Ballot Math / School districts / Isaac Elementary
School board race and measure: Isaac Elementary School District

Isaac Elementary: the board that presided over a financial collapse asks to keep its seats, and to sell two schools

November 3, 2026 general election. Isaac Elementary School District No. 5, in the Maryvale area of Phoenix, went through a financial crisis in 2025 that put it under state receivership, per Arizona Republic reporting. Both incumbents on this ballot were on the board through that period. A separate question asks permission to sell or lease two elementary school sites.
How this race works: two of the board's five seats are up, both for four-year terms. Three candidates are on the ballot; vote for up to two and the top two win. Board service is unpaid.

Patricia Jimenez (incumbent)

A lifelong Maryvale resident who has served on this board for over 22 years and is its current president, a role she has held 13 times. She attended Phoenix College. She is also running for Phoenix City Council in this election cycle, per the Republic.
  • Her account of the crisis: she says the district passed a successful bond under her leadership, and that the financial crisis was caused by a system collapse rather than by any one person.

Harry Garewal (incumbent)

First elected to this board in 2018. He moved to Phoenix in 1970 and began coaching Isaac sports teams in 1982. He was president and CEO of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Minority Business Enterprise Center, later CEO of Trin & Associates, and previously served on the Phoenix Union High School District governing board.
  • Stated priorities: raising student achievement, protecting classroom dollars, and preparing students for life outside school.

Savannah Galaviz

Born and raised in Phoenix and educated in the Cartwright Elementary district. She works as a librarian in the Madison Elementary School District, is secretary for the Legislative District 26 Democrats, and is a member of the Arizona Library Association, the Arizona Education Association, and the National Education Association Hispanic Caucus. She posted frequently about Isaac's financial crisis in 2025.
  • Stated priorities: rebuilding trust with the community.

The context: receivership

Isaac's 2025 financial crisis was severe enough that the district was placed under state receivership, and neighboring Tolleson Union High School District effectively loaned it $25 million to help keep its doors open, a loan that became a controversy in Tolleson Union's own election. The practical question in this race is accountability: the two incumbents offer experience and a systems explanation; the challenger ran on the crisis itself.

The site sale question: Moya and P.T. Coe elementary schools

The district asks permission to sell, lease, or exchange two parcels: Moya Elementary School, about 10.69 acres at 406 N. 41st Avenue, Phoenix, and P.T. Coe Elementary School, about 11.44 acres at 3801 W. Roanoke Avenue, Phoenix. A yes grants authority only: no buyer, no price, and no deadline is named, and each transaction still needs governing board action. The district's pamphlet states the sales would have no additional tax impact. A no keeps both properties in district hands unless the district asks again. For a district under financial supervision, what any proceeds would fund is the question to ask the board; the pamphlet language linked below is the document of record.

Verification notes

  • School board campaigns file finance reports with Maricopa County. No raised or spent totals for these campaigns appeared in the coverage we reviewed; we print no totals rather than guess.
  • The receivership characterization is from Republic reporting on the 2025 crisis; the district's current receivership status and the schedule for exiting it were not updated in the sources reviewed for this page.
  • No proposition number for the Isaac site sale question was found in the sources we checked.

How to vote without getting your ballot rejected

  • Mail it by Tuesday, October 27, 2026. After that day, do not mail it: use a drop box or a vote center instead.
  • It must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. Postmarks do not count.
  • Sign and date the affidavit envelope, and write a current phone number on it.
  • Leaving any item blank is allowed. The board race and the site sale are separate items; answer either, both, or none.

Sources

Ballot Math: analysis only, no endorsements. Every candidate in this race got the same template: background, stated priorities, the record that exists, and honest notes where the record is thin.