Q&A: Mesa USD Governing Board candidates on increasing enrollment
Posted
Early voting
Early voting for the General Election began Oct. 12 and ends on Friday, Nov. 4. In-person early voting at Mesa City Plaza is not available this election year; however, the City Clerk’s Office will be providing a secure ballot drop box in the Mesa City Plaza lobby, 20 E. Main St., 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday beginning Oct. 12 and 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 8.
Maricopa County Election Department will offer “vote anywhere” Vote Centers, which allow voters to choose from any open location, instead of one assigned location. Voters can go to https://elections.maricopa.gov/voting/where-to-vote.html to find the nearest location.
Seven candidates for two Mesa Public Schools governing board seats have filed signatures to be on the ballot at the Nov. 8 election.
According to the Maricopa County school superintendent’s website, the candidates are: Ray Deer, Chris Hamlet, Marcie Hutchinson, Jacob Martinez, Ed Steele, Rachel Walden and J. R. Wright.
MPS is the largest public school district in Arizona and has six high schools, nine junior high schools, 50 elementary schools and 17 choice and success schools.
As the election nears, the Independent is conducting Q&As with each candidate to get their opinions on various topics.
In this, the sixth and last installment, we ask candidates, “What can the school board do to attract parents to enroll their children at Mesa Unified School District?”
For the following, candidates Jacob Martinez and Ed Steele didn’t respond to emails.
***
Ray Deer
Ray Deer, 49, is an associate judge for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, presiding primarily over civil court and civil family court.
He has a bachelor of arts degree in political science from California State University at Long Beach; and a master of arts degree in education from National University.
He is on Facebook at Ray Deer for Mesa Unified School District Governing Board 2022.
What can the school board do to attract parents to enroll their children at Mesa Unified School District?: The school board should provide safe learning environments throughout the school district and promote retention of teachers and school personnel. These two components will provide a predictable environment for students, thereby providing a consistent learning environment.
***
Chris Hamlet
Chris Hamlet, 47, is a contract courier. He is an Arizona native, born in Phoenix and raised in Globe. He left Globe at 18 years old and spent five-plus years out-of-state serving in the U.S. Army as an airborne medic and orthopedic specialist. Once back in Arizona after service, he moved around the West Valley for a few years until he permanently moved to Mesa in 2005 and has been in the district for 17 years now.
He has an associate degree of applied science in electronics and computer technology from DeVry University; and a bachelor of science degree in technical management from DeVry University.
What can the school board do to attract parents to enroll their children at Mesa Unified School District?: The board can get the politics out and start putting the stakeholders first by listening to the parents, students and teachers. The Governing Board tends to create an environment of parents vs the district as opposed to parents working in collaboration with the district to properly educate the children that they wield so much authority and power over. Being 100% transparent and always putting the children’s needs as top priority will surely attract more parents.
***
Marcie Hutchinson
Marcie Hutchinson, 68, is a retired teacher from Mesa Public Schools (28 years); and a retired director of K-12 Initiatives, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at ASU (seven years). She has a bachelor of arts degree in secondary education from State University of New York at Oswego; and a master of arts degree in history from Arizona State University.
What can the school board do to attract parents to enroll their children at Mesa Unified School District?:
Mesa Public Schools has a great story to tell:
Our district provides multiple avenues for student success: CTE (Career and Technical Education), IB (International Baccalaureate), AP (Advanced Placement) and DE (Dual Enrollment).
The Graduation Plus program gives all MPS students the opportunity to not only graduate high school with a diploma, but also build a portfolio of work that ensures they are truly college, career and community ready.
Parents and students can choose from many instructional programs: arts integration, STEM, agriscience, traditional and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination).
Mesa Public Schools is the largest school district in the state. Caring adults strive to engage every student in meaningful real-life learning every day.
***
Rachel Walden
Rachel Walden is currently a homemaker and volunteer, but her previous career was at Vanguard where she managed the institutional business for some of the largest and most recognizable employers in the country. She attended Mesa Public Schools and graduated from Mesa High School. She went to ASU for both a bachelor’s degree and graduate school.
What can the school board do to attract parents to enroll their children at Mesa Unified School District?: The district can help to attract parents if they are competitive and can build trust. Parents want to see academic achievement and graduation rates improving. Parents want to know the district isn’t going to make decisions that interfere with medical freedom or force their children to be in a locker room or bathroom with the opposite biological sex.
***
J.R. Wright
J.R. Wright, 49, owns Larry John Wright Advertising. He has a bachelor of arts degree in communication and an MBA from Arizona State University.
What can the school board do to attract parents to enroll their children at Mesa Unified School District?: Mesa Public Schools is really the best kept secret in Mesa. We need to communicate our vision and programs better to the public. We have partnerships with Boeing, Honeywell, many Career and Technical Education programs at each of the high schools. There’s never been a better time to spring out of high school more ready to enter the job market or the next phase of training.
Richard Dyer Managing Editor | East Valley @RHDyer
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
By 
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here