Local attorney to fill vacant District One board seat
Theresa Fox also is a former teacher who attended area schools
Yuma attorney Theresa Fox is the newest member of the Yuma Elementary School District One governing board.
“I’m very excited and very honored that Mr. Tyree has faith in me,” the Yuma native said Tuesday afternoon of the appointment by Yuma County Superintendent of Schools Tom Tyree after board member Jamie Walden stepped down earlier in June to take a position within the district.
“I have always been interested in education,” said Fox, who has a background in elementary education and worked for the San Diego Unified School District for 20 years, 10 years of that as an elementary classroom teacher.
Tyree said he had several “really good, very qualified” candidates who sent letters of interest for the open seat, which Fox will occupy through Dec. 31. Arizona law requires appointed board members to run in the next general election to continue serving. Fox said she plans to seek her appointed seat in the Nov. 6 general election.
Fox was sworn in Wednesday at a ceremony at the District One boardroom. Her first meeting is a public hearing Thursday morning to approve the district’s 2018-2019 proposed budget.
“I am familiar with budgets, working for the county,” said Fox, who is a deputy county attorney in the civil division.
Fox has served on other boards in California and is the vice chair of the board for ACHIEVE Human Services.
Fox received her bachelor’s in elementary education from San Diego State University. She later graduated from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. She and her husband moved back to Yuma in 2006, and Fox was admitted to the Arizona state bar in February 2007, according to her state bar listing.
“I just feel I have an obligation to give back,” said Fox, who attended McGraw, Gila Vista Junior High and Kofa schools in District One. “It’s my home district.”