Vail Unified School District, Arizona, elections

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Vail Unified School District
District details
School board members: 5
Students: 14,533 (2022-2023)
Schools: 24 (2022-2023)
Website: Link

Vail Unified School District is a school district in Arizona (Pima County). During the 2023 school year, 14,533 students attended one of the district's 24 schools.

This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.

Jump to a section:

Elections School board Location Budget Academic performance Students Staff Schools

Elections

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• 2024
• 2022
• 2020
• 2018
• 2016
• 2014

Vail Unified School District, At-large

General election

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

Incumbent Allison Pratt, incumbent Christopher King, and incumbent Callie Tippett defeated Laura Moore and John Mothershed in the general election for Vail Unified School District, At-large on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Allison Pratt (Nonpartisan)	24.8	20,173
✔	Submit photo	Christopher King (Nonpartisan)	23.1	18,792
✔	Submit photo	Callie Tippett (Nonpartisan)	21.6	17,582
		Laura Moore (Nonpartisan)	19.1	15,535
	Submit photo	John Mothershed (Nonpartisan)	10.7	8,693
		Other/Write-in votes	0.8	667

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 81,442
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Vail Unified School District, At-large

General election

General election for Vail Unified School District, At-large (2 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Vail Unified School District, At-large on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jennifer Anderson (Nonpartisan)	25.9	11,699
✔		Edward Buster (Nonpartisan)	24.4	11,050
		Anastasia Tsatsakis (Nonpartisan)	18.2	8,217
	Submit photo	Leroy Smith Jr. (Nonpartisan)	14.5	6,566
	Submit photo	Geraldine Kleber (Nonpartisan)	9.5	4,312
	Submit photo	Jayme Morris (Nonpartisan)	6.9	3,135
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6	266

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 45,245
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Angelica Hemme (Nonpartisan)
• Justin Walker (Nonpartisan)

Vail Unified School District, At-large

General election

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

Incumbent Allison Pratt, incumbent Callie Tippett, and Christopher King defeated Andre Mixon and Kim Fargusson in the general election for Vail Unified School District, At-large on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Allison Pratt (Nonpartisan)	26.8	19,888
✔	Submit photo	Callie Tippett (Nonpartisan)	25.2	18,683
✔	Submit photo	Christopher King (Nonpartisan)	17.3	12,835
	Submit photo	Andre Mixon (Nonpartisan)	16.1	11,971
	Submit photo	Kim Fargusson (Nonpartisan)	13.9	10,320
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	513

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 74,210
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Vail Unified School District, At-large

General election

The general election was canceled. Jon Aitken (Nonpartisan) and Claudia Anderson (Nonpartisan) won without appearing on the ballot.

Vail Unified School District, At-large

General election

General election for Vail Unified School District, At-large

Incumbent Allison Pratt won election in the general election for Vail Unified School District, At-large on November 8, 2016.

		Candidate
✔		Allison Pratt (Nonpartisan)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Vail Unified School District, At-large

General election

General election for Vail Unified School District, At-large

Incumbent Jon Aitken and incumbent Claudia Anderson won election in the general election for Vail Unified School District, At-large on November 4, 2014.

		Candidate
✔		Jon Aitken (Nonpartisan)
✔		Claudia Anderson (Nonpartisan)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Election rules

View election rules

 

Election dates and frequency

See also: Rules governing school board election dates and timing

School board general elections in Arizona are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.

See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-424 & 16-211

Election system

School board members in Arizona are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.

See law: Arizona Statute Section 16-211

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Rules governing party labels in school board elections

School board elections in Arizona are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates.

See law: Arizona Statutes Section 15-422 and Section 16-502

Winning an election

School board candidates that receive the largest number of votes in the general election are elected to office.

See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-424

Term length and staggering

School board members in Arizona have four-year terms. Certain school board members have initial two-year terms when a new district is formed or when a district is changing the number of board members in order to establish a staggered election schedule.

See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-424

As close to half of school board members as possible are elected every two years. Upon the formation of a new district, all board members are elected at one election and the initial terms of the two winning candidates receiving lower numbers of votes are shortened to two years to achieve staggering.

