By Elizabeth Troutman |
Update: The Scottsdale School Board passed Superintendent Scott Menzel’s contract renewal in a 3-2 vote. Board Members Libby Hart-Wells, Zach Lindsay, and Julie Cieniawski voted to renew the contract while Board Members Amy Carney and Carine Werner voted not to renew the contract.
The Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board is expected to be asked to renew controversial Superintendent Scott Menzel’s employment contract during its meeting on Tuesday.
Three of Menzel’s biggest allies on the Governing Board, Zach Lindsay, Libby Hart-Wells, and Julie Cieniawski, will not seek reelection and will vacate their seats on Dec. 31. Outgoing boards are usually reluctant to extend employment contracts for administrative positions during an election cycle, but a renewal of Menzel’s contract seems unlikely with any future board.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne called for Menzel’s removal after “unacceptable” comments made by Menzel were revealed last February.
“Critical race theory has no place in Arizona schools,” Horne said at the time. “Superintendent Scott Menzel’s comments are unacceptable. Superintendent Horne joins Scottsdale legislators and parents calling for the removal of Superintendent Menzel.”
Menzel had claimed “white identity” is “problematic.”
“There’s a misperception that educational equity is really only for ethnically and racially diverse districts. But White people have racial identity as well, and in fact [it is a] problematic racial identity that we typically avoid,” Menzel told David Spitzley of the Torchlight in 2019.
Arizona state legislators and parents joined Horne in calling for his removal.
State Sen. John Kavanagh and Representatives Joseph Chaplik and Alexander Kolodin, who all represent Legislative District 3 that includes Scottsdale, wrote an open letter to members of the Governing Board condemning Menzel for “offensive and hateful comments he made in a 2019 interview.”
The Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board unanimously approved a three-year contract with Menzel in March 2020. The Board unanimously approved a $205,000-plus contract, to run through June 30, 2023.
The Board renewed Menzel’s contract in May 2022 to run through 2025 with his base annual salary increased to $216,000.
Under Menzel’s leadership over the past three years, Scottsdale Unified enrollment has dropped by more than 1,500 students. Science scores have dropped 24%.
Less than 50% of 8th grade students are proficient in math, but 94% of students in the district graduate.
Members of the public can email the board in opposition to the extension at govbrd@susd.org.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
