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There’s a looming deadline for the upcoming school board election in the Dysart Unified School District.
Monday, July 6 is the deadline for signature sheets to be submitted to the Maricopa County School Superintendent’s office, 4041 N. Central Ave., in order to have the candidates name on the ballot.
New to this year’s election process is all candidates have to file a state of interest form with the county prior to gathering signatures.
For the three DUSD governing board seats, nine people filed the forms. Chrystal Chaffin, Charles Wilson, Sophia Isaac, Jo Grant, Stephen Goodman, Rhiannon Miet, Marc Demers and current board members Christine Pritchard and Jay Leonard have all filed statement of interest forms.
Current governing board member Jennifer Tanner’s term expires in December, and she is not seeking reelection. Additionally, Ms. Pritchard and Mr. Leonard are seeking reelection upon the expiration of the term in December as well. Board members Traci Sawyer-Sinkbeil and Dawn Densmore were reelected last year and will serve until 2022.
Arizona School Board Association Leadership Development Specialist Julie Bacon said this year’s path to getting on the ballot or as a potential write in is very different due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Candidates can also declare themselves as write-in candidates and no signatures are required, but their names will not be on the ballot, and it makes it more difficult to win because some people don’t even know what name to write in,” Ms. Bacon said. “A minimum of 400 signatures is required for large districts, and that is hard to obtain considering people are reluctant to be out.”
Another requirement is candidates must live in the district in which they are running for a board position for at least one year prior to the election. Ms. Bacon said taking on a school board seat is an important task and candidtes must understand the process before getting in the race.
“It’s a definite commitment given it’s a volunteer position, and you really have to be committed to the time it is going to take, and the one thing I was concerned about is if my family was ready for me to take this on given how much time it would take,” Ms. Bacon said. “She encourages candidates to learn as much as they can about the district and the things the board is working on and decisions the board is facing in the coming years.”
Mr. Leonard is the current DUSD Governing Board president and said looking back to his fist year running, he remembers collecting signatures to be the most difficult part.
“It’s also a lot of learning about different organizations the schools are involved with and meet-and-greets to get people to get to know who you are,” he said.
Mr. Leonard said the most important role of a board member is the hiring and holding the superintendent accountable.
“You are also involved in the decision making on a very high level, including improving school scores and school activities,” he said. “It’s an eye-opener to what the public education system has to offer, and you see it from a different perspective since you are on the inside. You see the differences in leadership and how they approach things. For the financial piece, you work to understand the way schools are funded and figure out what the district can do with the funding or lack of funding, which is important as well.”
One big thing Mr. Leonard said is often misconstrued with school spending is it is against the law for districts now to live within their budget.
“So the district is not spending out of its budget,” he said.
Mr. Leonard has made it publicly known the highlight of his year is graduation ceremonies and handing out diplomas, which this year the district was forced to cancel the in-person ceremony. Details of the drive-up ceremony have not yet been released.
Looking ahead, if people are interested in running for a future seat on the governing board, Ms. Bacon encourages the use of resources available through the Arizona School Board Association including free webinars at azsba.org.
Editor’s Note: Jennifer Jimenez can be reached at jjimenez@newszap.com or follow her on Twitter @SCW_Independent.
I am passionate about sports and community writing and shining the light on positivity, while delivering the facts. I have been with the Independent team for five months, but in the game for 15 years. I am a proud Grand Canyon University alumni. Born and raised in Peoria, I also am blessed to have a street named after me called Jennifer Rose Court.
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