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No endorsement
The race
The East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) is a joint technical education district (JTED) — the career-and-technical-education district serving East Valley high school students. Two of its governing board seats are voted on November 3, 2026, in separate district races. Vote for one in your district. EVIT Districts 1, 4, 5 and 9 are not voted this year; those elections were cancelled, per the Superintendent's certified list.
District 3 (one seat, all-write-in). No name is printed on the ballot. The certified roster is: Robert Covington (write-in, incumbent) and Jill Osborne (write-in).
District 7 (one seat). The certified roster is: Bonnie Hickman (certified — her name is printed on the ballot) and Jessica Archambault (filed write-in).
A roster discrepancy voters should know about: Ballotpedia's Maricopa County page lists only Archambault for District 7 and omits Hickman entirely. The Maricopa County School Superintendent's certified candidate list — the county's official roster — lists Hickman as the certified candidate, and the Superintendent governs. Hickman is on your ballot.
The candidates
Robert Covington (District 3, write-in, incumbent). The incumbent for District 3, running as a filed write-in, per the Superintendent's certified list. No published platform, occupation or board record for Covington was sourced in this pass.
Pros: Incumbency itself — he holds the seat and its experience. Cons: Nothing checkable is in front of voters in our sourcing: no platform, no votes, no statements.
Jill Osborne (District 3, write-in). A filed write-in challenger, per the Superintendent's certified list. No published platform, occupation or record for Osborne was sourced in this pass.
Pros: She filed and gave District 3 voters a choice in a race that would otherwise be an appointment-grade formality. Cons: No sourced record of any kind in this pass.
Bonnie Hickman (District 7, certified). The certified, on-ballot candidate for District 7, per the Superintendent's list. One published voter guide describes her as running unopposed — it does not mention the filed write-in against her. No published platform or record for Hickman was sourced in this pass.
Pros: She qualified for the printed ballot, which neither of her fellow candidates in these two races did. Cons: No sourced platform or record in this pass.
Jessica Archambault (District 7, write-in). A filed write-in, per the Superintendent's certified list and Ballotpedia. No published platform or record for Archambault was sourced in this pass.
Pros: She filed, making District 7 a contested race instead of a coronation. Cons: A write-in candidacy with no sourced record in front of voters here.
OUR CALL
Our call (District 3): insufficient record — no endorsement. Our call (District 7): insufficient record — no endorsement. EVIT's board is deciding real money and real authority this cycle — the district spent 2026 in court-ordered negotiations with nine member districts over career-and-technical-education funding — and not one of these four candidates has a sourced platform or record in front of us on any of it. What would earn an endorsement: a published position on the CTE funding dispute and the district's satellite-program agreements, or a verifiable record from Covington's term. Until then, the honest guide prints the roster — including the correction that Bonnie Hickman, whom some guides omit, is the certified District 7 candidate — and says so.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.
Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Sources
- Maricopa County School Superintendent — "November 3, 2026 School District Governing Board Certified and Write-In Candidates (as of 8/25/26)" — the certified roster for this race (county grade) — https://schoolsup.org/s/2026-Certified-Write-In-Candidates-082526.pdf
- Ballotpedia, "Municipal elections in Maricopa County, Arizona (2026)" — District 7 listing (omits Hickman; noted as a discrepancy against the Superintendent's certified list, which governs) — https://ballotpedia.org/Municipal_elections_in_Maricopa_County,_Arizona_(2026)
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.