The Chandler Chamber of Commerce is hosting a candidate "forum" for those on the ballot for Chandler Unified School District Office Governing Board in November.

The forum is set for  Wednesday, Aug 28, 5:30 p.m. to  7 p.m., in the board room at CUSD's central office, 1525 W. Frye Road,  Chandler.

There is no cost to attend but there is limited seating in the board room. The Chamber wants everyone to register here. 

Arizona school districts are run by unpaid elected volunteer boards. This election year, CUSD has three open seats on its school board. To help voters make an informed choice, the Chandler Chamber's Good Government Committee is hosting the forum as part of an endorsement determination process.

Before attending the forum, candidates seeking endorsement received a preliminary questionnaire to gather essential information about their campaigns, platforms and backgrounds.

Qualified candidates who completed the questionnaire were invited to participate in endorsement interviews. Candidates who completed both processes were invited to attend the candidate forum.

After the forum, the Good Government Committee will discuss candidate evaluations and make an official endorsement recommendation to the Chandler Chamber Executive Committee for review.

The executive committee will present the final recommendations to the Chandler Chamber Board of Directors for final approval and an official Chamber endorsement.

Chamber CEO Terri Kimble and staff are not involved in the endorsement decision process.

The forum will be moderated by a third party.

The six candidates who qualified for the November ballot include incumbent Barb Mozdzen and challengers Leanna DeKing, Eloyce Gillespie, Ryan J. Heap, Claudia Mendoza and Zeyna Pruzhanovsky.

CUSD has an enrollment of more than 42,000 students across more than 40 campuses in Chandler, Gilbert and Queen Creek, making it among the top three largest districts in Arizona. There are six high schools and six middle or junior high schools.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic.  Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.