First meeting looms for new Chandler school board members

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

Next week, the makeup of the Chandler Unified School District Governing Board will complete its transition.

Incumbent Barb Mozdzen and newly elected members Ryan J. Heap and Claudia Mendoza took their official oaths of office in mid-December. They’ll be the focus of a ceremonial swearing-in Tuesday,

Jan. 15 — one day before their first board meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16 at the CUSD offices on Frye Road.

Mozdzen, who was first elected to the board in 2008, will be an even more senior board member than she was in 2020, when she was reelected and served with four first-term members. That will be the case again, as Mozdzen and fellow 2024 electees Heap and Mendoza will join Kurt Rohrs and Patti Serrano, who were both elected in 2022.

Heap said he thinks the district’s bus driver shortage will be one of the many tough challenges the new board will need to confront immediately.

“I think improving the pay scale would help, but maybe we need staff to look at routes and see what creative solutions we can find,” Heap said.

Heap said one of the biggest surprises he experienced on the campaign trail this past year was being called “a racist, a bigot and an extremist.” He made comments about trans youth and bathrooms during public input at one board meeting this year, apologizing at the following meeting.
Heap said there weren’t really many surprise issues raised by voters to him during the campaign. He said student safety came up often.

Heap described running for office as a nearly constantly eye-opening experience. He said another surprise was that former CUSD Superintendent Camille Casteel and a sitting board member who didn’t seek re-election, Joel Wirth, both endorsed his opponents in the race.

Heap said he also noticed that elections lead to labeling. For example, he said, his identity as a parents-rights advocate led to an unfair assumption he’s against the concept of taxpayer-funded public schools.

“I love public schools, my kids have grown up in them; I’m a proponent,” Heap said. “We think we understand how people feel about certain issues, but once we get to know someone, you understand how people don’t match their label.”

Heap said he also wants to improve the perceived trust level the public appears to have in CUSD. Some change in that area could happen, he says, if there were a more friendly public-input process.

“I realize there are laws, rules, bylaws to follow, but I think the board could do more to be gracious to people making public comments,” Heap said.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org.

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.

Community: He supports animal shelters.