An art class at Sunrise Drive Elementary School in the Catalina Foothills School District.

Incumbents Amy Krauss and Amy Bhola, along with candidate Gina Mehmert, were leading over three opponents in the race for seats on theย Catalina Foothills School District board, early election resultsย showed.

Krauss had 25% of the votes, Bhola 24% and Mehmert 23% in early results posted by the Pima County Elections Department.

Voters will elect three board members out of the six-candidate pool.

Candidates Grace Jasin, Bill Morgan and Bart Pemberton, who campaigned together with the slogan โ€œGetting Back to Basics,โ€ are trailing in the early results, with each collecting about nine percent of the votes so far.

The three candidates in the lead campaigned as a slate, titled Thrive4CFSD.

Their campaign took pride in the work the district and governing board are currently doing. They said they plan to continue working on the districtโ€™s strategic plan, which consists of plans to reduce the achievement gap, boost studentsโ€™ engagement in the classroom and strengthen the districtโ€™s relationship with the community.

The Getting Back to Basics candidates said the district needs change and improvement. Some of their plans include hiring an armed officer for each campus and training all staff on physical safety, seeking more parent/guardian input for decisions, and focusing on academic learning instead of social-emotional learning.

Watch now: Amy Bhola, Amy Krauss and Gina Mehmert, running for CFSD Governing Board chat with the Arizona Daily Star about a variety of topics.


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Have any questions or news tips about K-12 education in Southern Arizona? Contact reporter Genesis Lara at glara@tucson.com