Inez Gross, operations supervisor at First National Bank Alaska, has joined two incumbents in the fall election to fill three seats on the Haines Borough school board.
Gross’s daughter Autumn Gross holds an advisory seat on the school board as the student body president.
“I’ve thought of (running) in the past. Since I was going to go to meetings with Autumn anyway, I thought I’d run. I have a little more time than I used to have in the past,” Gross said.
The two other candidates are incumbents Mike Wilson and Sara Chapell.
Wilson is a retiree who worked as teacher and principal in the Anchorage area and was appointed to fill an open seat on the board last year.
“I think it’s important to be the best they can be,” Wilson said this week. “It’s an opportunity for me to give back to the community and I’m hoping I can help the district move forward.”
Chapell is seeking re-election at the end of a three-year term. “There’s more I’d like the school board to accomplish in the next three years,” she said this week. “We’ve made some strides in our reading scores and we’ve got a new math program, but we haven’t come as far as I would like.”
In the event Gross, Chapell and Wilson are elected, the candidate receiving the lowest number of votes would be seated in a seat with only two years remaining. The other two candidates would win three-year seats.
Current school board member Tiffany DeWitt, who was appointed to the board, is not seeking election. Profiles and photos of board candidates will be published in advance of the Oct. 6 municipal election.