Matthew Riffey

Matthew Riffey is an at-large member of the Queen Creek Unified School District in Arizona. He assumed office on January 1, 2021. His current term ends on January 1, 2029.

Riffey ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the Queen Creek Unified School District in Arizona. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Riffey completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Matthew Riffey was born in San Jose, California. He earned a high school diploma from Montezuma-Cortez High School and a graduate degree from Western International University in 2010. He also attended Mesa State College. His career experience includes working in manufacturing.^[1]

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Queen Creek Unified School District, At-large (3 seats)

Incumbent Jennifer Revolt, incumbent Patty Campbell, and incumbent Matthew Riffey defeated Heidi Lee and David Dehority in the general election for Queen Creek Unified School District, At-large on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Jennifer Revolt (Nonpartisan)	23.2	20,908
✔	Submit photo	Patty Campbell (Nonpartisan)	21.3	19,166
✔	Submit photo	Matthew Riffey (Nonpartisan)	20.7	18,646
	Submit photo	Heidi Lee (Nonpartisan)	19.0	17,095
	Submit photo	David Dehority (Nonpartisan)	15.4	13,818
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	342

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 89,975
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Nicholas Tuley (Nonpartisan)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Riffey in this election.

2020

General election

General election for Queen Creek Unified School District, At-large (3 seats)

Incumbent Jennifer Revolt, Patty Campbell, and Matthew Riffey defeated Sean Bohart and Taryn Haight in the general election for Queen Creek Unified School District, At-large on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Jennifer Revolt (Nonpartisan)	26.6	16,612
✔	Submit photo	Patty Campbell (Nonpartisan)	25.4	15,882
✔	Submit photo	Matthew Riffey (Nonpartisan)	22.2	13,884
	Submit photo	Sean Bohart (Nonpartisan)	18.6	11,655
	Submit photo	Taryn Haight (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	3.3	2,080
		Other/Write-in votes	3.8	2,384

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 62,497
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Matthew Riffey completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Riffey'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.

My name is Matt Riffey and I am running for re-election to the QCUSD Governing Board. My family and I have lived in the Queen Creek area for about 20 years. We have had two daughters graduate from QCHS, and one from Benjamin Franklin High School. I believe that our experiences with both a traditional and charter school have given me valuable insights. I am running to maintain involvement in the community that I live in and to try to help do my small part in shaping the future local education system by supporting kids/parents, teachers/staff and administration.

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?

Students, and their success, should be the driving factor in all decisions we make as a board. I have done my best to make that my driving focus in the past four years.
Our district is a vibrant community that is growing at an incredible rate. Parents in the community have many choices with respect to where to send their children for school. One size does not fit all and the Queen Creek area is able to serve the needs of many different families. I love that about our area.
Politics and toxicity have taken over our nation, states, communities and now school districts. I want to keep that out of our schools and allow students in this district to learn in a healthy environment of different ideas, but not an environment of ideology.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Keeping students safe

Providing a quality educational environment for students
Limiting or eliminating cell phone use at school
Supporting teachers by supporting pay/benefit increases whenever possible

Maintaining the great momentum we have here in QCUSD.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to my dad. He is 89 years old and still with us. He taught me hard work, honestly, integrity and so many other things. He is a wonderful dad and I look up to him a lot.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

It is a heavy lift and a long read but I loved the book Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand

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

Responsiveness to parents- Although, we will not always agree on topics, I think it is important to be responsive to parent inquiries and issues.

Self Control- It is sometimes difficult to remember that as an elected official, that we are being observed. The things we say in public, at board meetings and on social media will be scrutinized by those in the community. This has been made abundantly clear to me based on watching one of our board members struggle with blowback from comments made.

Self Awareness- The ability to look inward and understand that what one is saying might not be accurate is critical. Having all the facts on a topic is important to maintain credibility rather than to go off and make inaccurate statements.

Integrity- Staying true to ones values while trying to compromise on an issue is difficult. Compromise is not a bad word as some of us seem to think. I believe most issues require some give and take to get things done. T

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am kind and 99% of the time level headed.

I will listen to people I disagree with.
I have a reasonable amount of intelligence.
I support students and their education.
I understand the importance of a good teacher and how they can change the life and direction of a kid.

I don't like drama.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to be remembered as a kind person who was an advocate for kids and people in general.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The Iran Hostage Crisis starting in 1979. I was 10 years old but I remember the gravity of the situation.

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

Summer maintenance worker at the school district in my home town. I had that job for four summers.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Anything by Ken Follett.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Superman. The ability to fly and weld with your eyes would be excellent.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

I am stuck in the '80's music. The last song that I can recall listening to was Round and Round by Ratt!

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Coming to terms with the fact that everyone does not agree with me. I am still dealing with this. :)

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

Accountability, policy development and support, budget approval, superintendent interaction and evaluation, parental escalation point, curriculum oversight. etc.

Who are your constituents?

