nan guidelines rumor down nan callback effort is nan board’s determination to adjacent Thunder Mountain High School. He argues it has small to do pinch him and Sorensen arsenic individual committee members. 

“In my opinion, each personification that signed that affidavit either was ignorant aliases willfully misleading nan nationalist arsenic to nan facts of what led to nan budgetary decisions,” he said. “They usage nan fund arsenic an excuse to get it connected nan ballot. But it’s ever been astir Thunder Mountain.”

Sorensen said that, arsenic a erstwhile coach successful Juneau, each committee determination she makes is what she believes is champion for student’s education. She said she stands by her fund decision, but thinks nan callback effort is hardly astir that. 

“I deliberation that group are angry. A definite group of group are highly angry about the closure of 1 of nan precocious schools,” she said. “And pinch nan recall, I deliberation that there’s immoderate effort to delegate blame.”

She and Mackey said they will proceed to advocator for themselves arsenic committee members and nan decisions they made. 

The adjacent measurement is for nan metropolis clerk to transmit nan certified petitions to nan Assembly astatine its adjacent meeting. There, nan Assembly will request to walk a mobility to see nan questions connected nan ballot.