School Board Member School board members are elected for a four-year term by voters within the school district during the general election in even-numbered years. Qualifications include living in the district for at least one year, being a registered voter, and a candidate may not be an employee of the district when assuming office or have a spouse or dependent employed by the district. School board members are nonpartisan and are responsible for broad, forward-thinking, and decisive action in all areas that affect students and staff in their schools. School board members have no individual authority, but their authority rests in casting a vote at required governing board meetings. Responsibilities of the board include hiring and evaluating the superintendent, providing input in budget development to ensure funding is provided to meet goals and monitoring and approving the budget, setting salaries for employees, approving purchases, establishing and approving policies, approving curriculum materials, adopting the school calendar, reviewing regulations for compliance with policy, approving personnel actions based on superintendent recommendations, closing or constructing schools; assessing board effectiveness, monitoring progress toward goals. Why you should care:The school board’s role is to advocate for public education in the community and ensure the school district is well run. The board, as a whole, monitors performance to ensure it meets academic, financial, and operational goals. The collaborative decisions made by school board members will affect children and their parents, the livelihood of school district employees, and the economic well-being of an entire community. This position is unpaid and requires time, a willingness to learn about issues affecting the school district, and a passion for a positive culture and public education system committed to providing the best and most appropriate education for all children. For additional information: https://www.azk12.org/media/yjvlpkfo/district-school-board-duties.pdf
Campaign Phone
7243229963
Public Policy Priorities
Academic Excellence; Parental Rights & Involvement; Transparency; Fiscal Accountability
Qualifications and Experience
Phoenix Elementary School District (PESD) # 1, Governing Board Member, 2025-2026
Endorsements
AZ Women of Action; Students First Coalition
Education
Regent University School of Law, Virginia Beach, VA, J.D., 2007-2009; The George Washington University, Washington, DC, B.A., 2002-2006
The public education system is fundamentally built on the premise of providing equal opportunities to all students, and therefore this must always remain a primary objective of the district. To succeed, we must ensure that all district schools are achieving stellar academic outcomes. This requires continually reviewing successes and failures to make the changes necessary to ensure that every district school is performing at the highest level possible. Beyond providing schools that are academically successful, it is important to identify early which supports individual students need to learn and ensure to the greatest extent possible that they are in the best environment with the necessary tools to excel.
In a large urban district, it is very important that candidates for superintendent have demonstrable success running a large entity or organization, at least roughly the same size as the district. Whether such success is in education or not, it is desirable that a candidate for superintendent also has substantial experience in education. Such candidate should be committed to ensuring an academic system in which every student can succeed. He or she should be willing to make bold changes when academic outcomes require it, and should always have the best interests of students, parents, taxpayers and communities front and center.
Regarding the costs of special education evaluations and proportionate share services for ESA students, my understanding is that changes to federal law would need to be made. That is perhaps a conversation that is happening since the federal-state interaction on ESA-type matters is increasing. Regarding ESA students participating in sports at district schools, it makes sense to allow them to. The price should be reasonable, not excessive. The fee structure should be the same or similar to enrolled students.
In my opinion, the three most pressing issues are academic outcomes generally, disparities in outcomes among district schools, and student retention. These issues are related to one another, and they are also related to the budget. A budget reflects priorities. The greater percentage of dollars that are prioritized for teacher pay and classroom learning, the more we support academic outcomes for each student at every district school. That success in turn promotes increased student retention.
First, a school board needs to set a clear vision with understandable standards, including short- and longer-term academic goals. A board must ensure the right superintendent is selected to carry out the vision and provide ongoing oversight and accountability for academic results. It must also ensure that resources are allocated accordingly and approve curriculum materials. These actions keep the board from feeling the need to micromanage, which it should not do.
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