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VOTE NO ON JUNEAU RECALL

Reward Persistent and Effective Leadership

UNDERSTANDING THE RECALL

Alaska Statute 29.26.250 states that the grounds for recall are "misconduct in office, incompetence, or failure to perform prescribed duties." There are no other grounds for recall for municipal and school board members.

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The accusation, per the recall ballot language, is that both School Board Members, "demonstrated failure to perform prescribed duties, misconduct in office, and incompetence by: …Failing to
understand FY24 budget accounting errors resulting in $7.9M deficit and taxpayer loan from CBJ, violating BP3460.” 

WHY VOTE NO?

The reality behind this recall is 20+ years of declining student enrollment and prior board leadership unwilling to adjust the budget to this reality. School Board members rely on district staff to develop, monitor, and regularly report on budget changes. In November 2023, a multi-month audit confirmed there was a substantial failure to report critical financial information. 

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In response to the alarming audit and the departure of the finance officer, the Board authorized the new superintendent to hire an accountant to examine our budget exhaustively. In January 2024, as Board President, Deedie Sorenson notified the Assembly and our community of the findings – a severe budget deficit.

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Next, we implemented strategies to address the issues which included:

a hiring freeze, securing a $3.9 million grant for building maintenance,

all while holding meetings to gather public input on the 2025 school budget and consolidation.

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The board, administration, and staff should be commended for achieving a balanced budget revision for 2024, resulting in $600,000 positive balance. This is the deficit budget referenced in the Recall. We made difficult decisions for our schools in the 2025 budget. Decisions necessary to ensure our students continue to receive a great education.

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The truth is that both Emil Mackey and Deedie Sorenson demonstrated responsible leadership and budgetary knowledge for years preceding the budget crisis.

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Budget Documents

One complaint is that the Board was not "Transparent". All budget documents were available to the board an public in real time at: FY2025 Budget Documents - Google Drive

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2024 BOARD OF EDUCATION BUDGET MEETING RECORDINGS

BOARD OF EDUCATION BUDGET MEETING RECORDINGS

**PASSCODES ARE LISTED BELOW EACH MEETING**

Below are all of the meeting recordings.

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Despite claims by the recall supporters that the meetings were rushed and not open to the public, we have video. The truth is that the Board had over 20 meetings, some extending from 4:30pm - after midnight, to get the work done publicly and with extraordinary public input and comment.

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A Basic Timeline Leading To the Budget Crisis:

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The truth is that this budget crisis was identified years in advance by Emil Mackey and Deedie Sorensen, but it took a new board to have the will to solve it. That is not mismanagement nor incompetence. That is leadership. Removing President Sorenson and Vice President Mackey is not only holding the wrong people accountable, but will have a chilling effect on future boards and leadership to be proactive and incentivize inaction; possibly leading to future crises. 

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