It’s the end of the road for this TUSD board member

TUSD governing board president Kristel Foster will not run for reelection when her term ends this year.

Foster made the announcement Wednesday, March 4, in an op-ed for the Tucson Sentinel.

Bringing culturally relevant curriculum back into TUSD classrooms after the district’s controversial ethnic studies program was eliminated was one of the primary goals Foster hoped to address when she decided to run for the board in 2011, she told the Star.

Having attained that goal and others, Foster decided to conclude her time on the board. There are also a couple board candidates she could get behind, Foster said, without saying who. She hopes the community elects an educator and a TUSD parent to the board.

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In addition to Foster, the terms of board members Rachael Sedgwick and Bruce Burke are also up this year, making for a total of three seats up for grabs in November. As of March 5, eight at-large candidates had submitted a statement of interest to run.

Foster is proud of the strides the district has made with its dual-language programs, student discipline, and in the decades-old desegregation case, she says. She also thinks re-opening Wakefield Middle School and the creation of a new JTED high school are important steps the district is taking.

“I’m very proud of the work,” she said. “I’m proud to stand up for the values that so many people in Tucson care about.”