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Debbie Cross
2024 - Present
2027
0
Debbie Cross is a member of the Phoenix Union High School District in Arizona, representing Ward 3. She assumed office on December 31, 2024. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.
Cross ran in a special election for an at-large seat of the Phoenix Union High School District in Arizona. She did not appear on the ballot for the special general election on March 11, 2025.
Cross completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Debbie Cross earned a bachelor's degree from Northern Arizona University in 1990. She earned a graduate degree from the University of Phoenix in 2000. Her career experience includes working as a teacher.[1]
Elections
2025
Two seats on the Phoenix Union High School District school board in Arizona were scheduled to be up for special general election on March 11, 2025, but the election was canceled. The election was originally on the ballot on November 5, 2024, but the results for the two at-large seats were voided after election ballots were printed with an error in instructions. The redo election was rescheduled to be held on March 11, 2025, with the same candidates who appeared on the ballot in November.
Candidates Debbie Cross and Aden Ramirez withdrew from the race in January 2025, leaving only two candidates, incumbent Aaron Marquez and candidate Francisco Pastor-Rivera, running for the two at-large seats. United States District Court for the District of Arizona Judge Murray Snow canceled the election following Maricopa County's request that the two remaining candidates be declared the winners. Marquez and Pastor-Rivera received the most votes when the race was on the 2024 ballot.[2]
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Cross in this election.
2024
Two at-large seats on the Phoenix Union High School District school board were on the ballot on November 5, 2024. A consent decree from 1990 states that voters in the district may only vote for one at-large candidate in the at-large race even when two seats are up for election. In the November election, ballots were incorrectly printed with instructions to vote for two candidates instead of one, disobeying the consent decree. United States District Court for the District of Arizona Judge Murray Snow ordered a new mail-in election to be held on March 11, 2025. The candidates who appeared on the November ballot were scheduled to appear on the March ballot, but the race was canceled after Debbie Cross and Aden Ramirez withdrew from the race in January 2025.[3][4] The candidates were:
- Aaron Marquez (incumbent)
- Debbie Cross
- Francisco Pastor-Rivera
- Aden Ramirez
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Cross in this election.
2020
See also: Phoenix Union High School District, Arizona, elections (2020)
General election
General election for Phoenix Union High School District, At-large (2 seats)
Aaron Marquez and incumbent Lela Alston defeated Debbie Cross, Nedra Sheppard, and Girmar Anwar in the general election for Phoenix Union High School District, At-large on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Aaron Marquez (Nonpartisan) | 38.4 | 65,198 |
| ✔ |  | Lela Alston (Nonpartisan) | 29.3 | 49,647 |
 | Debbie Cross (Nonpartisan) | 18.3 | 31,049 | |
| Nedra Sheppard (Nonpartisan) | 8.5 | 14,438 | ||
| Girmar Anwar (Nonpartisan) | 4.8 | 8,101 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 1,167 | ||
| Total votes: 169,600 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Debbie Cross completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cross' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- Enhanced Career and Technical Education (CTE): Expanding CTE classes to support students not pursuing traditional college paths, ensuring access to successful career tracks by all students.
- Improved Support for Teachers and Staff: Lowering student-to-teacher ratios, adding more counselors and social workers and addressing teacher and staff concerns such as health insurance plan choices, stipend equity for teacher assignments and fostering a respectful environment to listen to concerns as a way to improve retention rates.
- School Safety: Improving the process for hiring and training School Resource Officers (SROs) to ensure they are well-selected and trained to support students, staff, and teachers effectively. The primary goal with this is to reduce PUHSD’s reliance of police officers who have not been individually selected and trained by district personnel.
Arizona List
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.
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Debbie Cross completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cross' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- Enhanced Career and Technical Education (CTE): Expanding CTE classes to support students not pursuing traditional college paths, ensuring access to successful career tracks by all students.
- Improved Support for Teachers and Staff: Lowering student-to-teacher ratios, adding more counselors and social workers and addressing teacher and staff concerns such as health insurance plan choices, stipend equity for teacher assignments and fostering a respectful environment to listen to concerns as a way to improve retention rates.
- School Safety: Improving the process for hiring and training School Resource Officers (SROs) to ensure they are well-selected and trained to support students, staff, and teachers effectively. The primary goal with this is to reduce PUHSD’s reliance of police officers who have not been individually selected and trained by district personnel.
Arizona List
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.
2020
Debbie Cross did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 9, 2024
- ↑ The Arizona Republic, "Phoenix school board election redo canceled, federal judge rules," January 13, 2025
- ↑ The Arizona Republic, "Maricopa County must redo Phoenix Union school board election after ballot error," December 12, 2024
- ↑ The Arizona Republic, "Phoenix school board election redo canceled, federal judge rules," January 13, 2025
