Of the five seats on the TUSD  school board, three were up for election. Kristel Foster, Cam Juarez, and Mark Stegeman, all sought re-election, while Lori Riegel, Betts Putnam-Hidalgo, Rachael Sedgwick, and Brett Rustand campaigned to replace them. Sedgwick, Stegeman and Foster won, ousting Juarez.

It was a very close race for these positions. Stegeman and Foster barely slid in as Stegeman only had 16.75% and Foster 15.63% of the votes. Both Stegeman and Foster were already in office, while Sedgwick will take the position in January.

Adelita  Grijalva is the president of the TUSD board. Grijalva’s term does not expire until 2018 though. Kristel Foster is the clerk of the TUSD Board. Her main focus is on public education and dedication to the students and teachers in our community. She said that this inspired her to be on the TUSD Board of Education. When asked why it was important to be a part of the education she said, ” I am an educator with 25 years of teaching experience. I’ve directly experienced policy decisions in the classroom and know how these affect teaching and learning.”

When first running for the Board of Education, Mark Stegeman’s concern was that high school graduates who enter U of A lack the skills to succeed after 12,000 hours of K-12 education. He also believes that TUSD has deep cultural and structural problems. These include abusive and disruptive student behavior, high and rising administration costs, and falling behavioral enforcement. These are some of the few problems Mark discussed.

Sedgwick wants to improve TUSD’s governance.  She said, “I will bring integrity, transparency, and accountability to the process of government.” According to gofundme.com, Sedgwick stated, “Yet the school board and Superintendent keep making excuses, shifting the blame, and playing ‘Hide the Truth’ while wasting precious resources – resources that should go to the student and teachers.” That is one of the main reasons why she ran.