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School board candidates back out in Q.C.
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The Queen Creek Unified School District is extending the deadline to apply for the open school board vacancy after three of the five interested candidates backed out.
Wednesday was the original deadline for people to apply for the open position vacated by Natalie Lamb in August.
Districts get more say in board appointments
Now Queen Creek residents have until mid-October to apply for the board vacancy, said Superintendent James Murlless.
Interested candidates must be a registered voter and have lived in the district's boundaries for at least a year.
The district needs to choose three possible candidates for the vacancy before the next nominee seminar on Nov. 14.
Time commitments and personal situations led three of the five interested candidates to decline to move forward, Murlless said.
The other two have not officially turned in their paperwork, so it's unclear if they are still interested in the vacancy, he said.
Brad Dowden, a retired middle school teacher from the Higley Unified and Kyrene Elementary school districts, was interested in the open board position but decided against it because of other commitments.
Dowden is also a board vice president for a polio survivor nonprofit group and serves on the board for the Calvary Christian School in Queen Creek.
"I thought it was a great opportunity to serve without having to go through an election, but it would be spreading myself thin," said Dowden, 55, who has been retired for about a year and a half. "I didn't feel I would be able to serve the public, the district, and my family by making a commitment like that."
The task to fill a board vacancy is now up to local school districts.
The new collaborative nomination process was set in place by Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools Donald Covey in January after receiving advice from several education organizations.
Now, interested candidates apply directly to their school district. A team made up of Murlless, school board president Jeff Black, and Tara Bernier, a fourth-grade teacher at Queen Creek Elementary School, will choose a nominee and two alternates for the position.
Interested community members can pick up an information notebook at the district office.
Anyone interested in serving on the board should call the Queen Creek Unified School District at (480) 987-5935 or drop by the district office, at 20740 S. Ellsworth Road, Queen Creek.
For information on the new nomination procedures, visit www.maricopa.gov/schools/pdf/elections/se_elect_appointment_process.pdf.
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