• Age

    34

  • Family

    Wife, Ann Stepetin and kids Bryson, Edith, Martin Jr. and Kaiya

  • Occupation

    Cartering & Courier Driver for Tlingit & Haida

  • Previous government experience or community involvement

    Public advocate for funding at the state and local level. Parent of four kids who all attend Juneau School District.

  • Highest level of education

    High school diploma; Trade School for carpentry at Alaska Job Corps.

  • What new quarantine skill or hobby have you acquired over the last few months?

    Spending more time doing family, outdoor activities

  • Why are you running?

    Why are you running?

    I’m running because I want to help tackle some of the longstanding issues our school board has faced over time. And, I have a deep care for education. I started advocating for education starting in 2014 at the state level. And I learned kind of where the money comes from as far as the state goes. And I started learning how our local government supports our education, and I have kids now so I guess I have a real strong reason to want our school district to be successful. I have four kids in the Juneau school district and, so yeah, I just I want to see our school district succeed.

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  • Racial equity

    What role should the school district play in addressing racial equity in education in Juneau?

    I think that it definitely needs to be looked at very deeply. This issue is a nationwide issue that has come to the forefront of school districts and municipalities and I think the public is ready to tackle this right now. I think the people of Juneau value racial equity and they’re willing for changes. They’re willing to make sure our institutions are being held accountable in this area. We value racial equity and they think the school district is one place where it needs to shine a light, especially in history.

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  • Access to resources

    How can the district improve access for students of different economic backgrounds to academic resources during the pandemic?

    Well, I think the school district is already doing a great job in this. They’ve kind of partnered with GCI, a lot of community partners, to make sure that everybody has equal access to internet, equal access to devices. A lot of this work didn’t even exist just a just a couple of months ago. And so it’s been a humongous effort on the school district’s part to make sure everybody has devices, has internet. And so I think they’re doing a great job so far. I don’t know if everybody has equal access. I know it’s an ongoing issue. So, community partners like Tlingit & Haida, they’ve handed out over 2,000 laptops in this community and throughout the region. So, I think for the most part, everybody has what they need as far as internet.

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  • Budget

    School districts across Alaska are facing budget impacts as more students choose to homeschool due to the pandemic. How should the Juneau School District prepare for this potential drop in revenue amid other state budget shortfalls?

    I know what the school district is doing right now to try to mitigate this, right now. And that is, they’re sending resolutions into their lobbying arm to the state. They’re trying to ask them, ask the state to hold them harmless, but not by the current formula which is a like a step down way of lowering the amount over three years. What the school district, the Juneau School District is asking is to not cut our budget at all. Do not cut us down — just hold us completely harmless. And so, that’s what the school district is asking for right now. I think that’s right, I think that’s right. I think other school districts should be trying to do that also. Nobody could have prepared for this pandemic and nobody was could have been ready so I think, I hope the state takes it serious in our, in our lobbying efforts to hold us harmless.

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  • Virtual learning

    Are your kids attending public school in Juneau right now? How are they (and you as a parent) handling virtual learning?

    My kids are attending public school. I have one in 10th grade, I have two in second grade and I have one in their second year of headstart. And so they are doing okay. It’s not perfect. And it can be frustrating at times. And honestly, I’m an essential worker. And so I’m out of the house in the morning by six or seven in the morning. So, I’m gone and my wife and my mother-in-law are left to make sure my kids get on the Zoom. My 10th grader, he kind of does, he does everything on his own, and we just make sure he doesn’t miss any classes. And he has. That’s one of the things is my boy — one of my kids — has missed one of his classes because he’s falling asleep in between classes, you know? Well, that’s a real issue that wouldn’t happen otherwise. So, it’s going okay. But we’re, we’re still adjusting. I guess we’re getting there.

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