I would say the whole community are our constituents. Students, parents, teachers, staff, taxpayers. Everyone is impacted by a school in their community.

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

Listen, listen, listen. As a board, we cannot always solve the problem for people but we certainly want to hear about issues that are affecting either their education or job satisfaction.
People have to be able to trust that their words will not be used against them or that any retaliation will occur. I pledge to ensure that anything like that does not happen. I want to be trusted by staff and community members to address their problems in confidence if requested.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

I believe that listening to people is the best way to build relationships. When community members and parents have questions and concerns I try to be as responsive as possible. I attend community and school events to make myself available.
I think our biggest stakeholders are parents and students and always welcome dialogue with them.

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

Good teaching is when kids are inspired to learn and also inspired to put in the effort. Measuring teachers is difficult. There are a myriad of variables with respect to student outcomes: student effort, home environment, course difficulty, teacher experience etc. I was talking to some retired teachers the other day and we were discussing how monumentally difficult it would be to measure teachers fairly. I would love to measure teacher effectiveness if it could be done in a fair manner.

In what areas would you like to expand curriculum? For example, do you see a need for advanced technical training or apprenticeships? What sort of innovative programming would you advance if given the opportunity?

We are very fortunate to have EVIT available to kids in the district. In addition there are several CTE programs students can participate in to put them ahead. I would encourage continued expansion of these programs to enable students who want to to leave high school early with a certificate or proper training, to do so.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

I would love to see equality in the JLBC formula. Currently there is a discrepancy with how much charter and public schools receive. Both charter and public schools can apply for federal funding. Only public schools can call for a bond or override at this time. These are very dependent on the voter climate in a district. If there were equality in the amount all schools receive from the state it would go a long way in addressing funding.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

The idea that all of our staff and students deserve to be in a safe and secure environment should not have to be said. Schools, of all places, should be safe and invite learning, not fear. I would advocate that the mission is to keep staff and students as safe as possible with the resources given.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

I would encourage people who are struggling with mental health to first talk to a trusted person. The next level up in my opinion would be to talk to their religious leader if they are active in a church. The next escalation point could be a school counselor or coach. Finally professional help would be the next logical step. Admittedly, the order of these steps don't matter as much as the need to talk to someone and get help.

Mental health is a real problem for so many of us. It is not something we can really see in others but it is there. We should all strive to be sensitive to what others might be going through and lead with kindness.

I am impressed by our districts mentoring programs for students and new teachers. It is critical to have a person in your corner as an advocate.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Did you hear about the man who bought a wig for $1?

It was a small price toupee.

What existing district policies would you like to change, or what new policies would you like to implement?

I think that to avoid a lot of problems, there should be a social media policy that applies to ALL participants in the district from students to school board members.

I would like to see stronger enforcement of existing cell phone policies. That will take parental support.

Describe your ideal learning environment for students.

This is different for each student but I believe that a universal truth is that cell phones/social media have probably done more damage to the learning environment that any other distraction in generations. In a perfect situation, I would like to have cell phones put away at school with the exception of lunch breaks.

How do you feel like your school district handled the coronavirus pandemic? What, if anything, would you do differently in the future?

QCUSD was one of the first districts to return to school. I was not on the board at that time to make that vote but I certainly supported it. I was able to vote yes on eliminating the mask mandate in the district.
It is very easy to look back on these decisions and say I would 100% do that again. I have the luxury of knowing that it all worked out. If something like this were to happen again, I would take the same thoughtful approach, listen to community members and make an informed decision.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district?

Being present is the best way to do this. I will be available by email or even in person if needed. I was a parent and understand how hard it is to be objective when it comes to our children. It's important to be to be able to hear people and act as needed to find acceptable solutions.

What are your preferred strategies for faculty, staff, and administration recruitment?

We have great staff, faculty and admin. We are supporting an override at this time to ensure we are able to recruit and retain the very best people for any open positions in the district. Competitive compensation, communication and respect are what I will always work towards.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

100% for financial transparency. The funds used to perform the day to day operations of a school district come from tax payers. As one of those taxpayers, I am aware of the need to watch spending and ensure that our district keeps itself in check. I am proud of QCUSD in that the district has won financial transparency awards for the past 8-9 years. Districts are closely watched and audited, which is important to maintaining the public trust.
There are always people on the fringes that cry malfeasance, corruption and waste. I'll admit I was in that camp myself prior to getting on the school board. Sadly, this thinking is usually a product of misinformation. We can disagree how funds should be allocated but that disagreement does not indicate wrongdoing, but rather conflicting priorities.

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

Matthew Riffey did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

External links

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Candidate

Queen Creek Unified School District, At-large

Personal

Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 7, 2024

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 7, 2024

[1]

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Matthew Riffey

Contents

Biography

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Queen Creek Unified School District, At-large (3 seats)

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

2020

General election

General election for Queen Creek Unified School District, At-large (3 seats)

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

2020

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

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2024 Election analysis

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