Chandler school board announces superintendent finalists
Courtesy of Chandler USD
Chandler Unified superintendent finalists Anna Battle, Lana Berry and Ibi Haghighat are set to appear at campus and community forums on Wednesday, Jan. 28.
Chandler Unified’s Governing Board has named its three superintendent finalists — and it appears none of the three will need to travel to Arizona for final interviews.
They are current CUSD Chief Financial Officer Lana Berry, former Casa Grande Union High School District Superintendent and current Roosevelt School District Deputy Superintendent Anna Battle and former Phoenix Elementary School District Superintendent Ibi Haghighat.
The CUSD Governing Board interviewed the three when they chose finalists as part of a five-semifinalist day Saturday, Jan. 24, followed by an executive-session deliberation and announcement of the finalists.
The five semifinalists were chosen by the board from a list of candidates vetted and screened by search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates.
The three finalists are all set to be present in Chandler on Wednesday, Jan. 28. That’s when a full day and evening of in-person candidate evaluation takes place, starting with a presentation of the district’s annual report, along with community forums and panels, a board interview, school tours and a cabinet (administrators) interview.
The open community forums — one for each finalist — will be held from 6 p.m. to about 8:25 p.m. that Wednesday night in CUSD’s board room at the district office, 1525 W. Frye Road. Spanish translation will be provided.
The governing board met in executive session Jan. 13 to go over screened recommended candidates from its advertised opening, which closed Jan. 2.
Two hours are set aside at the end of that day for deliberations, after which the board will publicly announce the names of as many as three finalists.
“There will be a short break in between each candidates, for some transitions,” John Bash, lead associate with HYA, told the CUSD board during its Jan. 14 meeting.
Bash said he recommends the board then wait one day to make a decision, hence a planned early-morning Thursday, Jan. 29 CUSD board meeting, with an option of closed-session deliberations. A superintendent is to be chosen at that meeting.
Bash said if the board has a strong consensus on a choice after the Jan. 28 activities and interviews, it is possible the board could decide that evening, canceling the Jan. 29 executive session and meeting.
HYA only recommended as potential semifinalists candidates who passed their multiphase screening, background check and vetting done after candidates applied.
Berry, after getting an accounting degree from Colorado State University, has spent most of her career in public school finance.
After two years as a classroom teacher, she was the Page Unified School District’s business manager for 11 years before coming to Chandler in the summer of 2013.
She’s been the chief financial officer for CUSD during the construction of a pair of high schools, the tail end of decades of district expansion amid the Chandler area’s fast growth, the COVID-19 pandemic and recent enrollment decline.
Berry serves on the board of directors for Arizona School Risk Retention Trust, Inc. Her husband, Perry, is the superintendent of neighboring Queen Creek Unified School District.
Battle is a 40-year educator who earned her master’s degree in 1987 and her Ph.D. in 2007, both from Arizona State University.
She was briefly the superintendent of Casa Grande Union High School District, K–12 managing director/head of schools for ASU Prep and assistant superintendent of operations for the Tempe Union High School District. She’s been a principal in both Phoenix and Tempe.
Haghighat took over as the new head of the Phoenix Elementary School District, Arizona’s oldest district, in July 2022, after having served as Scottsdale Unified’s assistant superintendent for elementary education.
Haghighat has been in education for about 30 years as a teacher, principal and administrator. She’s been in Arizona for more than 20 years.
Media reports show both Battle’s and Haghighat’s most recent superintendencies ended with a bitter parting of ways with their districts, in terms of close, contentious board votes surrounding their dismissals.
Read the leadership profile CUSD and HYA posted for candidates before they applied, along with timelines and more information about the search for a replacement for retiring Superintendent Frank Narducci, by clicking here.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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