Morales, Roy

Meet the Candidate

Running For:
School Board
District:
Higley Unified School District
Phone:
(480) 231-3866
Age:
53
Occupation:
Operations Supervisor
Education:
MBA - Grand Canyon University
Biographical Info:

I am a husband, a father of four and a 12-year resident of Gilbert. He has a B.S. in Accounting and an MBA from Grand Canyon University. I have more than 25 years in the mortgage banking industry and held various roles including Sales, Operations & Fraud Investigations.

Recently, I was a volunteer with the Civil Air Patrol, the auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. My duties as 1st Lieutenant included both the Public Affairs and Recruiting & Retention Officer. Lastly, I was also a member of the air crew supporting search and rescue missions.

I am a product of the public school system, both in special education and mainstream. I’ve have attended over 10 public schools from Illinois, to New Mexico and southern California. I am very grateful for what it has provided for me as a hard-of-hearing student in my early years. Public schools provides many services for those with a wide range of special needs that most private or parochial schools cannot provide due to lack of funding or resources. Public schools are also a great resource for those who want to engage in a wide choice of subjects, sports, music and clubs. Despite that I have attended more different schools than most, I had a great journey through my academic career in public schools.

Statement:

Like many parents in the Higley District, I have seen the repercussions of closed schools, isolation, and mask mandates first-hand. I’ve also see how learning loss has impacted the students, parents and the community at large. Lastly, I have see the parents being ignored by the school boards during the pandemic and its aftermath.

I am equally concerned about dangerous ideologies being introduced into in our classrooms labeled as Critical Race Theory (CRT), Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), and Continuing Sex Education (CSE). These programs are designed to replace a student’s parents, their culture, and their Judeo-Christian beliefs. These ideologies go against the very fabric of our values and our culture as a nation.

Parents are life-long teachers and they should be the one in control of their children’s future. I understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to our children’s education. By implementing school choice, parents will have input in where they send their kids to school. This will naturally create healthy competition in our schools, whether it be public, charter, parochial or homeschooling. Public schools can be competitive if you have people of good will and conviction in making their district a great choice for parents.

?For these reasons, I have decided to run for the position on the Higley District school board.

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 O* The school officials may provide their observations and advise the parents of their findings should the student's behavior disrupts the normal course of the school activities. However, it is the responsibility of the parent to oversee their child's social, mental or emotional/physical health that aligns with their family values.
2. Allowing parents to opt their children out of activities or lessons they find offensive to their personal, moral, or religious beliefs S* Public schools invites many students from many different cultures. As such, we must recognize that not all activities or lessons will align with the student's cultural, personal, moral or religious values. Parents should be able to opt out on subjects that contradict their family values.
3. Increasing state and local taxes to provide more funding for schools and school facility projects O* We are currently experiencing both inflation and a recession, therefore, raising taxes at this time will put more hardship to the community. Districts will need to think outside the box (within legal limits) to achieve their goals. If successful, Districts will create trust and respect from their community while becoming more efficient in their operations.
4. Requiring signed permission from a parent before a student may participate in any sexuality related instruction, activities, or clubs. S* Parents should have the final authority on this subject. However, I believe that sex education should be taught at home and within the child's religious affiliation.
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* These programs give parents more options to give what is best for there children. At the same time, these programs will force public schools to be competitive. The more competition there is, the better that products and services will be for parents.
6. Requiring full-day kindergarten for all students O* Arizona current law only requires school attendance between the age of 6 and 16. Kindergarten is an option and should remain as such.
7. Mandating sex education classes for 5th-12th grade students O* Sex education should not be mandated but as an option. The subject must be limited to the anatomy of the reproductive systems. It should NOT include sexual intercourse, homosexuality, contraceptive methods, sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, gender ideologies, and abortion.
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* In many industries, pay raises are given based primarily based on merit. This incentivizes the individual to perform at their top level in order for them to obtain their raise and/or bonus. Other factors such as credentialing can be also weighed in to a lessor degree. Furthermore, time on the job doesn't necessarily reflect better performance.
9. Implementing policies to allow students and faculty to use the restroom, locker room, and shower room that aligns with their gender identity O* This puts unnecessary pressure on the opposite sex using those facilities. In addition, this also invites criminal behavior to those who take advantage of these policies. Arizona must ensure that we don't have a similar situation that took place at Loundon County high school where a transgender teenager sexually assaulted a female student in a female bathroom.
10. Teaching what is known as diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI); social, emotional learning (SEL); or critical race theory (CRT) in public schools. O* Emphasis must be placed on giving students tools to think critically and how to solve problems based on intellect and reason. These are critical elements needed in a world of adversity. The social and emotional aspects are naturally given to us as we live in our society and the values instilled into us by our family. CRT is teaching many of our students to think less of themselves and it is a dangerous element we need to eradicate.
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* The responsibility of education falls on the parent. Therefore, the parents have the right to audit school curriculum and voice any concerns of matters that they don't feel that is appropriate for their child or for the student population. Districts must engage with the parents at this level.