In the November election there are six candidates vying for three seats on the Dysart Unified School District governing board.

Current board members Christine A.K. Pritchard and Jay Leonard are seeking reelection, while member Jennifer Tanner chose not to run.

The candidates running are Ms. Pritchard, Mr. Leonard, Rhiannon Miett, Jo Grant, Chrystal Chaffin and Charles Wilson.

The Surprise Indpenenedent will feature each candidate leading up to the election.

Get to know Ms. Miett here:

Q: Please list your 3-5 major priorities for the district and how you plan to address each of them?
A: My priorities for the district align with the goals and objectives that were adopted by the Dysart Governing Board in December 2019. Entering this campaign with motives other than providing an A+ education will only hurt the district and our community members, regardless of whether or not they have children attending our schools.
Goal A: Academics
Every student in all schools will be prepared with the knowledge and skills to achieve college and career success. Doing so not only supports our children, but our property values and our ability to attract businesses to our city.
Goal B: Culture and Leadership
Dysart Unified School District will recruit, train and retain a highly qualified staff to cultivate a culture of student success. Not only does this positively impact our students but is a cost savings on having to recruit new teachers each year. In addition, it allows our district to provide growth opportunities for teachers wanting to pursue leadership opportunities within the Schools

Goal C: Safety
The Dysart Unified School District culture will consistently be reflective of a safe and secure environment for all stakeholders. This allows teachers to focus on teaching, children on learning and allows us to attract strong families and businesses to our region.
Goal D: Resources
The Dysart Unified School District will identify and leverage all available resources to support student success. This will require us to become laser focused on the most important needs and then wisely utilize the financial support of our community. It might mean shifting from one area to another or identifying local partners who can assist.

Q: What is your occupational background?
A: I graduated from California State University Chico with a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration. I am a first-generation college graduate having put myself through school as a young mother. After graduating, I moved to Surprise and started my career with the city of Surprise Community and Recreation Services Department. After a few years in Surprise, I accepted a position with the city of Buckeye Community Services Department as their community engagement coordinator. In 2013, I began a wonderful journey with the West Valley Arts Council as their director of marketing and PR. After a year, I was promoted to the assistant director of the council. In this role, I worked with 14 school districts, 11 cities, multiple arts organizations and on average 1.6 million residents directly and indirectly per year. Currently, I am the community engagement manager for DMB Community Life in Verrado and Alamar. It is my role to enhance the quality of life for Verrado and Alamar residents by working closely with local community organizations, educational partners, a variety of businesses and our residents to support the creation of mutually beneficial opportunities, similar to what my role would be as a board member I serve of the city of Surprise Arts and Cultural Advisory Commission, Young Life Surprise Leadership Committee, Speak Up Stand Up Save a Life Executive Team and was a graduate of Leadership West Class 22.

Q: How do you plan to address the budgetary issues the district faces?
A: We will operate with a commitment to transparency and fiscal responsibility. Regardless of the state of our economy. Being fiscally responsible should always be a goal of the District. I am confident the Dysart district will continue to provide a strong education with the limited funds available. While dollars do not fix all problems, we must ensure we are advocating for the necessary funding to support a strong education. This investment positively impacts everyone. Our public schools do not have an option to “close their doors” or deny students registration when funding is not sufficient. Likewise, many of our families struggle to make ends meet, making it difficult for families to invest private dollars for their kid’s education. As a governing board member, it will be part of my responsibility to help our schools identify ways to operate on limited dollars. This will take stakeholders working together to ensure our district is one that is attractive to families. At the end of the day, strong schools have stronger property values, lower crime levels and more robust economies. We, as a community, need to support our schools in any way we can. I am running for the Dysart Unified School Board because I believe in the value of public education. I know our public education directly affects each and every one of us...even those of you who do not have children in the district. Public education affects the value of your home and the safety of your community as a whole.

Q: What are your thoughts on the innovation and the district as education takes on an even bigger technological role?
A: Huge thank you to our Dysart Governing Board for being one of the first districts to make the difficult decision to postpone in-person schooling when the pandemic made its way to Arizona back in March. Times such as these require courageous leaders willing to do what is best for all children while ensuring the long-distance learning does not negatively impact our most vulnerable students. Thank you to all the Governing Board members who have done extensive research and voted on various items swiftly and confidently. Thank you to our amazing teachers and staff for being creative, innovative, open-minded, patient and understanding during these unprecedented times. From at-home visits (physically distanced of course) to daily and weekly zoom calls, our teachers continue to lead the way in shifting to ensure kids are given the opportunity to learn. For the 2020-21 school year the district has provided every student with a Chromebook for their home to ensure learning is not interrupted. This has and will continue to require us all to be nimble, able to shift quickly and think creatively as we address the issues [KP1] in front of us.
Speaking from personal experience, it has been extremely helpful for my son. He has a laptop but not all of the programs/software needed for online learning. The Chromebook has everything he needs to succeed.