Three open seats…and deadline looms for potential Governing Board candidates

Some of the primary responsibilities of a school district’s governing board include creating a vision and setting goals for the district, adopting policies that support those goals and adopting annual budgets.

The most effective governing boards are made up of individuals who, working together as a team, get the necessary business done and keep things running smoothly within the district, while always keeping the educational environment and academic achievement of the students as a top priority.

This November three of the five seats on the Maricopa Unified School District (MUSD) Governing Board will be up for grabs as the terms of Delia Carlyle, Tim White, and Michael Muriett expire. White and Muriett will seek re-election; Carlyle will not.

Tim White (left) and Mike Muriett will both seek re-election to the Governing Board.

The three seats, two four-year terms and one two-year term, offer Maricopa residents an opportunity to get involved, make a difference and influence the direction of the schools and thus the lives of the students within the district.

However, the deadline for throwing one’s hat into the race is looming. With a deadline of 5 p.m., August 9, rapidly approaching, potential candidates must still complete and file all necessary paperwork and petitions in order to be included on the ballot.

Interested parties must follow these steps:

1. Obtain a packet of information with all the specifics from the Pinal County School Office at 75 N. Bailey Street, P.O. Box 769, Florence, AZ 85232, or by contacting Tonya Taylor at (520) 866-6579 or Lori Ashford at (520) 866-6565.

2. File a statement of organization or a $500 Threshold Exemption Statement before circulating petitions, accepting contributions, making expenditures or distributing campaign literature.

3. Complete a Nomination Paper, which must be signed and notarized to be submitted with the petitions. This paper contains important information such as which precinct the candidate resides in.

4. Collect the appropriate number of signatures from registered voters within the district. Candidates for the MUSD Governing Board must collect 30 signatures. There are different petitions for both the four-year and two-year terms; the appropriate petition form must be used.

5. Once the signatures have been collected, completed petitions and the Nomination Paper must be received at the Pinal County School Office no later than 5 p.m., Wednesday, August 9.

Overwhelming hyper-growth and limited space, additional teachers and resources have challenged MUSD. The governing board will play a very important role in the future development of the Maricopa school district. For community members who have an interest in being involved in that process, the clock is ticking.