In an email obtained by the Alaska Landmine, sent to the Anchorage School Board and ASD superintendent, Tam Agosti-Gisler announced she is dropping out of the race and will not seek re-election. She is the current school board president and about to finish her second term. If she would have won re-election, it would have been her last term before being termed out.

The timing is interesting as she waited until the last day to decide. In the email, she says, “I spoke with Deena Mitchell today and told her of my decision.This afternoon, she signed up to run for the seat I am vacating and I am supporting her candidacy.”

The email can be seen below. Looks like she is off to Switzerland with her husband. Sounds awesome. Maybe they have a huge Swiss bank account waiting for them! In all seriousness, I wish her and her husband all the best on their new adventure.

From: Agosti-Gisler_Tam
Sent: Friday, February 2, 2018 5:23 PM
To: School Board
Cc: grant_katy; Hayes_Janet; moffitt_kathy; stock_mark; Graham_Michael
Subject: Big decision I made

February 2, 2017

Dear Superintendent Bishop and Board Colleagues,

After careful deliberation and with much vacillation even up to today, I have made the decision not to pursue a third term on the Anchorage School Board. I have just returned from the MOA where I withdrew my name from the candidate pool.

You may be aware that my husband, Hans, is retiring from the MOA in March. You may have also heard me quip that he has supported my “School Board habit” for the past six years, allowing me to dedicate my full attention to board service. I must now seek employment to supplement our income. We have decided to move to his home country of Switzerland this fall for various reasons: 1) There are positions available for employment teaching English as a foreign language. 2) We will live in a bilingual town fulfilling my dream of becoming fluent in his native Swiss-German and he in French. 3) We have talked about living in Switzerland for the past several decades but careers and family always supplanted the idea, yet we aren’t getting any younger! 4) Hans is the youngest of 9 siblings, the eldest who just turned 80. He has lived here in Anchorage for 39 years and this time in Switzerland will allow him to reengage with his family.

We plan on staying in Switzerland for two years and then will return to Anchorage. Alaska will always be home. I may choose to seek reelection to the Board in a later year.

I chose to run for the Board 6 + years ago because I intuited that the ASD was in for tumultuous times as we transitioned to 21st century learning and faced diminished funding. I felt my skills and passion for education could be of service. I am confident that we now have the right Superintendent, the right team, and the right direction for this district to continue on the appropriate path to best serve our students.

I spoke with Deena Mitchell today and told her of my decision.This afternoon, she signed up to run for the seat I am vacating and I am supporting her candidacy.

With respect,

Tam

Ms. Tam Agosti-Gisler
President
Anchorage School Board