Meet the 5 School Board Candidates Who Want Your Vote on November 5

Five candidates have notified the Pinal County Elections Department that they want to run Nov. 5 for three open seats on the Maricopa Unified School District board.

They have until July 8 to gather the required number of signatures from registered voters and deliver them to the county superintendent’s office in Florence.

Three board positions will be open during the ballot, including that of recently appointed member Carolyn Lopez. Also gone are longtime board members AnnaMarie Knorr, who was appointed to the Maricopa City Council and will not seek another term, and Torri Anderson, who is retiring after 16 years of service on the board. administration of the MUSD.

The candidates who have submitted an expression of interest are:

• Tracie Armstead Payton, a Senita resident and human resources manager who has lived in Maricopa for over six years. She ran unsuccessfully in school elections in 2020 and was not available for comment today.
• Caroline Lopez, Alterra resident and advocate for students with special needs at MUSD and mother of two children with special needs. She was appointed to the school board by the Pinal County Superintendent of Schools. Jill Broussard after elected board member Gary Miller resigned last year. Lopez said In Maricopa she believes that special education issues are where she can make her greatest contribution. She also said she still has a lot to learn and wants the opportunity to do so over a full term.
• Ben Owens, who served on the board from 2018 to 2022. The Pinal County Board of Supervisors appointed the Homestead resident to the school board because he and member Patti Coutré were the only two running for two seats without opposition. During his tenure, he was elected chairman of the board for one year and vice-chairman for three years. He has lived in Maricopa for almost 10 years. “A lot of people have asked me to consider doing this again and I feel like there’s a lot of unfinished business,” said Owens, an industrial safety and tool assembly salesman. In Maricopa “I want to help the district be the best it can be.”
• Shawnte Rothschild was one of the candidates for the Pinal County Superintendent’s office for the seat to which Carolyn Lopez was nominated by the county superintendent. Jill Broussard. She is a resident of Rancho Mirage. She was not available for comment today.
• Nicolas Yendrzeski, graduated from Maricopa High School last month. Alterra resident Yendrzeski, who was a career and technical education student, demonstrated with another student his mastery of critical cybersecurity protocols at the SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skill conference in April. This earned MHS the gold medal in cybersecurity at the conference. Yendrzeski and a Heritage Academy student also co-hosted candid discussions with guest speakers about issues affecting Maricopa students on their podcast. He was not available for comment today due to travel.