Board approves restructuring of Before and After School Program

After the recent resignation of Michael Muriett, coordinator of Maricopa Unified School District’s Before and After School Program (see related story), changes in the program’s structure were necessary, according to Heidi Fawcett, the district’s director of human resources.

The changes proposed by Fawcett and Inez Ramirez, also a Before and After School Program coordinator, were approved Wednesday during school district’s regular governing board meeting. They include increasing the hours for the Before and After School Program site leader at each school and adding a site leader position at Maricopa Wells Middle School, filling the void left by the recent resignation.

The board approved the changes by a 3-1 margin, with Tim White the lone dissenter (Shannon Amos was absent). White stated he felt the added duties, including data collection, scheduling, hiring and adherence to state policy, should still be handled by the program coordinator (Ramirez) and not the site leaders.

Fawcett told White the program coordinator will have a heavy workload without the assistance of a second coordinator. White then questioned why a pay increase for Ramirez was not part of the restructure if she will be doing extra work. Fawcett said Ramirez worked on the restructuring and was satisfied with the decisions made.

After board member Tracy Davis commented that she previously worked in a program structured similarly to the way the new program will work, the board approved the measure.

The approval comes a week after a special meeting was held to discuss the site lead positions and the salary schedule for the Before and After School Program. Both issues were approved 3-1 with White voting against the motions.