Sparkes, Mathew

Meet the Candidate

Running For:

School Board

District:

Kyrene Elementary School District

Age:

Occupation:

Business Leader

Family:

Religion:

Deist

Biographical Info:

Mathew Sparkes is a Kyrene father, husband, engaged community member, and business leader with experience in organizational strategy, project and portfolio management, technology, and operational improvement. Professionally, he helps governments, businesses, and other organizations align their strategies, people, resources, plans, and budgets to turn their goals into measurable results.

As the father of two Kyrene students, Mathew has served as Top Dog for Watch D.O.G.S., a volunteer father-engagement program. He has also participated on a PTO board, organized community activities, and coached youth sports. He believes in service, accountability, thoughtful decision-making, and leaving institutions stronger for future generations.

A lifelong learner, Mathew enjoys studying history and anthropology. He also enjoys staying active by hiking and mountain biking in Arizona’s beautiful desert. Above all, Mathew and his wife and high school sweetheart are grateful for the life they have built together and cherish spending time with their daughters.

Statement:

Mathew’s decision to run for the Kyrene Governing Board began with the announcement that several schools would close. He had friends serving on the district’s long-term planning committee, so he followed the process from the beginning. As the plans unfolded, he became increasingly concerned about what would happen to the closed facilities, especially since some had recently received taxpayer-funded capital improvements. There did not appear to be a clear long-term plan for what would happen to those public assets after the schools closed, and the criteria used to select the schools did not seem clear or consistently applied. This raised concerns about the district’s stewardship of community resources.

Mathew believes public education is one of the most important services a community provides. Strong schools prepare students for work, citizenship, and life. The opportunities available to the next generation will depend on the decisions made today.

He is running to help Kyrene improve its long-term planning, strengthen public confidence, and connect its spending to clear needs and measurable results. With only about six out of ten eligible local students attending a Kyrene school, he believes the district needs to understand why families choose other options while doing a better job of sharing what Kyrene schools have to offer.

In his professional work, Mathew helps governments, businesses, and other organizations align their goals, people, resources, plans, and budgets. He wants to bring that experience to the Board and help Kyrene make thoughtful decisions that serve students, employees, taxpayers, and the broader community.

Mathew tries to live by the idea, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Running for office is one way he can put that belief into practice. It is also an opportunity to show his daughters that when something matters, it is our civic duty to get involved, take responsibility, and do our part to make it better.

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.	-*	Mathew supports increased school funding but believes it can be achieved through responsible budgeting and prioritization without necessarily raising state or local taxes.
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.	-*	Mathew respects Arizona voters’ support for choice but believes every public dollar, regardless of education setting, must face equal scrutiny and accountability.
6. Making available books and instructional materials that include sexually explicit images and themes in school classrooms and libraries.	-*	Mathew believes materials must be age-appropriate. Explicit content does not belong in K–8 schools, but anatomy and health instruction should be available with parental consent.
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.	-
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).	-*	Mathew believes teacher pay should be based on merit, reflect credentials, and include annual cost-of-living adjustments, as is common across other professional industries.
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.	-
10. Teaching what is known as diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI); social, emotional learning (SEL); or critical race theory (CRT) in public schools.	-*	Mathew believes these different concepts should not be treated as the same. He supports age-appropriate SEL that helps students become self-aware, responsible, and engaged citizens.
11. Requiring each district and charter school to post online a list of all curriculum and instructional materials being used in the classroom.	-*	Mathew supports posting curricula online for transparency but believes posting all instructional materials could burden teachers and limit the resources available to students.