Juneau School District superintendent candidates spell out qualifications at public forum
- Ellie Ruel
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Transparency, trust and communication emphasized by all three finalists
By Ellie Ruel
Juneau Independent
Three finalists for the Juneau School District superintendent position introduced themselves to community members and answered questions during a forum at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Wednesday night. While each touted different backgrounds and leadership approaches, all three centered their message on transparency and strengthening ties with staff and families.
The candidates include current Thunder Mountain Middle School Principal Shawn Arnold, Kevin Shipley, superintendent of Evadale Independent School District in Texas; and Carlee Simon, former dean of University of Alaska Southeast’s School of Education and former superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools in Florida.
The Juneau Board of Education met in executive session early Saturday morning to consider the three candidates after each spent part of the week meeting with district employees as well as the public. Board President Britteny Cioni-Haywood said at the start of Saturday’s meeting that no formal decisions would be made during the executive session.
A new leader for the district is being sought due to current Superintendent Frank Hauser announcing his resignation, effective June 30, after serving in the position since 2023.
Arnold, the first speaker during Wednesday’s meeting, said his military experience taught him to be flexible and prioritize people and service. After completing his superintendent endorsement at UAS, he returned as a professor where he said he mentored “most of the superintendents in this state.”
“For the last 11 years, I taught and mentored most of the superintendents in this state. and continue to do that. To put it simply, I've seen changes over the past few years. The changes I probably would have done a little bit differently,” he said. “It's not about titles. It's not about a salary, it's about service, and kind of giving back to the community that is my home.”
Shipley was the second candidate to present. He was the superintendent in Kake and education director at Sealaska Heritage Institute before moving to Texas to be closer to family.
“We have to create relationships and understandings and listen to people,” Shipley said. “Everybody won't agree with what we need to do, but you listen, you empower people, and you bring people together, and then you make decisions.”
Simon spoke last, drawing on her experience as an Alaskan and district parent. She said she'd want to surround herself with people unafraid to challenge her ideas and test her assumptions before diving in.
“I know what it's like to have to advocate and fight to make sure that you are getting the mandated education,” Simon said. “I have many ideas of how we can do all of these things better and make sure that we are educating on the continuum.”
Each faced audience questions submitted on paper slips to board members. They ran the gamut of what they would do with optional programs such as Tlingit Culture, Language, Literacy (TCLL), and Montessori to how they would support paraeducators.
Arnold said he’d refer to a plan he previously drafted to improve recruitment and retention of paraeducators.
“It would be treating not just our teachers, who are professionals, but our paraeducators, as part of the team, providing them with professional development, professional learning opportunities to make sure they have the time to work with their teams within their school, but also looking at innovative kind of solutions with the groups and the stakeholders, our parents, that we serve in that population,” he said.
Simon emphasized the importance of paraeducators in the district and said there might have to be a level of “autopsy” to make sure special education is receiving its funds. Another of her proposals was a public data dashboard tracking every dollar spent by the district.
“There's also going to be a level of autopsy, but it needs to just ensure our social education dollars are going to social education, students and supporting them,” she said.
In response to the question about programs, Shipley said while the programs are unique and put in place to fit a need, the budget is also a concern.
“If something's not working, we have to look at it, be honest enough, ‘Hey, if this isn't working, is this something you value enough to keep? Is there something better that serves kids?’” Shipley said. “That's a conversation we'll have to have as a group together. Planning it out, getting it ready and moving. The problem is, where you are financially right now, you can't keep spending money and not target what you're doing, or you're gonna run out before you can spend the money to do what you want to do.”
Montessori Borealis parent Lena Merrell, one of a handful of audience members present in-person, said the forum gave her a chance to see how the candidates carry themselves.
“Some of that, you can't tell from a resume. I had kind of the order of who I liked best coming in, but I just wanted to kind of verify that before I did my comments,” Merrell said.
While she noted some candidates answered questions more clearly than others, she was confident about the pool.
“I think we have some pretty good candidates, considering that there's 17 or 18 other open superintendent positions in the state. And education's under such an extreme financial pinch. I'm glad that we have candidates. I'm glad we have local candidates,” she said.
A public comment form is available on the district website. If hired, the new superintendent would be set to start July 1.
• Contact Ellie Ruel at ellie.ruel@juneauindependent.com.
