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Ray Thiry
From Ballotpedia
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Ray Thiry is an at-large member of the Tempe Elementary School District in Arizona. He assumed office on January 1, 2025. His current term ends on January 1, 2029.
Thiry ran for election for an at-large seat of the Tempe Elementary School District in Arizona. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Thiry completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Ray Thiry was born in Olathe, Kansas. He earned a bachelor's degree in 2007 and a graduate degree in 2015, both from Arizona State University. His career experience includes working as an education specialist and teacher.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Tempe Elementary School District, Arizona, elections (2024)
General election
General election for Tempe Elementary School District, At-large (3 seats)
Incumbent Allison Ewers, incumbent Jim Lemmon, and Ray Thiry defeated Ivan Pemberton in the general election for Tempe Elementary School District, At-large on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Allison Ewers (Nonpartisan) | 33.2 | 28,731 |
| ✔ |  | Jim Lemmon (Nonpartisan)  | 24.7 | 21,393 |
| ✔ |  | Ray Thiry (Nonpartisan) | 24.1 | 20,869 |
| Ivan Pemberton (Nonpartisan) | 17.4 | 15,067 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 556 | ||
| Total votes: 86,616 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Thiry received the following endorsements.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ray Thiry completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Thiry's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a teacher, father, step-father, husband, and musician. Education is responsible for most of the positive aspects of my life, and I am passionate about sharing that experience with others. Strong public schools are the foundation of a strong society, and our school boards need experienced advocates who will work hard for our children.
- My opinions and positions are shaped by my 16 year career in public education, my experience being a parent of public school children, and attaining multiple education degrees.
- Public oversight and accountability are necessary for schools that wish to use tax dollars.
- Children should not be used as pawns in political games, nor as subjects in experiments.
I am passionate about education and the arts.
I look up to my parents, my in-laws, and some of my friend in the local music community. I try to follow the example set by those who value service and put others above themselves.
Integrity, intelligence, compassion, and determination.
Integrity, intelligence, compassion, and grit.
Governing board members provide oversight to the community to ensure our schools are the best they can be.
I would like to be remembered as someone who was thoughtful, honest, and forward-thinking.
I remember Desert Storm and the Persian Gulf war. I was eight years old at the time.
I had several jobs as a kid. My first job was cleaning my mom’s office building on Saturdays, and I did that for about a year. I was 12 years old.
Gangster Warlords by Ioan Grillo is a heart-breaking account of the global drug trade and its impact on society. It’s not an easy read, but it’s a necessary one for those who want to understand the failed war on drugs.
I’m a musician so I have songs in my head all day, every day.
I struggled to find a sense of identity as a teenager. I made a lot of poor decisions in an attempt to fit in. It worked, but I didn’t start to form a true sense of self until I was older.
School District Governing Board members provide oversight to the community to ensure educational objectives are being met and money is being spent appropriately. Public oversight is the most notable difference between district schools and charter/private schools, and the lack of oversight and accountability is the primary reason I oppose using tax dollars for charter/private schools.
My constituents are the residents of north Tempe.
Diversity and differences of opinion are traits to be celebrated. We must create and maintain lasting relationships with community members, listen to their concerns, and respond appropriately to ensure all students and families receive the support they deserve.
I actively seek out new relationships whenever possible. As a board member, I plan to be visible and available - at events, PTA meetings, and through social media. School administrators and PTA members will be important as an immediate target audience.
We measure achievement and growth in schools, and both are necessary. Student growth demonstrates whether or not every child is learning, and achievement benchmarks show whether or not students can meet grade-level expectations. Good teaching takes many forms, and I believe an analysis of student growth is part of a fair and equitable assessment of whether or not a teacher is effective. Further, as test scores are an incomplete measure of effectiveness, it’s important to employ and trust experienced administrators and evaluators to determine whether or not teachers are effective.
I would like to expand curricula to include more modern music/arts offerings - especially in the middle schools. I would also like to see life skills incorporated into current curricula to include financial and postsecondary planning before students enter high school.
Education funding is always an issue in Arizona. I will continue to be an advocate for public schools and fight for adequate funding that makes us competitive with other states. Sadly, Arizona currently ranks toward the bottom in per-pupil spending.
Safety is our top priority. Schools must be places where students and staff feel safe. It’s unreasonable to expect people to function in an unsafe environment. Our national obsession with guns has led to school shootings and calls for teachers to be armed in the classroom. Weapons will never be allowed on our campuses, and no teacher will ever be permitted to be armed in the classroom. Not on my watch. The fact that this even has to be addressed is bizarre to me. We will continue to support and collaborate with the Tempe Police Department to ensure the safety of students and staff.
Students should be made aware of and have access to resources to help them with their mental health. School counselors, social workers, psychologists, teachers, administrators, and parents should all be involved to ensure students are healthy and ready for academic success.
Staff should always feel supported and they should prioritize taking care of themselves. We should invest in a robust roster of full-time substitute teachers so staff can feel supported if/when they need to be absent.
Staff should always feel supported and they should prioritize taking care of themselves. We should invest in a robust roster of full-time substitute teachers so staff can feel supported if/when they need to be absent.
I’m in excellent shape and my kids think I’m cool!
I want to expand the substitute teacher roster and make full-time substitute teachers available to every campus, every day. I also want to pursue co-teaching methods to move away from the one teacher to one classroom model.
Save Our Schools Arizona
Schools should be places where students feel safe, valued, and challenged. Students should expect clear expectations and boundaries, and they should expect reasonable consequences for actions counter to those expectations - just like at home. Students should smile every day, and they should be able to name something positive that happened to them at school that day.
Our school district followed the guidance of experts to keep kids safe, and I would do it again.
As a parent in the district, I have relationships with many other parents already. I will publish my contact info and be active in communicating with the public. I look forward to meeting many more parents and being available to hear concerns.
I’ll work to make TD3 competitive by offering the highest teacher salaries possible while also advocating for retention bonuses and stipends for additional work that proves valuable to the school and community. I’ll also work to establish cooperative working environments so employees feel valued and empowered.
Entities that use public funds should operate with full transparency and accountability to the public.
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.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 5, 2024
