Higley board candidates split over DEI conference travel and how to absorb a $15 million override loss

Voters in the Higley Unified School District, which runs schools in parts of Gilbert, Mesa and Queen Creek, are filling three governing board seats this fall, and the candidates' written answers show sharp differences over teacher training, classroom books and how to absorb the end of a budget override.

Two four-year seats are on the ballot. Board President Amanda Wade and member Anna Van Hoek are seeking new terms, and Michelle Morris is challenging them. A third seat, the last two years of former member Scott Glover's term after his July resignation, is a write-in race because of when he stepped down.

The qualified write-ins are Kurt Brooks, Kathleen Richards and Travis White, and the Queen Creek Independent noted that under Arizona law a vote for anyone else in that race will not count.

The Independent published the candidates' answers to its questionnaire on Thursday and Friday. Brooks did not respond.

Money

Wade wrote that the expiring override has forced the district to take $15 million out of its yearly operating budget, which led it to update its English curriculum in stages; without a bond, she added, campuses have been repairing HVAC units instead of replacing them.

She pointed to leasing part of a building and selling unused land as stopgaps and warned that further cuts would mean larger classes and fewer programs.

Van Hoek said the board should budget on the revenue it has rather than count on voters approving more taxes, and listed district-level staffing, consultants, travel and unused building space as places to look before classrooms. Morris, a retired CPA, said she would shield teachers, special education and the arts and look first at administrative costs and contracts.

Among the write-ins, Richards, a substitute teacher, predicted higher fees for families and fewer lightly enrolled secondary programs. White, an information security executive, said he would protect elementary art, music, PE, STEM and dual-language classes and comb through large vendor contracts.

DEI conferences and book choices

Asked whether teachers should travel to conferences that include diversity, equity and inclusion sessions if they skip those sessions, Wade, Morris, Richards and White said yes. Van Hoek said generally no, citing state limits on spending public money for certain training, and said staff could attend such events on their own time and money.

All five who answered support keeping alternative assignments for parents who object to a book. Van Hoek added that the district should pick age-appropriate material from the start and said she has opposed sexually explicit content; Wade said she would not limit choices for every family because of objections from a few.

Arizona's general election is Nov. 3, and early ballots began going out Oct. 7.

Sources

yourvalley.net

yourvalley.net