Candidates at Gilbert Public Schools forum support override

By Tom Blodgett
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Four candidates for the three seats on Gilbert Public Schools’ governing board endorsed the school district’s maintenance and override continuance Oct. 21 at a candidate forum. 

Shana Murray, Blake Robison, Jesse Brainard and Rose Parker said they support the 15% override, which is on the November ballot, at the forum sponsored by the Gilbert Independent and the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce. The fifth candidate, Ann Stevens, did not attend the forum at the DoubleTree Inn by Hilton Phoenix/Gilbert. 

Two other people on the ballot, Sheila Uggetti and Ronda Page, are no longer running as Uggetti died Sept. 15 and Page withdrew from the race. 

Murray said that as a public-school teacher who feels the budget pinch daily in her job, she cannot say she does not support it. 

“I'm also going to make sure that if I get on the board that whatever public funds are being,  tax dollars are being put into education are being spent to the best of their abilities,” she said. “And if I look at the budget and I go, ‘doing a great job,’ then I'm going to tell taxpayers, ‘we're doing a great job. Here's what the money's being spent on, this is why we need it.’ And then that way they understand and know and they can see the results of that.” 

Parker and Brainard said they actually have been canvassing for the override along with their own campaigning. 

“I was a student last time we didn't pass a budget override, and you could see it,” he said. “You could see the impact on teachers. You can see the impact on students. We had a lot of teachers leave during that time as well. My mom's a teacher in the district, and I know as a family member the impact of cutting the budget. My mom didn't get a raise for seven years, and that impacted my family greatly.” 

Brainard characterized it as a “no-brainer,” but Robison would not go that far. 

“I think that there's people that have sincere questions that support education and want our kids to have the best schools that have sincere questions,” he said. “So I think it's important to have those conversations about why the override is necessary. And I think in having those conversations we can unite and bring people together rather than divide people, and I am supporting the override.” 

Gilbert Public Schools does not have a bond on the budget, but the candidates were asked about a March 2023 facilities condition report that showed a $198 million backlog on maintenance that could grow to $1.07 billion by 2052 if left unaddressed. 

Robison, who serves on the district’s master capital planning committee, said he believes the district is being proactive about addressing it and it is a matter of showing voters they are being wise stewards of public funds with actions like a proposed land sale and seeking grants. 

“Then once we've exhausted those funds and we still have the needs, to then go out and communicate to the public what we've done, what the needs are and what's needed,” he said. “And I think when we do that we'll have the buy-in, and the support from the community.” 

Brainard said the school facilities board is an option for some help. 

“But currently the backlog is millions and millions of dollars,” he said. “So sometimes the community, we got to take in our own hands. We care about our schools. We don't think kids should have leaky roofs above them, and we think they should have secure schools.” 

Murray said it is not that Gilbert Public Schools is doing a bad job managing its funds, but “unfortunately, perception is reality.” 

“We have to make sure that we are doing the right things to earn everybody's trust so they will vote for those things,” she said. 

Parker said she believed the last bond question failed to pass because people did not understand it or how the money was going to be spent. 

“I think that there needs to be a way to express those terms to voters and our taxpayers, so that it's simple terms so that they understand that their tax dollars are going to be invested,” she said. 

Robison and Murray also talked about the importance of communication in district affairs and using town halls as a means of having more informal but deeper discussions with the community about their concerns than can be done at board meetings. 

Mental health support also was a recurring theme, with candidates stressing the importance of counselors and social workers in schools to address the rising mental health challenges among students with Brainard noting students who are not doing well mentally will not do well in school. 

Parker said students are more depressed and anxious today than ever and that you could not pay her to be a teen today with social media and cyberbullying. 

“We need to provide the tools and resources for our students so that they know that their wellbeing is being protected,” she said. “Sometimes they just need a space to speak with people, and we need to be able to hire professionals to deal with this issue.” 

We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.       

Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert

tblodgett@iniusa.org

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).