Monday, June 13 marks the first official day for Pima County residents to file paperwork to run as candidates for school district governing boards.
There will be a total of 38 seats on school governing boards throughout Pima County to be filled in the Nov. 8 election, according to the Pima County School Superintendent’s Office.
Community members began sending in their statements of interest to run for school boards as early as last summer, said Matthew Stamp, the office’s communications director.
And while some have already begun the process, incumbents and challengers have until July 11 to register as board candidates.
Tucson Unified School District will have two seats on the ballot, as Leila Counts’ and Adelita Grijalva’s seats are up for election. So far, six people have filed statements of interest to run.
In the Sunnyside district, Consuelo Hernandez’s and Eva Carrillo Dong’s seats are up. Hernandez has already filed a statement of interest to seek reelection.
The Amphitheater School District will also have two seats up, those of Matt Kopec and Susan Zibrat. Both incumbents have filed statements of interest to run for reelection.
The Catalina Foothills School District will have three seats up, currently filled by Carole Siegler, Amy Krauss and Amy Bhola. Krauss and Bhola have filed statements of interest in seeking reelection.
At Flowing Wells, Kevin Daily’s and Kristine Hammar’s seats will be up, and both incumbents have filed statements of interest to run.
The Marana district will have two open seats, those of incumbents Tom Carlson and John Lewandowski. Both had filed statements of interest to seek re-election, though Lewankowski withdrew his.
In the Sahuarita district, Kevin Opalka’s and John Sparks’ seats will be up. Both have filed statements of interest to run.
In the Tanque Verde district, Susan Fry’s and Vieri Tenuta’s seats will be up. Three community members have filed statements of interest to run.
The Vail School District — the most contested race thus far — will have two seats on the ballot, those of incumbents Claudia Anderson and Jon Aitken. As of Friday, 13 people had filed their statements of interest to run.
To learn more about school district governing board elections or to view a full list of the open seats in Pima County, visit schools.pima.gov/elections.
Little Lions Preschool
Pima JTED’s Little Lions Preschool earned the five-star Quality First rating from First Things First. The voluntary ranking system awards one to five stars, with the highest rank indicating that a preschool exceeds quality standards.
The quality of each program is assessed based on key components of child care including health and safety practices, staff qualifications, teacher-child interactions, learning environments, lessons, group sizes and child assessment.
Little Lions Preschool, located on the campus of Mountain View High School at 3901 W. Linda Vista Blvd., is directed by Principal Lauren Moraga.