See law: Arizona Statue Section 15-424

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

School board members are elected at large.

See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-427 & 15-429

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

The school board candidate filing deadline in Arizona is 120 days before the election date.

See law: Arizona Statue Section 16-311

School board candidates can circulate their nomination petitions starting when the filling window opens 150 days before the election, which is 30 days before the filing deadline.

See law: Arizona Statue Section 16-311

Newly elected school board members officially take office at the first organizational meeting of the school board, which must be held between the first and 15th day of January following the general election.

See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-321

 

About the district

School board

The Vail Unified School District consists of five members serving four-year terms. To find information about school board meetings, click here.

List of school board members

Name	Year assumed office	Year term ends
Allison Pratt		2029
Callie Tippett		2029
Christopher King	2021	2029
Jennifer Anderson	2023	2027
Edward Buster	2023	2027

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District map

School district map

Overlapping state house districts

Vail Unified School District

Office Name	Current Officeholder	Party	% School District Covered	% Other District Covered
Arizona House of Representatives District 19	Lupe Diaz	Republican Party	54%	2%
Arizona House of Representatives District 19	Gail Griffin	Republican Party	54%	2%
Arizona House of Representatives District 17	Rachel Keshel	Republican Party	41%	13%
Arizona House of Representatives District 17	Kevin Volk	Democratic Party	41%	13%
Arizona House of Representatives District 21	Consuelo Hernandez	Democratic Party	5%	1%
Arizona House of Representatives District 21	Stephanie Stahl Hamilton	Democratic Party	5%	1%

The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Revenue
• Expenditures

Revenue, 2020-2021

SOURCE	AMOUNT	AMOUNT PER STUDENT	PERCENT
Federal:	$13,102,000	$977	9%
Local:	$51,933,000	$3,873	36%
State:	$77,848,000	$5,806	55%
Total:	$142,883,000	$10,657

Expenditures, 2020-2021

TYPE	AMOUNT	AMOUNT PER STUDENT	PERCENT
Total Expenditures:	$148,935,000	$10,917
Total Current Expenditures:	$113,953,000	$8,353
Instructional Expenditures:	$61,045,000	$4,474	41%
Student and Staff Support:	$18,331,000	$1,343	12%
Administration:	$12,321,000	$903	8%
Operations, Food Service, Other:	$22,256,000	$1,631	15%
Total Capital Outlay:	$26,175,000	$1,918
Construction:	$16,163,000	$1,184
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other:	$4,032,000	$295
Interest on Debt:	$4,362,000	$319

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."

• Mathematics
• Reading/language arts
• Graduation rates

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2020-2021	52	55-59	35-39	43	20-29	54	58
2018-2019	71	85-89	55-59	66	40-59	69	76
2017-2018	73	80-84	60-64	68	40-49	73	77
2016-2017	70	75-79	57	64	40-49		75
2015-2016	64	70-74	46	56	40-49		70
2014-2015	60	65-69	39	53	30-39		65
2013-2014	84	85-89	72	80	60-69		87
2012-2013	84	90-94	73	80	70-79		87
2011-2012	84	90-94	75	78	70-79		87
2010-2011	85	90-94	80	81	>=80		88

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2020-2021	57	60-64	40-44	50	40-49	60	62
2018-2019	68	75-79	55-59	61	40-59	67	73
2017-2018	67	75-79	55-59	60	40-49	69	72
2016-2017	64	65-69	55	58	40-49		68
2015-2016	60	65-69	45	52	30-39		66
2014-2015	51	55-59	32	43	20-29		57
2013-2014	92	90-94	86	90	70-79		94
2012-2013	92	90-94	86	90	80-89		93
2011-2012	92	>=95	86	89	>=90		94
2010-2011	92	90-94	89	89	>=80		94

