Candidates for the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board cite issues including declining student enrollment; budget and finances; and coordination with law enforcement for student safety.
The three seats to be filled in the Nov. 5 election have five candidates vying for them. Three are incumbents, Natalie Luna Rose, Ravi Shah and Sadie Shaw, and two are challengers, Pilar Acosta Ruiz and Esteban Flores.
Backgrounds, education
Rose, the current board president, is a native Tucsonan who has attended TUSD schools from kindergarten to the 12th grade. She is a University of Arizona graduate in media arts and Mexican American studies.
Rose got involved as a parent at her daughter’s school, Sewell Elementary, and that led her to first run for the board in 2020.
“I’m currently the only alumni on the board of the TUSD. I wouldn’t have put my daughter in TUSD if I didn’t believe in (it),” said Rose. “I believe in public education and I wanted to help change the way the district connected with the community. And I think now, we’re seeing a great reach across the district in terms of social media, videos, different ways of messaging to parents, students and the community at large.”
Rose cited the $480 million school bond program approved by voters in November 2023, and said it passed because “people are seeing things change in TUSD.”
Shaw, also a native Tucsonan, received a bachelor of fine arts in art and visual culture education from the University of Arizona. As a parent of a daughter in elementary school, she was concerned that the school did not offer art or music classes, and first ran for the board in 2020 to “truly advocate for arts education.”
In her four years on the board, she made sure art and music classes were available in every TUSD school, she said.
In addition to “navigating the complexities of policy changes, school budgets” in TUSD, Shaw has served on the boards of the League of Women Voters for Greater Tucson, Tucson Juneteenth Festival, City of Tucson’s Public Art Committee and the Sugar Hill Neighborhood Association. Shaw described herself as not one to “rubber-stamp decisions” but to work toward actions that benefit students and the community.
Shah is a community family physician who offers health care services to “underserved and challenged communities at the Pima County Jail and El Rio Health.” He was CEO of the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, worked as an associate UA professor and was medical director of Alvernon Family Medicine and the UA Mobile Health Program.
A University of Arizona alumnus with an MBA degree, Shah has three children who are TUSD students.
“I’ve been a TUSD parent for the last eight years and will be a TUSD parent for the next 11 years, so (I’m) definitely committed to the success of our district,” said Shah.
Shah said a big achievement in his first term was “making sure we use taxpayer resources in the most effective way,” including working with TUSD administrators to make sure the federal COVID relief money was used optimally. He said “transparency and accountability” also improved.
He said the board’s updating of the student code of conduct fulfilled a top priority of teachers and principals. He is also proud of the $480 million school bond package passed and that the money will be used for school facilities, capital improvements, and security and safety upgrades.
Ruiz, also a native Tucsonan who studied in TUSD schools, said her reason to run for the board is that it’s “time for a change in TUSD, time to cultivate a positive growth mindset with transparency where families feel safe sending their children to school.”
“The governing board should be prioritizing education and safety and I am committed to those priorities. Our proficiency rates are well below the state average and we need to do better,” said Ruiz. “I have been attending governing board meetings since 2011 regularly and have historical knowledge the current board members do not have. I’m running so the future generation has access to a good future via a quality education.”
Flores, who has a medical background and was formerly employed at Banner University Medical Center, was educated at TUSD, the UA and Pima Community College. He said his “deep affection for Tucson and (its) students” as well as the “academic decline” were contributing factors to his running for the board.
Flores, also part of a youth ministry, said he works within teams to find solutions. He cited his volunteer work at the Gospel Rescue Mission, working to help people avoid colon cancer as well as serving in other roles there, he said.
Issues and platforms
Rose lists declining enrollment, not just in TUSD but across public school districts in Arizona, as a major issue. She said the empowerment scholarships (ESAs) authorized by the Republican-controlled Legislature and offered by the Arizona Department of Education, to pay for parents to send their children to private and charter schools, are a big reason.
“Arizona is the hotbed for charter schools and it’s a way to dismantle public education, penalize the low-income, poor districts,” said Rose. “This state Legislature, despite a Democratic governor, continues to be hostile to public education, including our universities. It’s going to be hard to educate and give services to students in traditional public schools because the state Legislature still refuses to rectify any sort of catching up on budgets for public schools.”
She said TUSD faces an especially sharp enrollment decline in schools on the city’s east side and she hopes to work to change that.
Her short-term goals include monitoring the use of the bonds “and continuing to make sure the district is being held accountable to the community because they voted in such a large dollar amount.”
“The actual long-term goal is just to continue supporting our superintendent (Gabriel Trujillo), because if we don’t have a strong superintendent, then we don’t have a strong school district,” said Rose. “You’ve got to have somebody who’s not afraid to make the decisions. And our job is to help him be successful, because if he’s successful, the district is successful, and in turn, our kids are successful.”
Shaw said one of the district’s most pressing issues is “the chronic underfunding of public education.” She agrees financial issues are compounded by declining enrollment, in which TUSD loses about 1,000 students per year.
