Pam Kirby

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Pam Kirby

Prior offices:

Scottsdale Unified Governing Board At-large

Years in office: 2010 - 2018

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Paradise Valley Town Council

Years in office: 2008 - 2014

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Elections and appointments

Last election

November 4, 2014

Education

Bachelor's

University of Texas

Graduate

University of Phoenix

Contact

Personal website

Pam Kirby was an at-large member of the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board in Arizona. She was first elected to the office on November 2, 2010. She won re-election in the November 4, 2014, general election. She did not seek re-election in 2018.

Biography

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Kirby became a certified public accountant in 1990 after receiving her B.B.A. in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989. She earned an MBA from University of Phoenix in 1997.

Kirby worked for the Marriott Corporation as an information systems audit manager, Arthur Anderson as a business systems consulting manager and PepsiCo/Frito Lay as a finance director.

Kirby was elected to the Paradise Valley Town Council in 2008 and re-elected in 2012. She resigned from the town council in April 2014.

Elections

2014

See also: Scottsdale Unified School District elections (2014)

Two four-year terms were up for general election on November 4, 2014. Three newcomers, Francesca Thomas, Kim Hartmann and Laddie Guy Shane, challenged incumbent Pam Kirby in the at-large election. The other incumbent, Denny Brown, did not file to run for re-election by the general filing deadline.

Results

Scottsdale Unified School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Pam Kirby Incumbent	32.9%	28,096
	Nonpartisan	Kim Hartmann	29.9%	25,546
	Nonpartisan	Francesca Thomas	22.2%	18,987
	Nonpartisan	Laddie Guy Shane	14.9%	12,762
Total Votes				85,391
Source: Maricopa County Recorder, "General Elections Election Results," accessed December 29, 2014

Endorsements

Kirby was endorsed by the following:

• Scott LeMarr, Paradise Valley Mayor
• Michael Collins, Paradise Valley Vice Mayor
• Lisa Trueblood, Paradise Valley Town Council
• Molly Holzer, former SUSD Governing Board member
• Jennifer Petersen, former SUSD Governing Board member
• Former Sen. Barbara Leff (R-11)
• John Biera, former principal at Coronado and Arcadia high schools
• John Kriekard, former Paradise Valley superintendent and SUSD principal

2010

Scottsdale Unified School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Pam Kirby	45.5%	36,144
	Nonpartisan	Denny Brown	27.1%	21,485
	Nonpartisan	Dieter R. Schaefer	27%	21,460
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.4%	331
Total Votes				79,420
Source: Maricopa County Recorder, "General Election November 2, 2010, Final Official Results," November 17, 2010

Campaign themes

2014

Kirby provided the following statement to the Maricopa County Education Service Agency:

“	As parents and residents of the Scottsdale Unified School District, we desire a quality education for our children. We must ensure our schools have the tools and resources to create an exceptional learning environment for our kids. That’s why I ran for a seat on the Scottsdale Unified School District board four years ago. I’ve worked to advocate for individualized instruction so teachers can teach and students can learn. I’ve encouraged the Board to scrutinize every aspect of the budget so we can balance the interests of taxpayers, parents and educators to make sure our children get the best our dollars can pay for. And I’ve encouraged the district to make sure we attract, retain and reward the best teaching talent available. I’m running for re-election to the Board because I want to continue to work to accomplish these goals and make sure Scottsdale Unified School District is focused on results in the classroom. I want to continue to serve as an advocate for fiscal responsibility and holding administration accountable for educational excellence and responsible use of our taxpayer dollars. My priorities for serving on the board are: Improve communication among parents, teachers, administrators and the rest of the community to increase transparency and create more understanding and trust. Win local control and autonomy for our schools. We have to foster pride and ownership of SUSD schools and reconnect with all stakeholders. We need to champion a culture where principals and teachers can advocate for and represent the community they serve. Effective empowerment requires strong campus leadership and a resolve to grant quality teachers the autonomy so they can target instruction to meet the needs of the individual child. Stake out a path for excellence in education. We must stay focused, in everything we do, on our overall goal of preparing students for academic success in the short term and for meaningful and productive lives in the long term. Fund our priorities and put them into action. Academic achievement happens in the classroom. Re-directing dollars to the classroom means reducing class sizes, recruiting and retaining the very best in the field of education, and more teacher pay for quality teachers. Manage finances to support our priorities, and be proactive and rigorous about fiscal responsibility. These have been, and will continue to be, tough fiscal times. It’s important to continue to advocate with the state legislature for adequate funding. However, more money is not the only solution to better schools. We must maximize the resources and revenue we have so that the community will trust in its investment in our schools. I’m asking for your support to continue to be an advocate for better education and increased focus on the classroom in the Scottsdale Unified School District. Together, we can make our schools the best possible learning environment for our children.	”
—Pam Kirby (2014)

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Pam + Kirby + Scottsdale + Unified + School + District"

Pam Kirby News Feed

See also

• Scottsdale Unified School District, Arizona
• Scottsdale Unified School District elections (2014)

External links

• Scottsdale Unified School District
• Office website
• Campaign website
• Facebook campaign website
• Twitter feed