Armando Montero

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Armando Montero

Nonpartisan

Tempe Union High School District, At-large

Tenure

2021 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

4

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Armando Montero is an at-large member of the Tempe Union High School District in Arizona. He assumed office on January 1, 2021. His current term ends on January 1, 2029.

Montero won re-election for an at-large seat of the Tempe Union High School District in Arizona outright after the general election on November 5, 2024, was canceled.

Biography

Armando Montero is pursuing his bachelor's degree from Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University, with an expected graduation date in 2023. His career experience includes working as a legislative analyst and regional director for the Arizona Students' Association.

Elections

2024

See also: Tempe Union High School District, Arizona, elections (2024)

General election

The general election was canceled. Berdetta Hodge (Nonpartisan), Armando Montero (Nonpartisan), and Nicole Miller (Nonpartisan) won without appearing on the ballot.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Montero in this election.

2020

See also: Tempe Union High School District, Arizona, elections (2020)

General election

General election for Tempe Union High School District, At-large (3 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Tempe Union High School District, At-large on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Berdetta Hodge (Nonpartisan)	15.2	45,236
✔		Armando Montero (Nonpartisan)	14.6	43,516
✔	Submit photo	Sarah Lindsay James (Nonpartisan)	13.9	41,361
		Lori Bastian (Nonpartisan)	13.5	40,148
		Don Fletcher (Nonpartisan)	12.2	36,345
	Submit photo	Paige Reesor (Nonpartisan)	10.7	31,863
		Sandy Lowe (Nonpartisan)	10.5	31,111
		Michael Myrick (Nonpartisan)	9.1	26,969
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	1,039

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 297,588
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Armando Montero did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Armando Montero completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Montero's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Armando Montero is a student at Arizona State University and running for the Tempe Union High School District Governing Board where he graduated from in 2019.

After the past years of advocating and working with the district on behalf of students as a mental health advocate, Armando is running to give students and young people a voice on the board that makes decisions for them on a daily basis as well as focus on suicide prevention, school equity, transparency, and supporting educators. As a recent graduate who understands what our students face, he is ready to bring a fresh perspective to the issues that affect Tempe Union families.

As a senior in the district, Armando introduced a resolution calling for more mental health support for students which has now passed more than a dozen districts statewide. He also created and chaired a student advisory committee to bring student voices into the discussions. He has experience working with district and board leadership to solve many issues the district has faced.

Armando is currently the Director of ASU Affairs with the Arizona Students' Association and is proud to be both nationally and locally endorsed by several organizations and elected leaders in the community.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• A school board is a team of five members and in order to have the strongest board we must have persepctives that reflect all parts of our Tempe Union community. As a 2019 graduate of the district and someone who has experienced the classroom in recent years, I know what issues our students are facing and have a fresh perspective on how to solve them.
• I have a proven recored of advocating on behalf of student both locally and statewide for more mental health and suicide prevention resources. My generation is facing many unique challenges that requires someone who has direct ties to our student body to have a voice in the discussions that the governing board has, especially on an issue such as mental health.
• I am proud to be both nationally and locally endorsed by organizations and elected officials that recognized the vital perspective and voice that I will bring to Tempe Union. I am running for this board to put partisan politics aside and do what is best for our students, teachers, staff, and families which requires significant time learning and listening to every person in our community to make informed decisions.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Mental Health and Suicide Prevention - after going through my own struggles in high school and losing a close friend of mine to suicide, I first got involved as a mental health advocate. We must take measures to not only provide more availability of resources to our students and teachers, but also to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health by fostering open discussions at the classroom level.

Teacher Retention: As a graduate of our schools, I know that our teachers are the backbone to our schools. They are on the frontlines, investing in the future. My teachers are the reason I am able to be where I am today. I will create strong incentive programs to increase teacher retention, offer competitive compensation and benefits, and create transparency around our compensation system.

School Equity: I will ensure that all students have the same opportunity to have a fair and equitable education. One-size fits all solutions no longer can solve everything. COVID-19 has shows the urgency we must have to increase equity in our schools. We must invest in 1:1 laptop services for our students and create equal access to the AP and dual enrollment program to all seven schools in the district.

Transparency and Community Involvement: I will work to create transparency around our financial activity as well as increase community involvement in our decisions. As a board member, I will actively meet with community members, staff, students, and other stakeholders.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

As an elected official, I would ensure that we do not leave any one out of the conversations that we have at a governing board level. We must be able to listen to all sides of an issue in order to make the most informed and inclusive decisions for everyone in the community. We must be advocates both at the district level, but also at the state level for our public schools and community. Many of the decisions that affect boards are made at the county and state level, so we must be able to advocate beyond the board room for our community.

What legacy would you like to leave?

We have an opportunity to make history in Tempe Union this year by electing someone who has recently graduated from the district and can bring a voice that has never been represented on this board before. My election to this board would hopefully leave a legacy of brining in student voices that are affected by every decision that is made by this governing board.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was with the Arizona Students' Association (a non-partisan, non-profit organization committed to elevating student voices at every level of government) as an intern which I have continued on now as the Regional Director and Legislative Analyst. I have been a part of this organization since 2017 and am proud of all the amazing work we have accomplished related to mental health, civic engagement, equity, and much more.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

A school board member should be someone deeply committed to learning and listening to all community members and stakeholders in order to make the most informed decisions to better the lives of our students, teachers, staff, and families. They should be someone who can bring a perspective to the board that can shed light on many of the issues that are discussed and can put partisan politics aside to make the best decisions possible for the community. This also includes being actively engaged with school staff, administration, and students to understand what is happening on the ground at each of our sites in order to bring light to the areas that need the most attention.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

With only seven schools in the district, we have a unique opportunity to stray away from one-size-fits-all solutions and do what is best for each of our individual sites. Each of our schools are unique in their own ways with their own community. I would take the time to visit each of our sites to talk with parents, teachers, students, staff, and administration to get a deeper understanding of what the needs are for each of our schools. I will actively seek conversations with our community members in order to get all perspectives on the issues before making any decisions.

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

Our teachers know how to best teach. Currently, there are many barriers in place that do not allow teachers to have the needed flexibility in their own classroom in order to provide the best education to their students. When they are burdened with standardized objectives, there is no room for students and teachers to explore the nuances of the topics they are learning. We also need to find ways to support our educators such as offering support for those that explore seeking national board certification so that we have the most committed, experienced, and qualified teachers in the district. That is how we create good teaching and a quality education to every student in the district.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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