FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) – In the 2025 municipal election in Fairbanks, incumbent Melissa Burnett and Naomi Hewitt are running for seat D on the Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board.
Burnett said she sees the next three years as a chance to invest and innovate in the school district.
“I really look forward to implementing our brand new strategic plan, and with that strategic plan, putting into place these targetable, achievable goals that will help expand on the education that we are providing our students, and also for the things that we are providing for our community, like expanding on choice and expanding on our programs,” she said.
If reelected, Burnett hopes to lower class sizes and expand program options in schools, including “more CTE pathways and things that will help our students in the future when they graduate from our district and go out into the workforce and become active community citizens here.”
During her first term on the school board, Burnett said her main goal was to improve decorum in the body.
“We have a board that we have proven that we can actually get down to the work, we can do the things that we need to do, while not always agreeing, disagreeing in a way that’s respectful and a way that we’re able to actually accomplish some things,” she explained.
Hewitt, meanwhile, said she is running to build a stronger community, starting with its children.
She aims to improve transparency and accountability from the school board and district administration. Hewitt also wants to expand opportunities for students.
“Without opportunity, they don’t thrive in our community,” Hewitt said.
Hewitt mentioned universal pre-kindergarten as a top priority. She said that giving kids the opportunity to come to kindergarten ready to learn has been proven to increase outcomes.
“I know that that’s a high ask, but I’m not afraid of hard work. I know that is going to entail more funding, and I have gone to Juneau twice to advocate for increased funding for our education and return to a defined benefit for our teachers,” Hewitt explained. “I think it’s crucial that we maintain, increase our teacher retention because a teacher’s work environment is a student’s learning environment.”
As a representative of her peers at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Hewitt said she understands what being a representative means.
Hewitt added that she understands “what it means to be responsible for multi-million-dollar budgets.”
Both Burnett and Hewitt will appear on the ballot for all borough residents on Election Day, October 7.
Read more on https://www.alaskasnewssource.com
