Chad Thompson reelected as Gilbert school board president for 2026

By Tom Blodgett
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The Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board reelected Chad Thompson as board president for 2026 during its annual organizational meeting, citing continuity as the district works through an ongoing superintendent search.

Thompson was reelected on a 3-2 vote following additional nominations and discussion among board members about leadership rotation versus stability during a transitional period for the district. Jill Humpherys and Jesse Brainard voted in dissent.

“I would like to go ahead and nominate Chad just for keeping consistency with the superintendent search,” Shana Murray said. “You’ve already kind of been involved in a lot of that process, and I feel like that would just be beneficial for the team as a whole to keep it consistent.”

After completing the presidential election, the board selected Murray to serve as board clerk for 2026, also by a 3-2 vote with Humpherys and Brainard dissenting. The clerk is responsible for maintaining official records of board proceedings and reviewing financial documentation in accordance with state law and district policy.

The board also voted to keep its regular meeting start time at 6 p.m., maintaining consistency for families and the community. Members agreed to continue using the board’s existing rules of order rather than adopting more formal parliamentary procedures.

In other organizational business, board members approved their committee and liaison assignments for the year, including roles connected to the Town of Gilbert (Humpherys), City of Mesa (Murray), Gilbert Education Foundation (Humpherys), audit committee (Thompson), legislative efforts (Blake Robison) and the employee benefit trust (Brainard).

A proposal to designate a formal board liaison to School Connect was discussed but did not receive board approval.

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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).