Gilbert Public Schools’ governing board will have a new look when two new board members take office alongside one incumbent who won reelection in the November ballot.
Newcomer Chad Thompson and incumbent Jill Humpherys won the four-year seats on the governing board in the November election with Thompson garnering 30% of the vote and Humpherys 29%, finishing well ahead of Collette Evans (22%) and Trina Jonas (20%).
Additionally, an election to fill the last two years of Reed Carr’s term, won by him in 2020, was canceled and Ronda Page appointed to the position as the only candidate qualifying for the ballot. Carr resigned in 2021 with Maricopa County Schools Superintendent Steve Watson appointing Bill Parker to replace him until the 2022 election. Parker opted not to run to fill the final two years.
Election results do not become official until the canvass is accepted later this month.
Thompson will fill the seat of Charles Santa Cruz, who also decided not to run again. Thompson said moving from campaigning to preparing to serve was surreal, but he was ecstatic about the results.
“A lot of groups and individuals are throwing out something like, ‘we sent a message loud and clear’ or ‘the people have spoken,’” Thompson said. “I don’t want that to be my sentiment going in because I truly respect everyone serving on the board. I think that we’ve got an incredible balance on the board that’s going to allow us to do a lot for the students, the teachers, the staff and the district as a whole.”
Thompson said he is spending time learning as much as he can about the budget and how things work so that from the first meeting, he can be a useful member of the board.
He said his priorities will be what he campaigned on: parents’ rights, transparency, fiscal responsibility and making sure academic achievement is placed first.
“I would like to evaluate some of the programs that the school has implemented in the last few years, things like social emotional learning, that I think are a distraction and, in some ways, causing a lot of confusion with our kids, especially our young kids,” he said. I want to look at those programs and make sure they are benefiting our kids academically. I want everything we do as a board to be focused on academics.”
Humpherys called herself a public-education advocate who believes it to be a cornerstone of democracy.
“I really appreciate that the voters saw my dedication to public education and my passion to make sure that students received the best quality education we can offer,” she said.
She said it was a priority for her to make sure the board works well together as new members come aboard.
“I think it’s really important that we build those relationships, and I’ve already been thinking about how we do that — more board retreats possibly and discussion so that we can set a vision and then protocols and things,” she said. “I think when we have new board members that should always happen so that we can work together well because I think that’s what’s best for kids and what’s best for our district.”
The final count was for 86,834 votes cast. Turnout was 67.33%.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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