Speaking at the SaddleBrooke Democratic Club’s Sept. 13 meeting, Oracle School Board candidates Wendy Odell and Donna Pedota said their priorities, if elected, would be to emphasize student achievement and learning while maintaining fiscal responsibility and accountability.
“My goal is to ensure we provide our students the best education possible while also being fiscally responsible,” said Pedota, a former resident of New Jersey and Minnesota who has been a resident of SaddleBrooke Ranch for six years. “This means ensuring the school district operates wisely within the budget, that our students have every opportunity to succeed by providing the most educational ‘bang for the buck,’ and that taxpayer dollars are well spent.”
Odell, a SaddleBrooke resident with 28 years of experience as a teacher and administrator in Minnesota public schools, echoed those sentiments. “I will ensure policies are aligned with best teaching practices, and we support teachers with the tools and resources to engage students in and out of the classroom,” she said. Odell, who was also principal of an elementary school in Oro Valley after she moved to Arizona in 2015, said that throughout her career in education, she has been a good steward of taxpayer money.
Both Odell and Pedota attended public schools K-12, with Odell later receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education. Pedota, a current member of the Oracle Schools Foundation, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business and organizational management and currently works as a strategy director for a Fortune 100 healthcare company.
Odell and Pedota will be on the Nov. 8 ballot for election to two four-year seats on the Oracle School Board.