Shannon has been an active member in the Juneau community for the last 16 years. In her free time, she can be found hiking, crocheting, building furniture, and spending time with her family. 

A favorite hike in Juneau that you never get tired of? 

Nugget Falls trail in the winter when everything is frozen.

Why is school consolidation and the recall important to you?

The consolidation hurt a lot of our community members by taking away choice and neighborhood schools. Education is not equitable - healthy competition no longer exists, overcrowded schools and disturbingly high PTR are being seen at every level. Students are displaced and lost in this tragedy, and no one thought about what was best for students.

The school board made decisions based on money alone, and then it all turned out to be a farce. There was no $9.5M deficit, there was no emergency, and now our kids and teachers have paid the price for the school board's knee-jerk decision. This consolidation was not what was best for our students, teachers, or our community as a whole. The recall will allow opportunity for new school board members to take charge of the district, stand up for our community, listen to public testimony and take actions accordingly. Let's finally put students, teachers, and families FIRST in our decision-making matrix.

Cindee has been a member of the Juneau community for the last 25 years. She is a breath work and mindfulness coach and is passionate about wellness! She also loves spending time with her family and friends.

A favorite hike in Juneau that you never get tired of? 

The Rainforest trail on North Douglas Island. There is something about that trail that is just magical!

Why is school consolidation and the recall important to you?

My children have both spent their school careers with the Juneau School District and for the majority of that time I have been pleased with the educational opportunities available to them. Unfortunately, that changed very abruptly with the budget missteps and hasty decision to consolidate schools. As a person who has spent the majority of her career in the financial field, I understand the need to make changes when there are budget constraints and knew that this was inevitable. What disturbs me is the WAY in which this process occurred. It was made hastily and without a deeper process to weigh all the options available. The board and school administration took a "my way or the highway" approach instead of seeking to understand. Once the decision was made, there was a failure to adequately address the need to merge very different cultures into the new high school and middle school environments. 

In the end, it is our children that have borne the brunt of the changes that were made without adequate care and support. They are the ones doing their best to figure out this new environment amongst the chaos. It didn't have to be this way. We are the adults in the room. 

I feel it is my responsibility as a parent and community member to make sure this does not happen again. Change is inevitable and we, as voting members of the public, have the ability to ensure a better process to protect our children. 

Jannessa Luerra has been living in Juneau since childhood. She spends her free time spending time with her family, fur-kids, and friends, traveling, spending time on the beach, staying cozy at home, and Netflix & chill!

What type of music do you enjoy the most?

I listen to a little bit of everything, but also love old classic rock, R&B, and rap.

Why is school consolidation and the recall important to you?

The consolidation of the middle and high schools was very devastating to our community, but most importantly how it was handled did not put students, their families and staff at the forefront. There were other ways to consolidate or save, and other things that could have been considered before rushing a decision without a proper plan in place.

Neighborhood schools are important and increase opportunities, learning, and choices for students and families. As someone who graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School when it was the sole high school, and having had my own children attend and graduate from Thunder Mountain High School, I recognized the importance and dynamic communities that each school brought to our community and the students.

Making a rush decision and not considering the students, staff and families opinions hurt our community. The recall is necessary because the board members that are up for recall have been on the board the longest. They have had the knowledge of budget issues and declining enrollment for years, so why did they not carefully plan and look for other funding or other ways to save that did not hurt students, staff and families? 

They were aware of potential budget issues as early as 2022, yet they chose to make a devastating decision and rush a consolidation in less than two months. They should be held accountable for not doing their due diligence to carefully plan and work with the community to find a way forward that did not hurt the community as this rushed consolidation has!  The community deserves a board that will research, plan and take their time with drastic changes and decisions.

Lynn has been an active community member  after moving with the USCG 47 years ago. She participated in community groups such as Gastineau Channel Little League, Juneau Youth Football League, school PTAs and K-12 site councils. She retired from the Juneau School District as a special education para-educator and now spends her free time working in her garden when she's not busy supporting all youth sporting events.

What's your favorite dessert?

Haagen-Dazs caramel dulce ice cream

Why is school consolidation and the recall important to you?

When my kids went through the school system it was so much more than just going to school. Every school they attended was like being in a family.  When it was time to move on to jr. high, at Floyd Dryden, the family atmosphere was still there.  Students knew each other and the teachers were always available and willing to do what it takes to get their students into the right program.  When it was time for high school, that was another story.  JD High School had too many kids, so accidents happened.  The hallways were so crowded that you couldn't get to class on time and if you wanted to get something through the school at lunch, more than likely there would be no time.  My daughter had several accidents from students pushing her down the stairs and ending up in the ER with numerous concussions. 

I got involved with the recall because I was tired of certain board members sitting back and doing nothing regarding the budget. The consolidation of the schools is not the answer.  I do not want to see what happened to my daughter happen to other kids.  I basically wanted to help change the way this board was handling things.  Over the years this school district and school board have spiraled out of control. I am doing this for all students, not just my grandkids and great grand kids.

Chuck has been a Juneau resident for over 64 years. He attended every level of school in the Juneau School District. Over the course of his career he participated in and conducted many public input meetings throughout the state. He enjoys landscaping and decorating in his free time.

A favorite hike in Juneau that you never get tired of?

Treadwell Trail.

Why is school consolidation and the recall important to you?

Public input is vitally important to community transportation issues as it affects many potentially affected entities. Public input is even more important when it comes to the education of our children. The disregard by the current school board of any alternative suggestions to the pre-determined plan to consolidate the schools was a slap in the face to the Juneau community. Input was supposedly collected in multiple public meetings.

There were numerous letters, emails, and public testimony that addressed a myriad of issues that were never answered or addressed. This is not what is expected of our elected officials. Due to Open Meeting Act violations and complaints sent to the school board which were ignored, the only options available for public recourse were lawsuits or recall. Lawyers that were consulted recommended recall as a more effective way to hold members accountable.

It was further discovered during the recall process that the school board was not being transparent about the FY24 budget. There were line items that were overstated expenditures to the tune of several millions of dollars. They were known about by the board as early as February, long before the extreme "deficit" was announced justifying the extreme cuts to teaching positions, closing of schools and consolidation. After the consolidation vote these were reduced to zero. I chose to be involved in the recall efforts to bring to light the inappropriate actions taken by the school board and the school district administrator.