On Dillingham’s ballot, three seats are open for the Dillingham City School District School Board. Chrissie Greene is running uncontested for one of those seats. She told KDLG that increasing teacher retention is a top priority if elected.
**This interview has been lightly edited for clarity**
Greene: My name is Chrissie Greene. I work for Nushagak Cooperative as a customer service representative, and I am running for the school board seat E.
Sutherland: Where are you from originally?
Greene: I am born and raised here in Dillingham. Yes. I am an alumni of the Dillingham Elementary School and the Dillingham Middle/High School.
Sutherland: Do you have any previous government experience or community involvement?
Greene: I have not sat on any of the boards that we have here in Dillingham. I have experience in a wide variety of volunteering throughout the community. My volunteer on the beaver roundup committee, as well as the various events that they put on around town. But I do a lot of volunteering because my son is in sports, so volunteering is definitely in my books.
Sutherland: And why are you running for Dillingham City School Board?
Greene: It has always interested me, running for the school board. However, my previous employments never allowed me the free time for it. I have two children who are currently enrolled in the school district here. I have one who is a junior in high school, and my daughter is in fifth grade elementary. So being on the school board would definitely be an awesome opportunity for me, not only because I have children enrolled, but education is one of my top priorities for all kids.
Sutherland: What things are you passionate about that you would want to focus on in the school district?
Greene: One of the things I think that is most important is employee retention. I know that we've had a high turnaround for our teachers over the last couple of years. So teacher retention would be super important, and it should be for any school district, but especially for our children here having consistent good educational experiences and for long term, not just short term, is huge. It impacts our students' grades, our kids' education, of course. When you have such a high turnaround rate, it definitely can affect our students.
Sutherland: Are there things that you see that contribute to the high turnover rates, and things that you see that the district could do to increase retention?
Greene: Housing is definitely an issue, not only for teachers, but for a lot of people wanting to come into our community. Our district was fortunate to be able to secure the lease agreement with the apartments on Wood River, which I think is going to be a huge help in keeping our teachers here, or for those future teachers that are coming to town, housing is definitely a huge struggle, and I think that's one hurdle that they've been able to get over and hopefully that we can stay consistent and keep that going.
Sutherland: Are there any other issues that you look forward to addressing if elected to the school board?
Greene: I'm not too educated on any of the current issues within our school system. I am definitely excited to, if elected, be able to get caught up on what has been going on or prior issues that need to be addressed, and I am ready to be on board and bring a new perspective and hopefully good ideas and problem solving.
Sutherland: Is there anything else that you want voters to know about you?
Greene: I believe everyone in the community is pretty familiar with who I am. If elected, I'm super excited to be able to serve not only our kids, but our community as a whole. Voting is super important. I think everybody that is currently running for the school board are good candidates, and so I just encourage everyone to get out and exercise their right to vote for everyone who is running.
Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Dillingham City Hall on election day. Early absentee voting is available now at City Hall from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday until Oct. 6th.
