School Board Members
Contact information for each Board member is below. If you have
a question or comment for all the board members
you can use the board’s group email address: SchoolBoard@asdk12.org.
Please take a moment to review our privacy
statement before submitting your comments.
 Gretchen Guess, President
Seat D through April 2014 (first term)
Phone: 742-1101 ext. 1
P.O. Box 91437
Anchorage, AK 99509
guess_gretchen@asdk12.org
Gretchen Guess was born and reared in Anchorage. After leaving for college, graduate school and work, Gretchen returned home to Alaska. Gretchen has worked for private, public and government sectors in a variety of analyst positions. Gretchen is currently Regional Director of Business Planning and Development for Providence Alaska. In past service, she represented East Anchorage in both the State House and the State Senate retiring in 2006. Gretchen holds a BA in Economics from Carleton College (Northfield MN), a MS in Public Policy Analysis from University of Rochester (Rochester, NY), and post-graduate work at the RAND Corporation. Outside of her academic studies in education policy, Gretchen worked for former Commissioner of Education Shirley Holloway. Gretchen is married to Jeff Tyson, and they have two children (Carolyn - 6 and Elliott - 5) who attend Rilke Schule School for the Arts and Science (the German immersion charter school).
 Jeannie Mackie, Vice President
Seat B through April 2013 (second term)
Phone: 742-1101 ext. 2
444 Orchid Circle
Anchorage, AK 99515
E-mail: mackie_jeannie@asdk12.org
Jeannie Mackie is a stay-at-home mother, wife and advocate for children. With three boys ages 13, 10 and 5, Jeannie and her husband will have students in the school district for many years to come. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and has experience working in both the legislative and executive branches of state government. As an Alaska Native, raised in the small community of Nenana, Jeannie offers a unique perspective to the sensitive challenges of students migrating from rural areas to the Anchorage School District. As a mother, she understands the everyday challenges and concerns of parents and is dedicated to the advancement of education and the well-being of all children in the Anchorage School District.
 Jeff
Friedman, Clerk
Seat F through April 2012 (third term)
Phone: 742-1101 ext. 4
1534 D Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
E-mail: friedman_jeff@asdk12.org
Jeff Friedman studied child development at Antioch College and graduated in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He then went on to graduate with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1984. Over the next three years he was a business manager and assistant director for Friendship Camps, Inc. in Virginia. He began practicing law in Alaska in 1988 and is currently an Administrative Law Judge with the State of Alaska Office of Administrative Hearings. Mr. Friedman has one son, Sam, who graduated from the Anchorage School District and currently attends Alaska Pacific University. Mr. Friedman has served on Polaris K-12’s Advisory Board, Education Specifications Committee, and Building Design Committee. Mr. Friedman twice served on the school district’s citizen budget review teams. He is also a former board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Anchorage and is on the Alaska Bar Association’s Discipline Hearing and Fee Arbitration Committees. Mr. Friedman was elected to the school board in April 2003 and was Board President for 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2008-09. He is currently a member of the Policy committee.
 Kathleen Plunkett, Treasurer
Seat E through April 2012 (first term)
Phone: 742-1101 ext. 3
4828 E. 5th Ave.
Anchorage, AK 99508
E-mail: plunkett_kathleen@asdk12.org
Kathleen Plunkett is an Accountant for ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. and she holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with an Accounting major from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Kathleen, her husband Rex and their two sons all graduated from Anchorage High Schools. Kathleen has been an active community volunteer for more than 30 years. She is a current member and the former president of the Russian Jack Community Council. Kathleen has worked on and built two East-side parks and she is a former member and chairman of the Anchorage Parks and Recreation Commission. Kathleen is the former president, vice president, treasurer and delegate of the Federation of Community Councils. She has served on the Anchorage Platting Board, Weed and Seed East Anchorage Steering Committee and Neighborworks Anchorage Board.
Kathleen was elected to Seat E in 2009 and her term expires in 2012. She is the Treasurer, a member of the Audit Committee and chair of the Policy Committee.
