Ballot Math / School districts / Scottsdale Unified
School board race and measures: Scottsdale Unified School District

Scottsdale Unified: two board seats, a $375 million bond, and a district deciding how small to get

November 3, 2026 general election. Nonpartisan, at large: vote for up to two for the board. Scottsdale Unified School District No. 48 serves Scottsdale and parts of Paradise Valley, Phoenix, and Tempe. Enrollment has fallen below 19,000 after a loss of roughly 6,000 students over a decade, and the current board has voted to close four schools. The same ballot carries a $375 million bond and a property sale question.
How this race works: two of the board's five seats are up, both for four-year terms. The expiring seats belong to Amy Carney (running again) and Carine Werner (not running). Three candidates are on the ballot; vote for up to two and the top two win. Board service is unpaid. Carney and Jeanne Beasley are campaigning together.

Amy Carney (incumbent)

Former journalist and author of the parenting book "Parent on Purpose." She moved to Arizona in 1998 and lives in Paradise Valley; all six of her children have attended Scottsdale Unified schools. On the board she has publicly opposed the school closures and advocated for parental rights in education.
  • Stated priorities (her candidate statement): putting students first, partnering with parents, getting more resources into classrooms and to quality teachers, and a focus on core academics: reading, writing, math, and science, with transparency and accountability.
  • On closures: she voted against closing Pima Elementary and Echo Canyon, saying the process was flawed and that closures should be a last resort after growth plans and alternatives are exhausted.
  • On the bond: she voted to put it on the ballot and supports it, noting bond dollars are restricted to capital needs and cannot fund salaries or operating expenses.

Jeanne Beasley

Litigation paralegal with about 20 years of experience; she recently obtained a substitute teaching certificate. Her three children attended district schools, she volunteered in the district, and she serves on the district's audit committee. She ran for the board two years ago and lost. She is campaigning with Carney.
  • Stated priorities: academic achievement, fiscal responsibility, and thriving neighborhood schools, including addressing academic challenges and preventing school closures. In her words, "We cannot address declining enrollment simply by making the district smaller."
  • On the bond: she declined to endorse the $375 million request when the Scottsdale Progress asked the candidates, the only one of the three who did not back it.

Dr. Jennifer Johnson

Career educator: teacher and principal in Glendale Union High School District, a vice president at Grand Canyon University, and deputy superintendent at the Arizona Department of Education under Superintendent John Huppenthal. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership and public policy from Arizona State University.
  • Stated priorities: "Strong Schools, Strong Community, Strong Future": healthy and academically competitive neighborhood schools, and preparing students for life after graduation. On closures she emphasizes collaborating with the community.
  • On the bond: she gave it strong support in the Scottsdale Progress candidate questionnaire.

The context: closures and a shrinking district

Superintendent Scott Menzel told the board on October 6, 2026 that the district has lost some 6,000 students over the last decade and enrollment has dipped below 19,000. The board has closed Pima and Echo Canyon elementary schools, and Copper Ridge and Laguna are next in line. Carney and Werner, often on the losing end of 3-2 votes, voted against both rounds of closures. Whoever wins these two seats will vote on the next round, and on how any bond money is sequenced.

The bond: $375 million

In one sentence: Scottsdale Unified may borrow $375 million for facility renovations, learning environment improvements, technology, safety and security, and transportation, repaid through the secondary property tax. The board called the election on May 12, 2026 by a 5 to 0 vote.

The math for your household

About $73 a year for 23 years, on a $250,000 home

That is the estimate reported by the Arizona Republic and the Scottsdale Progress for a home valued at $250,000. It works out to roughly $0.29 per $100 of net assessed value. A home assessed at twice that value pays roughly twice as much. For scale, this ask is about 63 percent larger than the $229 million bond Scottsdale voters approved ten years ago.

A YES vote

The district may sell up to $375 million in bonds for the capital program above, and your secondary tax bill includes the new debt service for about 23 years.

A NO vote

No new borrowing. Aging facilities are handled out of the regular capital budget, deferred, or the district returns with a smaller or different ask.

The strongest case for YES

  • The buildings are old and the bill is real. Supporters, including Carney and Johnson, argue the capital needs (roofs, systems, safety, technology) do not shrink just because enrollment does, and bonds are the only funding mechanism Arizona provides at this scale.
  • The board vote was unanimous. A board that splits 3-2 on closures voted 5 to 0 to send this to voters, which supporters read as a needs-based ask rather than a factional one.

The strongest case for NO

  • A shrinking district is asking to reinvest in every campus. Critics ask why a district closing schools needs a bond 63 percent bigger than its last one, and note Beasley, herself a closure skeptic, would not endorse it.
  • Interest is part of the price. $375 million of principal carries years of interest on top, paid by the same taxpayers.

The property sale question

A separate question asks permission to sell, lease, or exchange three district properties: the Cholla Campus, the Apache Campus, and Oak Learning Academy. A yes grants authority only. It names no buyer and no price, sets no deadline, and does not require a sale. Each transaction would still need governing board action. A no means the district keeps the properties unless it asks again. Site sale questions carry no direct tax impact.

Verification notes

  • School board campaigns file finance reports with Maricopa County. No raised or spent totals for these three campaigns appeared in the coverage we reviewed; we print no totals rather than guess.
  • No proposition numbers for the Scottsdale bond or the site sale were found in the district or county sources we checked; several Maricopa districts present their questions unnumbered. The bond's estimated tax rate per $100 of assessed value was not published in the sources we found; the household figure above is the Republic's and the Progress's estimate.
  • Beasley's bond position is from the Scottsdale Progress candidate Q&A, where she refused to endorse the request while Carney and Johnson supported it.

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. In the board race you may vote for one candidate, two, or none; it does not affect the rest of your ballot.

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.