KCAW AI Disclosure
Did you use artificial intelligence (ex. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) to complete this questionnaire?
Candidate: No
Name: Phil Burdick
Age: 59
How many years have you lived in Sitka and in Alaska? Since 1992
Occupation: I currently consult with schools, tribes, and youth organizations in implementing and integrating Restorative Practices in Education using Circle Peacekeeping, Culturally Responsive Education, and Trauma Informed practices.
Describe your family: I am married and have two children, one in high school and one college graduate.
Community involvement, past and present:
I have served on many boards including the Island Institute, Youth Advocates of Sitka, Mt. Edgecumbe Preschool, and the Sitka Native Education Program Parent Committee. All of my board involvement focuses on education and youth.
Have you previously run for public office? When and what office?
I was elected to the school board in 2023. I was also elected to the Assembly for a one year term in the late 90’s.
Previous government or other relevant experience:
I have 30 years experience in the Sitka School District as teacher, principal, district administrator, and board member. I am a current member of the Alaska Association of School Board.
Why are you running for a Sitka School Board seat this year?
I am running for School Board because I want to change the world. I want to live in a world where everyone has the opportunity to achieve their goals and the belief they can. I believe that public education is the best way to achieve that. Also, there is always work that needs to be done and I have the time, the energy, and the expertise to support education.
What are your top priorities if elected?
Create systems and processes to ensure smooth transitions for new members. Improve communication with the community. Advocate for adequate State funding.
Vision
What’s the biggest challenge the Sitka School District faces today, and how would you address it? Biggest strength?
The biggest challenge facing the Sitka District is the same as many districts across the country and every district in the state. We continue to face fiscal uncertainty that forces us to do more with less. We are directed to accomplish mandates with no funding to support our efforts. The only way to address this is to elect officials who understand that public education is the foundation of a stable democracy, a strong economy, and that we need to treat our students, families and staff as the precious resource they are.
The greatest strength in the SSD is our people and our partnerships. We have a dedicated staff and committed community who support our students and families. We have dozens of business and non-profit partners who volunteer and enrich what we can offer.
Budget:
What’s your budget philosophy for Sitka’s schools? Are there areas you would cut? Spend more?
I would like to see a more strategic budgeting process. It’s difficult because of the uncertainty of funding, the timing of the process, and the reactive nature of educational budgeting.
We have already cut all of the fat, most of the meat, and have been gnawing on the bones for the last three years. There is nowhere left.
There is nowhere to spend more. The best we can do is to ensure that we allocate resource to our priorities and our strategic plan.
Funding:
In your opinion, does the state fund schools adequately? As a school board member, what would you advocate for if tasked with lobbying the legislature in Juneau?
Ummmmmm. Hell no!
I would advocate for Rep. Story’s HB 261 that would stabilize funding by using a three year average count so Districts know how much money they have going into the fiscal year instead of having to guess during the budget process and waiting until the end of the year to find out what the final numbers are.
I would advocate that educational spending be inflation proofed and that it be paid for by a corporate tax structure. We are educating the workforce. The corporations should invest in the human capital that is their future.
Achievement:
Monitoring student achievement and developing policies that boost student success is one of the school board’s top responsibilities. What do you see as Sitka’s most urgent area for academic growth? And how would you address it?
We need to close the achievement gap. We have talked about it as long as I have been involved in education in the SSD but we have never been able to crack that nut. I honestly don’t know how to address it. For 30 years we have tried policy mandates and goals, programming changes and offerings, professional learning in efficacy and best practice, personnel shifts and department creation and still the gap exists.
Enrollment:
Across Alaska, school enrollment has been shrinking. While numbers have seen a slight jump in Sitka in the past couple of years, larger trends point to a loss of several hundred students over the past two decades. What steps should the Sitka School District take in response to a shrinking population?
We need to make strategic budgeting decisions that reflect the reality of our situation and not simply roll over spending because that’s how we’ve always done it. This is easier said than done because it would rely on a flexible staff who may need to be re-assigned year to year. It’s also not fiscally prudent to simply close a school although we may need to look at how we structure grade bands and programs.
Technology :
What’s one technology rule you would like to enact in the school district?
It’s not a rule but more a guideline. Technology is a tool and we need to teach how to use it responsibly.
Engagement :
How would you work to increase visibility and community engagement with the school board?
Questions from the Daily Sitka Sentinel:
What should be the role of artificial intelligence in the classroom? Are there uses you would encourage or discourage?
AI is here to stay and it has the potential to streamline processes. It is a tool and, like any tool, has its uses and we should teach responsible use of it. However, I think that we need to monitor that we aren’t over-reliant on it through a curriculum that relies on revision, rigor, and relationships. It’s difficult to abuse AI to turn in an assignment when students, peers, and teachers have partnered on a project or paper through multiple revisions.
What should be the School Board’s role in reviewing curriculum and guiding curriculum development?
Board policy is clear that our role is to “adopt a district curriculum which to the extent possible meets the instructional needs of the students while reflecting the desires of the community, the needs of society, and the requirements of law.(BP 6141) Curriculum needs to align to State standards. We recently revised our Curriculum Review Cycle in April which lays out when we will address subjects. (AR 6141) The tricky piece about curriculum development is that it relies on staff who have to do this on top of all their other responsibilities. We don’t have a Curriculum Director as many districts do.There aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week unless we can fairly compensate teachers for their time and effort. And we don’t have that kind of funding, much less the ability to pay for a new curriculum (if necessary) that could run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What changes for public schools do you hope Alaska’s next governor will enact?
- You can’t eat a hope sandwich. And to be honest, as detrimental as Gov. Dunleavy has been to education in his eight years in office, the fiscal cliff that education is facing has been building for much longer than his term and he couldn’t have done it without tacit support from the legislature.
- I hope the next Governor restructures the funding process so that Districts know BEFORE the fiscal year starts how much money they have to work with by supporting Rep. Story’s HB 261.
- I hope the next Governor decides to pay more than lip service to the phrase “young people are the future” by honoring the work and commitment of teachers and administrators throughout the state by reinstating a retirement plan that allows them to plan for a safe and secure future.
- I hope the next Governor pays for the true cost of education rather than deferring it to the next election cycle by funding major maintenance projects that have languished, leaving us with unsafe and sometimes toxic schools.
- I hope the next Governor treats students, families, and communities with respect by standing up to those who would tear down the hard work and dedication that all students and educators strive to deliver on a daily basis.
- But mostly I hope the new Governor is a decent human being who wants the best for every Alaskan regardless of region, race, or religion by delivering on a promise to make Alaska a safe and welcoming State that holds its citizens accountable, expects high quality work through rigor, and supports us to achieve our goals and dreams. JUST LIKE OUR CLASSROOMS AND SCHOOLS.
