Konetzni, Karen

Meet the Candidate

Running For:
School Board
District:
Washington Elementary School District
Phone:
(602) 326-7672
Age:
45
Occupation:
Stay at home
Education:
bachelors from ASU (elementary ed), Masters from NAU (elementary ed)
Biographical Info:

Hello! My name is Karen Konetzni and I am currently running for the WESD School Board! I was born and raised in the Washington Elementary School District where I attended Mountain Sky Junior High and graduated from Thunderbird High School in 1997. In 2001, I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Ed from ASU and my Masters from NAU in 2004. After graduating, I taught Kindergarten and 1st grade at Shaw Butte. I was also Program Coach at Shaw Butte until 2010 when I decided to stay home with my young children. After being at home for a few years, I went back and taught Reading Interventions at Washington Elementary School from 2014 – 2018. I also offered coaching and consulting for multiple schools here in the Valley. My teaching degree is in Elementary Education with an emphasis on reading, ESL instruction and early childhood development. In 2007, I earned a National Board Certificate.

As my children have grown, I have enjoyed volunteering on numerous boards and philanthropies including Shadow Rock Preschool, the Lookout Mountain PTO, and in our church. Ever since I can remember, I have always had a passion for kids and education.

Currently, I am grateful and blessed with three daughters ages 12, 15 and 16. I sub occasionally in the Paradise Valley School District, volunteer on the Boosters at my kids school and at our church. I am excited to bring a fresh vision and new ideas to the WESD school board.

Statement:

As a conservative Christian and former student, teacher and parent in the Washington district, I am sad to see the state of the district today. I was frustrated at their handling of COVID and keeping the kids home for a year. I was disgusted in 2023 when the board voted 5-0 to no longer allow ACU (AZ Christian University) student teachers on their campus. I am running to give a voice to the hard working parents and students who want to bring the district back to the basics. I have a platform where I will focus on family involvement and transparency, hiring and retain quality teachers, and raising student achievement. All my decisions will be made with the mindset of what is best for students and parents.

Endorsements:

AZ Women of Action

Survey

Response Legend

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

Question Response Comments/Notes
1. Requiring district and charter 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 that offend their personal, moral, or religious beliefs. S
3. Increasing state and local taxes to provide more funding for schools and school facility projects. O* Right now our school are failing. We have continued to increase the funding for schools over the last few decades and the schools are worse. Before we continue to ask taxpayers to fund a failing institution, we need to look at our budget, our policies, and our problems honestly. We need to figure out solutions beyond just throwing more money at it.
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 and publicly funded empowerment scholarship accounts to enable their children to attend any private, homeschool, or online academy of their choice. S* One of the schools in my district has a 5% passing rate for math. We need to give the families choices for their education instead of forcing them to attend a failing government school.
6. Making available books and instructional materials that include sexually explicit images and themes in school classrooms and libraries. O
7. Acquiring parental consent for school faculty and staff to refer to students by pronouns that do not align with the student’s birth sex. S
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. master’s degrees) S
9. Implementing policies to allow students and faculty to use the restroom, locker room, and shower room based on self-identification rather than biological sex. O
10. Teaching what is known as diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI); social, emotional learning (SEL); or critical race theory (CRT) in public schools. O
11. Requiring each district and charter school to post online a list of all curriculum and instructional materials being used in the classroom. S