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Senate Education Committee forwards four education nominees to joint session for consideration
Summary
The committee reviewed and recommended that four governor’s appointees to education boards and commissions be forwarded to a joint session for consideration: Heidi Barnes, Kimberly Bergey (Board of Education and Early Development), Catherine McCollum, and Kimberly Bergey (Professional Teaching Practices Commission).
Juneau — The Senate Education Committee on Wednesday reviewed qualifications and recommended that four governor’s appointees in the education arena be forwarded to a joint session for consideration.
The committee reviewed Heidi Barnes, nominated to the Professional Teaching Practices Commission, and heard from her about her ten years of classroom teaching in the Matanuska‑Susitna Borough, including recent kindergarten experience. Barnes told members she supports the code of ethics and said disciplinary decisions would follow established commission procedures rather than resting on a single member.
The committee also reviewed Kimberly Bergey, nominated to the Board of Education and Early Development. Bergey described herself as “a product of our Alaska school system” and reviewed decades of classroom experience across rural and urban districts. Members discussed the board’s role relative to local control and the importance of outreach to districts statewide.
Catherine McCollum, a long‑time teacher and member of the Matanuska‑Susitna Borough school board, said she would continue outreach to the state’s geographically diverse districts and stressed the importance of communicating Board actions to local communities.
Finally, the committee considered a second nomination for Kimberly Bergey to the Professional Teaching Practices Commission (as recorded in the hearing), with Bergey again offering brief remarks about her desire to serve and to “give back to the profession.”
For each nominee the committee issued a recommendation that the name be forwarded to a joint session for consideration; committee members did not take a roll‑call confirmation vote in committee. Several senators asked nominees about the balance between state‑level guidance and local control, the Open Meetings Act and public participation, and the scope of the state board’s regulatory role. Nominees said they would follow required processes and seek broad stakeholder input.
The committee asked members to remain after the hearing to sign committee reports recommending the nominees’ names be forwarded to joint session.
