Pinal County Superintendent of Schools Jill Broussard has announced the appointment of Jennifer Tucker to the J.O. Combs Unified School District’s Governing Board.

Tucker will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Chad McLeod. Tucker will be seated until Dec. 31, 2024.

In July, board members McLeod and Lisa Carr resigned due to personal issues. Only McLeod’s seat received a replacement as the duration of his term runs through 2024.

Carr’s term ends this year. She already had opted not to run for reelection. As a result, the Pinal County superintendent did not fill her seat.

The J. O. Combs Unified School District serves residents who live in the Pinal County portion of San Tan Valley, as well as a small part of eastern Queen Creek located within Pinal County.

Only two candidates met the July filing deadline for the two board seats that are up for grabs in November. Incumbent Steven Ray is running for reelection as a write-in candidate. The second candidate is Jason Beach.

A recommendation has been made by the Pinal County Elections Department for J.O. Combs not to hold an election due to only two candidates running for the two seats. 

The election cancellation recommendations have been put on the Pinal County Board of Supervisors meeting agenda for later this month. The item does not appear on the board’s Sept. 7 agenda.