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2019-2020	89	>=80	>=90	88	PS	80-89	89
2018-2019	90	>=90	>=90	90	>=50	>=80	90
2017-2018	90	>=80	>=90	92	PS	80-89	89
2016-2017	92	>=80	>=90	90-94	PS		92
2015-2016	94	>=80	>=90	90-94	PS		96
2014-2015	91	>=80	>=90	85-89	>=50		91
2013-2014	86	60-79	80-89	80-84	>=50		90
2012-2013	88	>=80	>=90	85-89	>=50		88
2011-2012	92	>=80	>=90	90-94	>=50		92
2010-2011	91	>=90	>=90	85-89	PS		93

Students

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Enrollment
• Demographics

Year	Enrollment	Year-to-year change (%)
2022-2023	14,533	1.9
2021-2022	14,258	4.3
2020-2021	13,642	-1.1
2019-2020	13,792	2.9
2018-2019	13,393	7.2
2017-2018	12,424	-3.4
2016-2017	12,848	4.6
2015-2016	12,254	0.4
2014-2015	12,201	3.5
2013-2014	11,779	2.9
2012-2013	11,440	13.2
2011-2012	9,928	-6.9
2010-2011	10,615	5.1
2009-2010	10,069	4.7
2008-2009	9,594	5.9
2007-2008	9,027	10.2
2006-2007	8,109	9.9
2005-2006	7,305	11.0
2004-2005	6,500	13.1
2003-2004	5,648	9.7
2002-2003	5,102	18.2
2001-2002	4,173	20.3
2000-2001	3,324	8.4
1999-2000	3,045	0.0

Racial Demographics, 2022-2023

RACE	Vail Unified School District (%)	Arizona K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.3	4.2
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander	1.7	3.1
Black	3.8	5.7
Hispanic	38.2	47.6
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.4
Two or More Races	7.2	4.2
White	48.6	34.9

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Staff

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Teachers
• Administrators
• Other staff

As of the 2022-2023 school year, Vail Unified School District had 788.92 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 18.42.

Teachers, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten:	13.83
Kindergarten:	21.28
Elementary:	390.89
Secondary:	362.92
Total:	788.92

Vail Unified School District employed 38.11 district administrators and 63.58 school administrators as of the 2022-2023 school year.

Administrators, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators:	38.11
District Administrative Support:	76.47
School Administrators:	63.58
School Administrative Support:	72.13

Other staff, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides:	422.58
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors:	3.00
Total Guidance Counselors:	30.43
Elementary Guidance Counselors:	10.19
Secondary Guidance Counselors:	20.24
Librarians/Media Specialists:	29.83
Library/Media Support:	0.00
Student Support Services:	256.85
Other Support Services:	258.64

Schools

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

The Vail Unified School District operates 24 schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

List of schools

SCHOOL NAME	NUMBER OF STUDENTS	GRADES
Acacia Elementary School	743	KG-5
Andrada Polytechnic High School	652	9-12
Cienega High School	1,913	9-12
Civano Community K-8 School	124	KG-8
Copper Ridge Elementary	398	PK-5
Corona Foothills Middle School	606	6-8
Cottonwood Elementary School	505	KG-6
Desert Sky Middle School	764	6-8
Desert Willow Elementary School	712	KG-5
Empire High School	876	9-12
Esmond Station School	740	PK-8
Mesquite Elementary School	736	KG-5
Mica Mountain High	1,161	9-12
Ocotillo Ridge Elementary	652	PK-5
Old Vail Middle School	798	6-8
Pantano High School	88	9-12
Pantano Middle School	0
Rincon Vista Middle School	699	6-8
Senita Valley Elementary School	704	PK-8
Sycamore Elementary School	702	KG-5
Vail Academy & High School	554	KG-12
Vail Blended Learning	74	6-12
Vail Inclusive Preschool	225	PK-PK
Vail Innovation Center	107	KG-12

About school boards

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School Boards	Education Policy	Local Politics	Arizona
List of school districts in Arizona Arizona school board elections, 2025 School board elections, 2025 School board recalls School board authority in Arizona	Arizona Department of Education Public education in Arizona	Municipal government Local courts Local ballot measures Recalls	Arizona Arizona elections, 2025 Arizona State Legislature Arizona state executive offices

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