Fairbanks has some hard leftists seeking to serve on the local school board – candidates who fully support pushing LGBTQ indoctrination and explicit sex-ed classes on young students.

At the annual school board candidate forum at West Valley High, four candidates seeking office had a  chance to air their views on a wide range of  topics. During the one-hour session, each of the candidates answered questions posed by various students.

Fairbanks holds its borough elections on Oct. 1, but early voting has already begun. In addition to choosing a mayor and three assembly members, voters will also pick two school board members to serve three-year terms.

The Sept. 19 gathering revealed that two school board candidates in particular are determined to advance controversial and divisive agendas when it comes to sexuality and so-called “gender identity” politics.

Candidates April Smith and Loa Carroll-Hubbard were by far the more conservative choices, while Morgan Dulian and Tamara Kruse Roselius embodied leftist ideals on a range of issues.

Both Roselius and Dulian oppose letting certified and trained teachers carry concealed weapons to help provide safety in schools. Smith favored the idea and Hubbard was undecided.

Likewise, Roselius and Dulian like the idea of teaching children all about gender identity and expression during school hours. Smith and Hubbard do not.

While all candidates said they supported sex-ed in some form, Smith was the only person who said there were “a few small changes” that needed to be made to the current classes.

Roselius, however, made it clear that sex education and LGBTQ ideology are high priorities for her. She’s a regular attendee at local school board meetings where she consistently defends the practice of educators highlighting and teaching kids about sexuality and identity.

“We need comprehensive sexual education in our schools,” she emphasized. “It blows my mind when they say they don’t want that to happen in schools.”

Roselius also was the only candidate who said she supported letting biological males who identify as girls to compete on girls’ sports teams.

Dulian indicated that she hopes to flood schools with additional “mental health providers,” who can walk kids through LGBTQ-related issues. She supports increased counseling and anti-bullying campaigns.

Over the past few years, the Fairbanks School District has been roiled in controversy regarding explicit sex-ed videos, transgender policies that keep parents in the dark, and a relentless push to emphasize and highlight the LGBTQ movement. In many cases, angry parents have expressed their displeasure during school board meetings.

When asked about how she would address the divisive nature of school board meetings, Roselius took the opportunity to denounce parents and others who have expressed their displeasure.

After first lauding the school board for modeling a “class act,” she derided testifiers for their “incredible lack of decorum.”

Dulian suggested that the school board should post a “code of conduct” to ensure the public testimony didn’t get out of hand.

Smith, however, said a large part of the problem is that school board members don’t respect community members who raise objections.

“Free speech does not end when you don’t like the speech,” she said. “I feel that the real lack of decorum has come from the elected members in the form of accusatory so-called ‘clarifications.’ The elected office holders need to listen and absorb the public testimony and stop debating testifiers under the guise of, ‘Did you know?’ or ‘Where did you get your information’ questions. That would clean up most of the mess.”

Hubbard echoed some of these concerns, claiming that certain school board members need to refrain from using their closing comments to undermine public input.

“It seems to me that some of them are taking an opportunity to break Robert’s Rules by offering a rebuttal to the public testimony,” she said. “I just feel it’s antagonistic for school board members to go back and address public comments in their attempts to get the last word.”

All four candidates acknowledged that Fairbanks has a shrinking school age population, and that major budget cuts and school consolidations are necessary to “right-size” a system that was built up for a much larger student enrollment.

Smith, who describes herself as “a conservative mom” and “watchdog for parental rights and school choice,” said “sweeping cuts” were needed, along with rethinking how public education is provided. She said the school district must negotiate more fiscally conservative employee contracts and cut excess staff and administrative positions.

TAKING ACTION

— Click here for information on how to vote in the Oct. 1 Fairbanks Borough elections.

— Click here to see a list of conservative-leaning candidates running for office.

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