By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The latest candidate to file for Sitka School Board hopes his experience with school systems and working with others will be an asset on the board.
“I feel I can have positive input,” said Jim Rogers, who filed as a candidate Wednesday afternoon. “I have always been a consensus builder; that’s needed on the board.”
Jim Rogers (Sentinel Photo)
The other candidate in the School Board race so far is Cass Pook. The one seat on the board to be filled is presently held by Jenn McNichol, whose term is expiring.
Also on the ballot are four candidates for the two Assembly seats open: Kevin Knox, Ben Miyasato, Steve Lee and Loyd Platson.
Rogers came to Sitka three years ago a year after his wife, Laura Rogers, was hired as assistant principal at Blatchley Middle School. He served at Sitka Counseling as an AmeriCorp volunteer for a year before being hired as a direct service provider at the agency. Laura Rogers is now the principal of Sitka High.
Jim Rogers said his “boots-on-the-ground knowledge” from day-to-day work with student-clients in the classroom has given him the opportunity to participate in the educational process, work with teachers and understand the challenges of both students and staff.
“I’ve got a good feel for what’s happening,” he said. “And the fact that I’m not an employee of the school district, it gives me an ability to still run for School Board.”
Rogers said he often attends school board meetings and has followed the state budget challenges, both here and in the last place he lived, New Hampshire, which also had a budget crisis.
“One of the best ways to keep young families here is to maintain a thriving school district that serves as the heart of the community,” he said in his statement. “As a New Hampshire public servant during the last recession, I saw the damage that was done to institutions through ‘top-down’ decision making. I believe my experience could help the Sitka School District create a thoughtful and judicious plan to weather the uncertainties we are likely to encounter during the next three years.”
As to whether his relationship to one of the top district officials will interfere with his duties as a School Board member, Rogers told the Sentinel that he has discussed the issue with the executive director of the Association of Alaska School Boards, Norm Wooten.
“(Wooten) said there’s going to be very few instances of where I have to declare a conflict,” Rogers said. “I’ll be overly cautious.”
Rogers worked as an auto mechanic for several years after graduating from high school in 1978. He earned degrees in business and marketing in 1987 from Virginia Tech, where he met his wife.
The filing period for candidates in the Oct. 1 election closes at 5 p.m. Friday.
