School board members finishing terms tell election intentions

Maricopa Unified School District board member AnnaMarie Knorr said she intends to seek another term of office. Member Scott Bartle said he is not planning to run for re-election. And board vice-president Patti Coutre said she “probably” will run again.

Coutre, Bartle and Knorr’s four -year terms expire in December.

“Serving on the board for the past year has allowed me to learn more about the challenges and opportunities within our district,” Knorr said. “I am hopeful that the voters will allow me to use this knowledge to continue to help improve the schools in Maricopa.”

Bartle, who is running for a state Senate seat this year, said he does not plan to run for school board once his term is up.

“We are in a much better place than we were four years ago, and I’m confident we will have a competent and committed cadre of candidates willing to take my place and take MUSD to the proverbial next level,” Bartle said.  “One of our board’s goals has been to affect change at the Legislature, and I believe I can have greater impact on MUSD and Maricopa families by serving in the Arizona Senate.”

Prospective candidates for the board positions have between July 7 and Aug. 6 to file their petitions to have their names placed on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

Tonya Taylor, chief deputy of the Pinal County School Office, said candidates need a minimum of 108 signatures to file to run in the Maricopa district.

The Pinal County School Office is charged with handing out packets to prospective candidates and receiving the petitions. The Pinal County Election Department handles the election.

Taylor said so far three people in the district requested packets. This is in addition to the packets she routinely sends out to the incumbents.

Until a candidate files his or her paperwork, the county will not have a record of who plans to run for the office, she said. Sometimes people request packets for other people.

She said Gary Miller, Jaysie Sheppard and Rhonda Melvin requested packets.

Melvin was the only person from the district to attend a workshop for prospective candidates held April 14, she said.

Attempts by InMaricopa.com to contact these people were unsuccessful.

Bartle is the publisher of InMaricopa.com

***ADVERTISEMENT***