Roberts, Mikail

Meet the Candidate

Running For:
School Board
District:
Marana Unified School District
Phone:
(520) 730-9205
Age:
41
Occupation:
Attorney
Education:
BA in Political Science from BYU in '05, Jurisdoctorate from St. Mary's in '11, Master's Degree in Education Policy from Johns Hopkins in '23
Family:
Married to husband, Jared, for 19 years, and we have 4 children, William (17m), Wesley (14m), Eden (11f), and Dane (7m).
Religion:
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Biographical Info:

Mikail was born in Tucson at St. Joe’s hospital. Her parents met at the University of Arizona and when they finished their schooling, work took their family far and wide, but they always returned home to Tucson.

Mikail was a student at Marana schools, as well as in other parts of the country. She attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 2005. She ended her time there by working in Washington,D.C. with the Institute of International Education in their International Visitors Program curating individualized educational experiences for academics and professionals sponsored by embassies all over the world.

She married her husband, Jared, in 2005 and moved to San Antonio, Texas where he would attend graduate school. Mikail began work with Walbridge building the Toyota Tundra manufacturing plant. She used her experience there to help build a community of businesses from all over the world. In 2007, Jared and Mikail were blessed with their first son and she came home to be a stay-at-home mom, Mikail’s greatest ambition and blessing.

Soon after, Mikail started law school in an evening program so she could be home with kids during the day. She started law school with one son, and when she graduated she had two! She passed the bar in Texas in 2011 and then focused on raising her children.

Since graduating, Mikail and Jared have had two more children and relocated to the Marana area where Jared owns a dental specialty office. Their kids have attended various Marana schools and have participated in community activities there.

Mikail serves on the Board of Directors for a national nonprofit called SRVIVRS which sponsors service projects and empowers grieving families who have lost loved ones. In her role there she develops processes for compliance and programs for growth in chapters across the country. She is also on the Board of Directors of the local nonprofit Marana Youth Choir. Both organizations are beautiful representations of the role of service in Mikail’s life.

She now spends her extra time invested in the community of Marana. As well as being involved in her church, and the parent organizations at the kids’ schools, she sees that the Marana schools have great potential. Mikail recently received a Master’s Degree at Johns Hopkins University in Education Policy – to bring what she learns home to help Marana. She sees the unique opportunity to be part of making Marana at least as great as it was when she was a student, and making strides to prepare for a better future.

Statement:

Strong Schools and Strong Community

Education is embedded in the tradition and history of Marana. I want to continue that great tradition and help the students and families of our community excel by advocating for Strong Schools and a Strong Community.

Strong Schools need safe environments, rigorous curriculum, and a focus on increasing student achievement. Marana has made strides in the right directions in these areas, but it needs the voice of a parent on the board to stay the course.

MUSD will be a Strong Community when it focuses on a true Parent Partnership, creates more avenues for a Service Connection, and when it ties the education provided in the schools with the community it serves outside the school walls. We want to graduate life-long learners who can help our community meet its many demands.

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* Support with the serious caveat that I don't want health professionals in schools. There should not be anyone examining children without the parent's knowledge or consent. So yes, anything that schools discover about a child should be conveyed to the parent.
2. Allowing parents to opt their children out of activities or lessons that offend their personal, moral, or religious beliefs. S* Parents should be able to opt out of anything they find objectionable.
3. Increasing state and local taxes to provide more funding for schools and school facility projects. S* Support but in three discrete specific areas: first, charter schools are funded at a lower level than their public school counterparts. That should be equalized, especially when charter schools often have higher scores than the traditional neighborhood school. Charters are given the same base level of state and federal funding, but they lack the extra access to local funding through bonds and capital projects. Second, while increasing the bottom line of schools districts has no correlation to increased student achievement, there is evidence-based spending that can. https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/ea51b5ff-3564-4b4e-9e52-683741fe0445/content Third, ESAs have the potential to innovate in education and we need to protect them. Right now, the data is showing that it is saving the tax-payers money. Spending more in this area would be a good thing in education. Overall, general "throwing money at the problem" of failing schools is bad practice.
4. Requiring signed permission from a parent before a student may participate in any sexuality related instruction, activities, or clubs. S* Again, support because parents should always know what their kids are doing in their school, but it begs the question: why are we teaching anything sexually related in schools? We should not be.
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* Fully support.
6. Making available books and instructional materials that include sexually explicit images and themes in school classrooms and libraries. O* Again, these are not appropriate for school children.
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* While I don't think we should be calling anyone by pronouns that do not align with their gender assigned at birth, I recognize not all parents feel that way. If the parent request that the child be referred to in that way, public schools are currently obligated to do that. There should not be any teachers that are socially transitioning students without telling the parents.
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* While trans identity is a federally protected class, public schools will have to make arrangements for their bathroom and locker room usage. But a single person facility is the only option that balances all parties' rights. We should not be opening up women's spaces to anyone who feels like coming in that day.
10. Teaching what is known as diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI); social, emotional learning (SEL); or critical race theory (CRT) in public schools. O* I opposed it when it was taught in law school and I oppose it now. DEI is marxism, SEL is destroying student achievement, and CRT is tearing apart the fabric of our communities.
11. Requiring each district and charter school to post online a list of all curriculum and instructional materials being used in the classroom. S* Our district is doing a fair job of this, but there are still materials that teachers find online the they will occasionally use. We have to be vigilant and keep a close eye on what is getting into classrooms.