Two ballot propositions that would fund the Anchorage School District are failing by slim margins, according to early results.
Proposition 9 is failing by less than one percent. It calls for $12 million in a special one-time property tax levy to fund the Anchorage School District to the maximum amount allowed by state law. Ballot language states that the money could only be used to offset planned cuts to student programs and to fund teacher positions.
School Board member Kelly Lessens said the one-time tax levy was a new way of funding the district, and an additional ask of voters.
“We had really hoped that the board's direction to dedicate every penny of the levy to classroom teachers would have been clear and transparent to voters,” Lessens said.
Proposition 1 is failing by less than half a percent. It would fund capital improvements for the Anchorage School District, including upgrades to Romig Middle School and construction at several elementary schools.
More than 42,000 votes have been counted, but ballots cast on Election Day and those in the mail still need to be counted. Lessens said she’s curious what will happen in the coming days.
“I will always be hopeful and believe that every ballot deserves to be counted,” she said. "I know we've had close races before in Anchorage and close votes on propositions, so we just need to cross that 50% threshold.”
In the Anchorage School Board race candidates Rachel Blakeslee and Paul McDonogh have comfortable leads.
Blakeslee is ahead with 54% of the vote compared to Alex Rosales’ 38% for Seat C. And for Seat D, McDonogh is ahead with 47% of the vote to Sharon Gibbons’ 30% and Dustin Darden’s 14%.
In a phone interview Tuesday night driving home from an election night watch party, Blakeslee said she’s feeling grateful, and looking forward to jumping into the work. But she said she’s worried, but not surprised by the tight margins for the school funding measures.
“The impacts are pretty catastrophic if the levy does not pass and if we do not get additional funding from the state,” she said. “That means that we lose more teachers. It means class sizes go up, which is really bad for student outcomes and learning.”
And if the measures fail, she said, it’s a clear sign that there’s a lack of trust among voters.
“I think that there's a lot of work that needs to be done to listen to the public as to why they didn't pass either of those measures, and really take that into consideration,” she said.
Most other bonds on the ballot are passing by sizable margins, though a bond to support public safety initiatives is only passing by about 840 votes.
Election officials will post additional results over the next two weeks, with results scheduled to be certified by the Anchorage Assembly on April 28.
