1 incumbent, 3 challengers in Chandler Unified school board race
Associated Press file/Matt York
With Chandler Unified School District Governing Board President Patti Serrano deciding to not run for reelection, not only will there be at least one new board member this year, but also, there’s only one incumbent in the race.
With Chandler Unified School District Governing Board President Patti Serrano deciding to not run for reelection, not only will there be at least one new board member this year, but also, there’s only one incumbent in the race.
Arizona school district governing boards have five seats, with most districts alternating between having three seats up for new four-year terms in an even-numbered year and two in the next even year.
This is the second consecutive CUSD election in which the board president decided to not go for a second term. Jason Olive opted to let his lone term end in 2024, as did fellow board member Joel Wirth.
That helped pave the way for eventual winners of the 2024 election, Barb Mozdzen, Claudia Mendoza and Ryan Heap. Mozdzen, one of the longer-serving board members in CUSD history, won her fifth consecutive term, while Mendoza and Heap ran and won on their first attempts.
Two of this year’s challengers — Leanna DeKing and Zeyna Pruzhanovsky — ran in 2024, with DeKing nearly winning a seat. Mozdzen narrowly eclipsed DeKing for the third and final seat on the ballot.
Kurt Rohrs is the incumbent running this cycle. In 2022, Rohrs earned the most votes among the five candidates seeking two seats, with Serrano fewer than 300 votes behind him.
Stacey Etherington rounds out the field of four competing for two seats on Nov. 3.
Here is a short background on each candidate. The asterisk next to Rohrs’ name indicates he’s an incumbent.
Leanna DeKing
Leanna DeKing is one of the challengers running for one of the two at-large Chandler Unified School District Governing Board seats in the Nov. 3 election.
Courtesy of Leanna DeKing
DeKing has a bachelor’s degree in government/public law from Claremont McKenna College and a master’s in educational leadership and counseling psychology from Northern Arizona University.
DeKing was the Arizona Department of Veterans Services’ director of the State Approving Agency for the State of Arizona for eight years.
DeKing's online profile states she’s been a policy and compliance administrator with the Arizona Department of Economic Security’s Child and Community Services Division since 2022.
DeKing also worked as the director of special education for The Leona Group, Dr. William Coats’ charter school organization. She has a background in broadcast radio.
Stacey Etherington
Stacey Etherington is one of the challengers running for one of the two at-large Chandler Unified School District Governing Board seats in the Nov. 3 election.
Courtesy of Stacey Etherington
Etherington is a former Chandler Unified educator, a longtime Chandler resident and is currently the dean of health and public services at the East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa. She taught English and career and technical education at CUSD schools from 2018 to 2025, where she also served as an academic and athletic coach, advisor, curriculum committee member, team leader and district DECA Advisory Board member.
Etherington is the recipient of the 2025 Carl D. Perkins Community Service Award through Arizona Career and Technical Education. She actively participates in statewide leadership and administrative collaboration.
Etherington has a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University, a master’s degree in organizational leadership and is a doctoral candidate in business administration and management.
She’s also the parent of six current and future Chandler Unified students.
Zeyna Pruzhanovsky
Zeyna Pruzhanovsky is one of the challengers running for one of the two at-large Chandler Unified School District Governing Board seats in the Nov. 3 election.
Courtesy of Zeyna Pruzhanovsky
The mother of two Chandler Unified graduates and a current classroom teacher, Pruzhanovsky earned more than 46,000 votes in the 2024 CUSD board election.
Since then, Pruzhanovsky has served on the superintendent selection committee and the budget committee.
Her graduate degree in education is from Arizona State University. Her business administration degree is from the University of Kansas.
Pruzhanovsky participates in Chandler Chamber of Commerce education roundtables, the For Our City Chandler-Operation Back to School drive and volunteers with Junior Achievement, Art Masterpiece, a software advisory committee and the Teen Violence Advisory Committee.
*Kurt Rohrs
Kurt Rohrs is the lone incumbent running for one of the two at-large Chandler Unified School District Governing Board seats in the Nov. 3 election.
Courtesy of Chandler USD
Rohrs is finishing his first four-year term on the Chandler Unified School Board. A financial advisor by trade, he served on the district’s Citizen’s Budget Committee, worked as a certified substitute teacher in CUSD schools and coached after-school youth sports.
Rohrs interacts regularly with civic leaders in Chandler and throughout Arizona.
Rohrs has lived in Chandler since 1995. His three children were all educated in CUSD and then earned university degrees. He has an MBA in finance from San Jose State University and a graduate degree in chemistry.
During his career on the corporate side of the tech industry, he traveled extensively around the world.
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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