Christensen, Sandra

Meet the Candidate

Running For:
School Board
District:
Paradise Valley Unified School District
Phone:
(480) 516-6451
Age:
53
Occupation:
Self Employed
Education:
BBA Business Computer Systems at New Mexico State University
Biographical Info:

Sandra Christensen is a woman of God, wife, mom, and entrepreneur with experience in Business, I.T., Veterinary Sciences, and Multimedia. Sandra grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico and moved to the Phoenix area in 1994 to Work as an IT Project manager for Honeywell (formerly AlliedSignal Aerospace) after graduating with a bachelor’s in Business Computer Systems at New Mexico State University. She has also taken graduate classes in business and information technology from ASU, and veterinary medicine classes from UC Davis school of Vet Med.

She has led large teams in fortune 500 companies (Honeywell and Perot Systems) and was a practice manager for Alta Vista Veterinary Hospital before leaving to focus on family, community service, and a startup media company. Many places are better because of her leadership, organization, and coordination skills including Highlands Church, Phoenix Children’s Chorus, Arizona Women of Action, Phoenix Dream Center, Reigning Grace Ranch, UC Davis California Raptor Center, Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, as well as many schools and churches.

Statement:

As a mom who has volunteered in the PV district since 2015, Sandra has been active in PTO as a room parent, school event photographer, and videographer. She has edited yearbook pages, chaperoned field trips, and is a prayer leader for kids and teachers in PVUSD schools. Having been a PVUSD volunteer supporting teachers and students for the past seven years, she has decided to run for PVUSD Governing Board for three reasons:

1. To Increase Academic Performance: Arizona ranks among the lowest states in terms of performance, while the PVUSD students are testing well below grade level in Math, ELA, and Science. Sandra wants to put the focus back on academics and put dollars directly into the classrooms to support our students and increase teacher salaries to support teachers in our district. Sandra wants to set the bar high for all students by encouraging PVUSD to choose curricula based on quality education for our children and rejecting publishers who push ideologies that teach through the lens of race, sexuality, or social justice.
2. To Remove Politics from the Classroom: Sandra believes that politically divisive materials that focus on race and push a vision of America that casts our history, culture, traditions, and founding documents in the most negative possible light have no place in our schools. She wants to ensure that our PVUSD schools do not avoid discussions like slavery but tell the truth about the struggles and triumphs of our founding fathers and this nation.
3. To Preserve Parent’s Rights and restore parent teacher relationships: For a child to succeed in school, parents and educators must partner with one another. As a governing board member, Sandra will listen to all stakeholders including students, parents, educators, and members of the PVUSD community. As a parent herself, she understands that parents must be allowed to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of their children.

Survey

Response Legend

  • SSupports
  • OOpposes
  • *Comment
  • Declined to respond
  • Declined to respond, Position based on citation

Question Response Comments/Notes
1. Requiring school officials, including teachers, to inform parents about their child’s social, mental, emotional, or physical health S
2. Allowing parents to opt their children out of activities or lessons they find offensive to their personal, moral, or religious beliefs S
3. Increasing state and local taxes to provide more funding for schools and school facility projects O* Not all problems can be solved by giving schools more money. We need to fix issues in our education systems that cause us to rank near the bottom of our 50 states before entrusting them with increased funding.
4. Requiring signed permission from a parent before a student may participate in any sexuality related instruction, activities, or clubs. S
5. Allowing all parents to use tax credits, vouchers, or education savings accounts to enable children to attend any public, charter, private, homeschool, or online academy S
6. Requiring full-day kindergarten for all students S
7. Mandating sex education classes for 5th-12th grade students O
8. Allocating teacher pay raises based upon merit rather than providing uniform salary schedule increases based upon years of teaching or additional credentialing (e.g. masters degrees) S
9. Implementing policies to allow students and faculty to use the restroom, locker room, and shower room that aligns with their gender identity O* The proposal to expand Title IX to include LGBTQI+ students would require schools to allow participation in programs and facilities that are consistent with a person’s gender identity. We need to protect all our children not just one group.
10. Teaching what is known as diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI); social, emotional learning (SEL); or critical race theory (CRT) in public schools. O
11. Increasing academic (curriculum) transparency by requiring each public school to post online for parents and the public a list of all instructional materials being used in the classroom. S