Settle, Libby

Meet the Candidate

Running For:
School Board
District:
Fountain Hills Unified School District
Phone:
(602) 460-8368
Age:
46
Occupation:
Accountant
Education:
BS Elementary Education
Biographical Info:

I was born and raised in Central Illinois and graduated with an Elementary Education degree from Illinois State University in 1998. I began my teaching career shortly after graduating college and meeting my husband, Shaun. We moved to Fountain Hills in 2004 and have been raising our family here ever since. Both Shaun and I have always had a heart for children and decided to open our home to children in foster care in 2010. We are currently parents to 13 children between the ages of 1 and 15.

Upon moving to Arizona, I pursued a career in accounting and have been working in the accounting field for the past 17 years in varying capacities. After deciding to dedicate our time and energy to being foster parents, I decided to reduce my work schedule to allow for more time in caring for our special needs children. I currently have a small boutique accounting business.

Statement:

My family and I have lived in Fountain Hills for 18 years. We have cherished this area and love the small-town atmosphere. The school district plays an enormous part in our great community. Our children and families need a local school to attend.
We began our journey 12 years ago, as foster parents. This led us to the doors of McDowell Mountain Elementary School when our foster kiddos turned 3. If it wasn’t for such a caring staff at the elementary school guiding us and teaching us how to advocate, we’d still be lost today. The staff at the schools give so much of themselves to help the students and families. It’s such a different atmosphere in Fountain Hills School District than the other larger districts around us. We heard horror stories from other foster parents about their districts and the trouble they had accessing services for their little ones. I was so happy to praise Fountain Hills Unified School District to our friends. While others were fighting to access services and educations for their foster babes, Fountain Hills School District was advocating alongside us and showed us how to champion for our children.
This past Christmas, I had a group of local moms contact me and share some of the struggles the parents and the district were having. After a few conversations with these moms, they encouraged me to run for school board. I realized during these moments that we needed to make a change in our district and town if we hoped to keep our caring school. We sat down as a family and discussed what the issues were, how and if we could help, and the next steps if I decided to run for school board. It was during these conversations, that my teenagers reminded me that we encourage them to be the change that they want to see. This led me to the next steps of researching the neighborhoods, our school district, and talking with others.
During my research, I found that our town has approximately 3400 children under the age 18 and less than half of them choose to attend Fountain Hills Unified School District. I was shocked! While, I think school choice is fundamental, I still think we can make Fountain Hills Unified School District our students and parents first choice! Based on these staggering numbers and the projection of only 686 pupils in 8 years, I believe that our town and schools are at critical stage. We need to breathe life back into our school which will then help our local businesses and populace.
Over the past two years many have lost confidence in our local school. I believe by electing a school board that is willing to work with the various organizations throughout the community, listen to the concerns of the families and teachers, as well as provide transparency and a vision to revitalize our district we can become the families’ first choice for their son’s and daughter’s education again.
I love our town and overall have loved our school district. While nothing or no one is ever perfect, we can all strive to do better. The parents felt that I would be able to advocate for our citizens and schools and they really were the final push in why I decided to run for Fountain Hills Unified School Board. Bottom line, running for school board isn’t about me; it’s about our children, our community, and our future!

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* Parents should have access to all of their children's information.
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* K-12 funding per pupil (~$14,326) is higher than full tuition at ASU (~11,348). We must find ways to operate within current 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 O
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* Merit based pay often leads to "teaching to the test" and doesn't measure student's actual learning.
9. Implementing policies to allow students and faculty to use the restroom, locker room, and shower room that aligns with their gender identity 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. 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