By Corinne Murdock |
A Paradise Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) governing board member is alleging the district violated open meeting law to determine school closures and redraw boundary lines.
In a letter to the Arizona Attorney General on Tuesday, PVUSD Governing Board Member Sandra Christensen accused district leadership of violating state open meeting law with several secretive committees that she says didn’t function to advise the superintendent as purported but had, in fact, functioned to deliver policy recommendations to the governing board. Christensen urged prompt action from the attorney general, citing a potential upcoming vote on Thursday to shut down and redraw boundaries for certain schools based on recommendations from at least one of these committees.
Specifically, Christensen brought up the School Closure and Boundary Review Committee, which conducted seven meetings from last April through November, all closed to the public and originally absent any agendas or meeting minutes. The committee consisted of some community members, including PVUSD teachers, support staff, administrators, central office administrators, and parents, and was led by assistant superintendents Jill Baragan and Steve Jerras.
Christensen expressed concern that the district used this committee to deliberately hide “controversial” discussions on school closures and boundary changes not only from the public, but the governing board itself.
“The Paradise Valley Unified School District must cease these unlawful practices,” said Christensen. “These practices are clearly intended to avoid public scrutiny by refusing to allow members of the public to attend said meetings and refusing to supply detailed meeting minutes to the PVUSD governing board or members of the public.”
Christensen said that the committee meetings yielded recommendations for the governing board regarding the potential closures of four schools and boundary changes to 12 schools, on which the board took action in December by scheduling a public hearing last month. Christensen was the only board member to oppose the recommendations, under concern that the committee had violated open meeting law.
“It is clear that the team is designed to advise the board regarding matters on only the governing board can make such as the recommendation of school closures,” said Christensen.
The School Closure and Boundary Review Committee wasn’t the only committee formed over the years in violation of open meeting law, according to Christensen.
“The Paradise Valley Unified School District has a history of these types of violations under the guise of superintendent committees that are not administrative in nature, they are advisory committees to the board that deliberately circumvent Open Meeting Law to shield controversial topics or information from the public,” said Christensen.
Christensen cited another superintendent advisory committee, a bond committee, which met from last January through April to craft recommendations on a bond, as well as a “secretive,” ongoing community legislative network, which Christensen said has met “for many years” to discuss legislative bills with a lobbyist.
According to Christensen, PVUSD Superintendent Troy Bales denies that the committees have ever been more than administrative in nature.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
