Tempe Elementary Board Tables Vote on Proposed Leadership Term Change

Reporter: Imogen Siedare

TEMPE, Ariz. – Tempe Elementary School District No. 3 School Board considers changing from an annual election to a biennial election system for its president and vice president positions.

This would shift the leadership elections from every year to once every two years, allowing for longer presidential terms and an easier transition period for the newly elected president and vice president. Under the proposed election schedule, the board's president and vice president would serve a two year term instead of the current term length of one year. 

These elections would occur every other year after the school board's general election cycle.  

The Tempe Elementary School District No. 3 School Board unanimously agreed to table the item until they received more feedback from the public; they did not set a date on when they would next revisit the item. 

Board members encouraged the public to provide their feedback and opinions on the proposed schedule change and reach out with any questions or concerns about the election schedule change. 

Charlotte Winsor, the current sitting president of the Tempe Elementary School District No. 3 School Board, proposed and was in favor of this change to the election cycle. 

“We all know it takes a little while to get your feet wet in this role, and as soon as you feel like you’re finally catching a stride, we switch it up, which is fine, it just takes a while to figure out how this all works,” Winsor said. 

School board presidents have the responsibility of running meetings, working on agendas and initiatives with the district superintendent, and communicating with the public, all of which can be difficult to become comfortable doing. 

School board member Jim Lemmon agreed that the role was difficult to fully transition into in just a year and said having longer terms could make presidents more comfortable in their roles. 

Winsor also noted the benefits a longer presidency would have for the president's relationship with the superintendent of the school district, and the stability to the district it could potentially provide. 

Allowing for a longer presidential term could build better trust and communication between the two leaders and help them work alongside each other better, Winsor said. 

“I would prefer to provide greater stability to the superintendent,” Winsor said. 

Some board members were hesitant to implement this change, such as school board member Eric Miller. 

“I like having more elections than fewer,” Miller said.

Holding biennial elections and having longer leadership terms could reduce the opportunities for board members to run for leadership roles, said Miller.

Some board members agreed that having more frequent leadership elections gave more opportunities to board members, as well as opening more opportunities to gain new perspectives from potential new leaders. 

The Tempe Union High School District currently holds leadership elections every other year, as well as the Phoenix Union High School district and the Phoenix Elementary School District. 

The Tempe Elementary School district currently consists of 21 schools, including elementary schools, middle schools, an online school, and a Montessori school.