The Anchorage Daily News asked candidates for School Board in the 2019 election to answer a series of issue questions. Many of the questions were based on suggestions from readers. Here are their responses, in some cases edited for length. Find all candidates’ responses here. We did the same thing with candidates for Anchorage Assembly.
Candidate name: Kai Binkley Sims
Age: 38
Occupation: Business Owner/Mom (Editor’s note: She is a part-owner of the Anchorage Daily News.)
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Current employer: Self
Previous public offices held or sought / community leadership positions: President of the Birchwood Advisory Committee
Education: Petroleum Engineering Degree from the Colorado School of Mines
Website: www.KaiForSchoolBoard.com
List the K-12 schools your children currently attend or have attended. Mirror Lake Middle School, Birchwood ABC, Chugiak Elementary
What steps have you taken to prepare for this job? What strengths do you bring to office, and what in your life demonstrates those strengths?
A productive and engaged board member must understand the budget. I have worked hard to understand the proposed and adopted budgets from the outside looking in. Secondly, I have been a member of the parent advisory committee at my kids’ elementary school for six years. Lastly, and most importantly, I spend time in our schools. For years I have been volunteering to help teachers out in any way possible and have seen firsthand the challenges that face our teachers.
Have you ever worked for the Anchorage School District? If so, in what capacity?
No, which is an important distinction from my opponent. We need new, outside-of-the-box thinking to lead positive change for the School District, not just the same mindset that has delivered the highest cost per student and some of the lowest testing scores in the nation. The status quo will not benefit our children.
What is the largest budget you’ve managed? State the amount, length of time and your level of responsibility.
At BP I was responsible for the production of over 50 wells on the North Slope. I designed and managed multi-million dollar wellwork programs, to increase production, or bring inoperable wells back on line. I continued to do this type of work throughout my career at BP.
Name two things the Anchorage School District does well and two things you think the school district needs to improve. As a school board member, what would you do about the two areas of improvement?
The district’s ability to provide a variety of accessible choices to meet the community’s demand for optional education is done well. From STEM programs to immersion school, parents are able to find something that fits the needs of their children. The district is good at forming partnerships within the community to provide services. For improvements, I would like to see a reduction in the amount of standardized testing. Another area for improvement is in the way ASD communicates to parents.
If you had to identify $10 million in cuts to the Anchorage School District’s budget, name two areas you would look for cuts and two areas you would seek to protect.
I would make sure to protect teachers’ salaries and budget items related to student safety. Cuts will have to come from administration and facilities. Efficiencies will have to be found in every administrative department that is not directly tied to the classroom. ASD has a staggering amount of square footage of facilities that are costly to maintain. With a declining student population, we will have to be more efficient in how we maintain and manage those facilities.
The Anchorage School Board decided last year to not change school start times after a lengthy study. Do you support this decision? Why or why not?
I support using science and data to make informed decisions. Personally, I like the start times as they exist today, but if the studies show that it’s better for our students overall then I would support the change.
The Anchorage School Board approved a three-year contract with the local teachers union in December 2018. If you were a member of the school board at that time, would you have voted in favor of that contract? Why or why not?
I believe in paying teachers a competitive salary to be able to retain and attract teachers to our district. That being said, I think the overall cost of the contract to our district was too high given our state’s current financial climate.
How would you rate the Anchorage School District’s performance during or after the earthquake? What changes would you propose as a school board member?
As a parent I felt well informed by the district immediately after the earthquake. I understood that everyone was doing their best in an emergency situation. I have been following the Eagle River school situation very closely, and I know there has been a lot of recent frustration among parents and teachers. I have attended almost every public meeting relating to planning for Eagle River schools, and have talked to dozens of parents and teachers about possible solutions.
Does Anchorage need better preschool options for children? What steps would you take to increase the availability of preschool education?
Studies show how important preschool is in setting students up for success. Children who attend preschool end up acquiring more education, and are less likely to commit crimes. The economic benefits of these statistics are huge. I would love to be able to expand the preschool program if the budget allows. I would look into outside sources of funding for preschool programs.
Do you vaccinate your children, and how do you feel about vaccination requirements for children entering the school system?
I do vaccinate my children, and vaccination requirements should be strict.
What will you do on the School Board to support students living in poverty, homeless students, and students in the foster care system?
I would make every decision with the best interest of our under served population in mind. My heart breaks every time I hear about students whose needs aren’t being met outside of school. I have personally supported the Children’s Lunchbox, and would make it as easy as possible for all of our local non-profits to partner with the district to assist in meeting our kids’ needs.
What sex education and support services do you believe school-age children should be getting at school?
I think sex education should be offered as a small part of the health curriculum, but not required in public schools.
Do you support consolidation of underutilized schools? Why or why not? If you do support consolidation, are there any schools you’d consider consolidating now?
It is clear that ASD needs to be more efficient in managing facilities. With ASD enrollment numbers continuing to drop, there should be emerging opportunities to consolidate facilities to save money.
ASD’s graduation rates are among the lowest in the country. How can the school district take meaningful steps to boost this rate?
We need to provide valuable options for non-college bound students. King Tech is a great resource for our students, and should be supported and expanded to engage students on a path to graduation. We should provide middle school career days to encourage students to consider vocational / job training opportunity career paths when they start high school so we can also provide a more fully engaged student body that can see the benefit of moving forward to graduation and employment opportunities.
The biggest challenge facing the school district is (fill in the blank and explain):
Academic performance. The ASD budget has continued to grow, without an improvement in results. We can’t just throw money into a program that is not improving academic performance. We have some of the lowest reading and math scores in the nation, and are among the highest cost per student in spending. We have to be more creative with our teaching methods and efficient with our spending.
What are your thoughts on school vouchers or public support for private schools?
Our state constitution limits the use of public funds for private education. I love the many choices for different types of education within ASD. Given the wide range of choices, I don’t see a need for vouchers at this time.
What are your ideas for ensuring students and staff feel safe in Anchorage schools?
As a parent with three kids in different schools in our district, school safety is my highest priority. I support the school bond that will provide facility work to schools in need of security upgrades. In one of my children’s schools they have a video intercom system that allows the front office to control access to the school. This system seems to work well, and should be required to be USED in schools. I support increasing the number of cameras at schools, and linking that network to APD.
What steps should ASD take to improve its career and technical education curriculum?
I would like to see increased focus on opportunities for middle school students to discover their academic and career interests and get them connected to King Tech or our specialized High School Academies.
What specific ideas do you have to improve overall performance of students?
There needs to be a multifaceted approach, studies show that parental involvement is critical to a student’s success. We have a large transient population in the Anchorage area. As many as 1 in 4 students will change schools within the district each school year. This makes it extremely difficult for students to make consistent progress throughout the year, and creates additional challenges for teachers. Attendance also needs to be a continued focus.
What other important issue would you like to discuss here?
We need quality problem solvers to compromise and find solutions. We need professional, proactive community members to get involved in government. As an engineer, I have been trained to look at data. Analyzing and using data is important for a school board overseeing a district of this size. Growing up working in my family’s business, we were involved in solving business challenges and being accountable. This experience taught us to be proactive, accountable, hard workers in everything we do.