Another major concern for Shaw is “too many (TUSD) students not reading at grade level or (being) proficient in math and English language arts.” “Addressing these gaps in learning, motivating students to stay engaged, and providing targeted interventions are critical to improving outcomes,” she said. “... With the right resources, dedicated teachers and targeted interventions, we can turn it around.”
Shaw said she’d like to make career and technical education mandatory for all freshmen, so students have an introductory understanding of numerous career paths.
She also wants to expand efforts of the Alternative Education Advisory Committee to assist students in need of specialized support; to have every TUSD school offer “comprehensive physical education classes;” to better compensate school librarians and to invest in libraries; and to secure permanent funding for arts and music education.
Shaw also said she wants to change the dress code, which she described as one that “permits clothing more appropriate for the beach than the classroom.” “A thoughtful dress code helps create a focused atmosphere for learning and prepares students for the professional standards they will face after graduation,” she said.
For Shah, as well, a priority is budget and finances, since the district “lost $270 million of federal COVID relief funds” in September 2024. TUSD received a larger amount in federal COVID relief funds than other districts due to its poverty rate, but the flip side was it lost a lot of money when the funding ended, he said.
The budget hit is compounded by the enrollment drops, Shah agrees. He said he wants to “really innovate,” citing the example of “experimenting with a K-6 model” where 10 K-5 elementary schools across the district have been converted to K-6 to see if it results in improved enrollment as well as academic achievement.
“I want to expand our CTE programs, which is our Career Technical Education program, so we have more programs that are meeting both the needs of students as they enter high school, but also the needs of our community in terms of developing the workforce we need,” said Shah.
“I think we have amazing programs that aren’t matched by charters and other districts,” and that TUSD should market them more effectively while “really honing in on recruiting and retaining students and parents into our district,” he said.
Shah lists other priorities as “focus on student achievement and academic outcomes,” “supporting our teachers and staff,” having “fiscal responsibility for our district,” and working to “end inequities.”
For Ruiz, the most glaring issues facing TUSD are simply “safety, proficiency rates and transparency.” She said the district needs more money from the state. TUSD was projected to have a $17 million deficit in 2026, she said, calling that “unacceptable” and evidence of a need for fiscal responsibility.
“Once elected, I will be focusing on ensuring a safe learning environment for students and staff, increasing the money allocated to instruction and reducing class sizes to improve proficiency scores,” said Ruiz.
“I will work to cut top-level administration cost and redirect funds to the classrooms. I’ll hold the administration accountable for efficiency and transparency, implement audit recommendations, review school enrollment capacities, set performance goals and improve adherence to district policies.”
Ruiz said one of her short-term goals is to restore the dress code policy to mandate covering of the “torso, chest and buttocks.” Her long-term goals include having TUSD provide above-average education by state standards for all students, and rebuilding what she calls reputation and trust with the community.
Talking about her platform, she listed accountability, common sense leadership, safety and financial stewardship.
Flores, listing the biggest challenges facing TUSD and the issues he would focus on if elected, stated disciplinary issues, decline in academic proficiency, safety, lack of accountability and need for more transparency on how resources are distributed. He said his focus is on budget and finances and improving academics.
On Flores’ campaign website, he listed priorities of parental authority in which parents are put “back in charge” and their voices are heard; stopping the sexualization of children, which he said is taking place through the curriculum, books, and drag queen story times or drag shows without parental awareness or consent; transparency of the curriculum and teaching materials so children don’t learn anything without the consent of parents; academic achievement and a return to American civics.
“Parents have the absolute authority over their children,” said Flores. “No two people know what’s best for their child than their two loving parents, and I think we should give them the education they want for their kids.”
Shooting threats in schools
Referring to a string of school shooting threats that took place in TUSD in September, Rose said: “The district can’t tell the public or parents exactly what’s going on because they’re waiting on the Tucson Police Department to do their investigation, and it gets parents frustrated, myself included,” said Rose. “And so, working to strengthen that relationship and make sure those lines of communication are open between the district and Tucson police (is important).”
Shaw said: “First, students must understand that making a school threat results in automatic expulsion — this needs to be crystal clear. We also need to improve the safety of our schools by increasing the presence of staff, such as campus monitors and school safety officers, to maintain a safe learning environment and respond quickly in case of an issue. Additionally, we must upgrade and integrate our safety systems — locking doors, intercoms, cameras, and other technology — so that they work cohesively and effectively in the event of an active shooter.”
And Shah commented: “I applaud our community for voting in favor by a 60-40 vote of the bond (package). Because of that vote, we have over $60 million that’s going to be coming in over the next couple of years to improve safety and security in our campuses, which is going to mean improved fencing, so we can keep folks from entering onto our campuses from the low-hanging fences.
“We’re going to be able to put in camera systems so we can respond as quickly and know where the threats are if they were to occur, (and) a new door-locking system so we can make sure the entryways are more secure.”
