There are three seats up for election on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education, each for a three-year term.
District 1, representing Kalifornsky, is currently held by Patti Truesdell, who was elected to the board in 2019. She’s challenged by Donna Anderson and Shelby Oden.
Running for her third term, Truesdell has also served as an administrative secretary for Central Peninsula Hospital for 23 years, and as an elementary and high school teacher in the school district for 17 years. She wrote in her candidate statement that, as a member of the board’s Charter School and Small Schools Committees, she has learned to appreciate the choice these schools offer students in the borough. If elected, she said that she will work to encourage school volunteerism and parental involvement.
“I am proud of my work on the School Board. There have certainly been challenges, and yes, some disappointments, but I believe in what we do here on the Kenai Peninsula,” she wrote.
Anderson worked as an elementary school teacher in the district from 1999-2024 and now works at the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska and as an IDEA vendor. She also serves as secretary for Republican Women of the Kenai and is the chair for the Kenai Peninsula chapter of Moms for Liberty. If elected, she wrote in her candidate statement, she will support efforts toward advocacy, “back to basics,” and choice.
Of advocacy, she wrote, “Communication between the board and the public is key to school and student success. We must bring this gap with open conversations centered around improving student outcomes.”
She proposes improving said student outcomes by “returning to the basics” — reading, writing and arithmetic — and supporting all avenues of education, including public school and homeschooling
“Enough with the fluff. Let’s get back to the heart of learning and student success,” she wrote.
Oden is the owner of Kenai Freight Forwarders and Little Alaskan in Kenai. In her candidate statement, she wrote that she has experience balancing budgets, solving problems and serving the community, and if elected, her priorities would include responsible spending, education quality to support strong academics and teacher success, and parent involvement through open communication and accessible decision making.
“As a mother of two children in our borough schools, I understand firsthand the importance of safe, supportive, and high-quality learning environments,” she wrote. “Every decision made by the school board directly impacts our kids, and I am committed to ensuring those decisions put students first.”
District 6, representing the east peninsula, is currently held by Virginia Morgan, who was first elected in 2019. Morgan is not running for reelection this year.
Mica VanBuskirk is running unopposed for the seat. A Seward resident for 28 years, she is the owner of Storm Chasers Marine Services, Inc. She has also served as president of the Seward Schools Site Based Council since 2010, president of the Lowell Point Community Council since 2020, and a member of the Seward State Parks Citizen Advisory Board since 2020.
VanBuskirk wrote in her candidate statement that her experience on the site council has allowed her to work closely with parents, teachers, school staff and principals, dive deep into school budgets and advocate for more educational opportunities for Seward students.
“I understand the challenges our schools face, and I believe in the power of local voices to shape meaningful solutions,” she wrote. “I will continue to champion stronger connections between families, educators, and the broader community to support every student’s success.”
The District 9 seat, which represents the southern Kenai Peninsula, is currently held by board president Zen Kelly, who is not seeking reelection. Homer residents Ash-Lee Waddell and Gail D. Claus are both vying for the seat.
Waddell holds a degree in early childhood education from the University of Alaska Anchorage and was awarded the First Lady Volunteer of the Year Award earlier this year. A member of the Koyukon Athabascan people, she bases her priorities — including reciprocity-based leadership and accountability to family and community — on the core of her cultural knowledge.
“Subsistence teaches reciprocity and restraint: take only what is needed, handle it with care, and return value to the community,” she wrote in her candidate statement. “I am committed to being present and making decisions by listening to the voices of our students, families, and educators; focusing on implementation, timelines, and results that show up in the classroom for every student.”
Claus is a registered nurse and nurse practitioner in Homer. She is also a member of Republican Women of the Kenai and the Kenai Peninsula chapter of Moms for Liberty. If elected, her goal as a member of the school board would be to “help bring accountability to the process and the focus back to education, not politics or ideology.”
“The effectiveness of education must be determined by the results it produces,” she wrote in her candidate statement. “As the cost of education continues to climb while the results are sinking (we can’t go much lower), we meet that definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”
Learn more about this year’s school board candidates on the borough website at www.kpb.us/local-governance-and-permitting/voting-elections/current-election-information.
