MUSD governing board votes 4-1 to reassign superintendent

In a short, but heated special meeting, the MUSD governing board voted 4-1 Monday night to reassign superintendent John Flores as principal at Santa Cruz Elementary School.

The only dissenting vote came from board member Tracy Davis. More than 75 people attended the special board session, which lasted less than 10 minutes. Several in the crowd hoisted posters in support of Flores.

Before the vote Davis made a statement asking to allow members of the community to speak to the board on the motion. Board president Geoff Goddard, citing advice from the district’s attorney, said the board would not allow public comment in the special session.

Davis said she was against the motion. “I feel leadership starts at the top; the board is the top of the leadership chain for the school district,” Davis said. “The board wants to hold people accountable, but I feel it’s also fair for people to hold the board accountable for its actions. And to talk about people not following policies, then I think we need to be looking at the policies that the board may or may not be following.

“When talking about accountability, it’s very easy to point fingers. We need to remember whenever we’re pointing a finger, there are always three pointing back,” Davis said.

After the vote passed, several people in the crowd shouted at the board. Goddard asked that one individual be removed from the room.

Flores said that he had to respect the decision of the board. “We’ll be OK. We have a great leadership team in place,” Flores said. “All anyone can ask of you is that you do your best. That’s what we did. We did our best.”

Michele Vrabel, PTO president at Santa Cruz Elementary, said she was not surprised that the motion passed, but was shocked that teachers, administrators and parents were not to speak before the vote. “Nothing was said about what Dr. Flores has done for Maricopa, and that was wrong. It’s all very political, and I feel badly for him,” Vrabel said. “It’s the district’s loss, but Santa Cruz’s gain. I’m looking forward to working with him.”

Flores had been district superintendent since July 1, 2006. He came to Maricopa from East Chicago, Indiana, where he was superintendent of School City East Chicago, a district with a student population of a little more than 6,000.

Forty-two applicants applied for the Maricopa superintendent’s position; the field was screened to 14 and then to a final five candidates, based on their credentials and experience as well as a review by residents and district personnel.

However, White was one of the two board members voting not to renew Flores’s contract last December. The other governing board member, Jim Chaston, said then, “I feel that it is in the best interest of the district that the new board makes the decision as to who they want to work with.”

Previous board president Shannon Amos made the motion to renew the contract, supported by Tracy Davis and Tyree Miller. “This board has worked with the superintendent for three years. My feeling is that this board needs to make this decision,” said Davis at the December board meeting. The motion passed 3-2, extending Flores’s contract through the end of June 2011.

On Jan. 1 a new governing board took office, including White and Davis, with the additions of current president Geoff Goddard, Lori Glenn and Carrie Vargas.

Photos by Jake Johnson