School closures and trust in TUSD administration dominated a recent candidate forum, where four of the five contenders for two open Governing Board seats fielded community questions ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Pilar Acosta Ruiz, Tre'Davon Rhodes, Skye Fernandez and the lone incumbent, Val Romero, all attended the Sept. 29 forum. Incumbent Jennifer Eckstrom is also seeking reelection, but was unable to attend the event.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the League of Women Voters hosted the forum at the City of Tucson's Ward 2 Council office.

Written questions were taken from attendees and presented to the candidates, who each had 90 seconds to answer.

Questions fielded during the hour-and-a-half event addressed several concerns, with many focusing on the current debate over school reconfiguration as the district weighs consolidation decisions.

Asked whether candidates had attended any recent district closure and consolidation sessions and, if so, what takeaways they had, Fernandez said she attended one held at Tucson High Magnet School.

"No one really wants any of our schools to be shut down and for good reason, too. Shutting down a school is like shutting down a mini city. There are so many people who are going to be affected," Fernandez said. "There is very low trust in this whole process right now."

Fernandez said that while the decision about what schools will close has not been made, she's heard many times that people believe a list of schools already exists.

"Speculations have been made off of the list of (schools) with declining enrollment. But they still just don't trust what the administration is saying at these meetings themselves," Fernandez said.

One community member asked about the role AI will play within the classroom for both students and teachers, with candidates expressing mixed feelings.

Rhodes and Fernandez both said they believe AI should be used ethically, but not as a replacement for quality education, and that it should not be overused.

Romero and Acosta Ruiz took a stance against any use of AI in classrooms.

"I've been … against the push of promoting AI in our schools," Romero said. "The technology is so powerful that it can do such great things, but (can) also do some bad things. My concern is opening the door to replace teachers."

Concerns about the district's chief financial officer were also raised, with one attendee asking candidates to clarify what they think the relationship between the CFO and the governing board should look like.

Candidates shared similar views that transparency and cooperation between the CFO and the board is essential.

"I definitely believe that the CFO … reports to the superintendent and the superintendent reports to the board. Not any other way around," Acosta Ruiz said.

Beyond policy, the candidates also bring different life experiences to the race.

At 20, Rhodes is the youngest candidate in the race. He told Tucson Spotlight that gives him an advantage.

"I think it's important that we have somebody that is able to represent the needs of the students of today's generation, somebody that knows what those students are going through," Rhodes said. "In addition (to) … the youth and vigor … being able to work hard in the district in a relentless fashion, in a dedicated way."

Candidates weren't the only ones with opinions on the race. Community member and former TUSD Governing Board candidate Betts Putnam-Hidalgo was at the forum and told Tucson Spotlight she has concerns about the proposed school consolidation.

"I feel like the current administration is acting like school closures work, without giving us any data of what happened in the last school closures," Putnam-Hidalgo said. "We (have) closed a lot of schools over our (the district's) history. We should have lots of information on how that helped us financially or didn't."

Putnam-Hidalgo said she also hopes the board will prioritize equity within the district.

Nya Belcastro is a University of Arizona student and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at nya2005@arizona.edu.

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