 Crystal Kennedy
Seat G through April 2012 (third term)
Phone: 742-1101 ext. 5
20040 New England Dr.
Eagle River, AK 99577
E-mail: kennedy_crystal@asdk12.org
Crystal Kennedy and her family moved to Alaska in 1994 when her husband, Greg, a US Air Force F-15 pilot, was assigned here. Her husband, now retired from the Air Force, flies for Fed Ex. Because her father was also in the USAF, Ms. Kennedy has lived in 12 states and three foreign countries. Her three children, Ryan, Erin and Kyle graduated from Chugiak High School. She has one grandson and two granddaughters. Ms. Kennedy received a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Wright State University in 1979 and a bachelor's degree in legal administration from the University of West Florida in 1986. Ms. Kennedy has been an active volunteer in schools and communities for more than 25 years. She served as president of Ravenwood Elementary PTA for three terms, and as a member of the ASD Health & PE Curriculum Review Committee, the Anchorage Council of PTAs, the ASD Capital Request Advisory Committee and numerous education task forces. She served as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), as a board member of the Eagle River Valley Community Council, a youth soccer coach and a Sunday school teacher. She currently serves on the board of directors of Heart to Heart Pregnancy Resource Center in Eagle River, is a Chamber Ambassador for the Chugiak/ Eagle River Chamber of Commerce and a member of Skyline Family Fellowship in Eagle River. Ms. Kennedy holds the position of Secretary/Treasurer for the Association of Alaska School Boards board of directors. She is a graduate and active alumna of the Broad Institute for School Board members. Ms. Kennedy currently serves on the School Board policy committee, the legislative committee, the ABC Ad Hoc committee, and is the board representative to the Chugiak/ Eagle River Chamber of Commerce and the Council of Great City Schools. Ms. Kennedy holds Seat G for a third term which expires in 2012.
 Pat Higgins
Seat C through April 2014 (second term)
Phone: 742-1101 ext. 6
9140 Granite Place
Anchorage, AK 99507
E-mail: higgins_pat@asdk12.org
Pat Higgins is a human resources professional with more than 30 years of senior HR management experience in the public and private sector. As someone very involved in hiring the students and graduates from the Anchorage School District, he is passionate about the role of good education and improving our vocational opportunities for young people. Pat has worked and traveled throughout Alaska, from the North Slope when he worked for Alyeska Pipeline (initially in charge of employment and later as their first internal employee concerns program investigator), to Sitka/Juneau where he served as HR Director and a member of the Executive Management Team for the Alaska Native owned Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, and as a HR consultant for Coastal Villages Region Fund, an organization with fishing and crabbing interests in the Bering Sea that was formed to provide employment and community development opportunities to 20 rural communities on the west coast of Alaska. Pat graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in Personnel Management before moving to Anchorage in 1983 with his wife of 35 years Patti, son Gavin, and daughters Rachael and Tara, and grandson Aiden. Pat has been active in a variety of community activities, serving as President of Friends of the Library at Loussac Library, PTA member, chair of two United Way Campaigns for Alyeska Pipeline, Little League Coach and hockey dad, and is currently a Board Member of Abbott Loop Community Council. Pat and his family also sponsored the first traveling Smithsonian Exhibit to Alaska "Seeds of Change", and a visit by US Astronaut Ellen Ochoa to Anchorage schools. Pat is presently Chair of the ASB Audit Committee, Chair of the Reform Committee and a member of the ASB Legislative Committee. Pat has previously served as the Board representative for the School Business Partnership and to the Federation of Community Councils. Pat Higgins was elected to seat C in 2008 and his current term expires in April 2014.
 Don Smith
Seat A through April 2013 (first term)
Phone: 742-1101 ext. 7
2121 Tudor Hills Court
Anchorage, AK 99507
E-mail: smith_don@asdk12.org
 Carol Comeau, Superintendent
Phone: 907-742-4312 Fax: 907-742-4318
5530 E Northern Lights Blvd
Anchorage, AK 99504-3135
E-mail: comeau_carol@asdk12.org
Carol Comeau has lived in Anchorage for more than 40 years.
She began her service in the Anchorage School District in 1974 as a noon-duty
attendant and teacher aide at Ocean View Elementary School.
Moving into teaching the following year, Ms. Comeau spent the next 11 years
teaching at Ocean View and Spring Hill Elementary, and
also serving as president of the teachers’ union for one
year.
Following a one-year internship, Ms. Comeau was a district principal until 1990,
when she became the district's executive director of elementary school education.
From 1993 to 2000 Ms. Comeau was the district's assistant superintendent for
instruction. The School Board appointed her as ASD's superintendent in December
2000.
Ms. Comeau believes it is essential to be an active participant in the community and volunteers for a variety of local and national organizations. Married for 46 years to Dennis Comeau, Ms. Comeau's three children and five
grandchildren live in Washington and Georgia. [Read Superintendent Comeau's full biography here] |
 |
|
