School board VP to serve three-week term

 

Unified School District Governing Board member Patti Coutre was tapped the school board’s vice president last night, but with a bureaucratic twist.

The board’s unanimous decision only lasts until the board’s first meeting of 2024.

District policy requires top leadership vacancies to be filled the same year. That put the board in a bit of a pinch.

The panel must re-elect Coutre at the Jan. 10 school board meeting in order for her to remain second-in-command.

The vice president position was vacated in October with the resignation of former board vice president Gary Miller.

Coutre, a Glennwilde resident and Maricopan since 2005, is the city’s development coordinator for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sun Corridor. Her board term expires in December 2026.

It is likely Coutre will get the board’s nod to continue as vice president.

School board members Tori Anderson and AnnaMarie Knorr made it clear they were not too keen on eyeing the vice president’s role, especially under the circumstances.

New board member Carolyn Lopez, who was sworn in Tuesday, is getting her feet on the ground. She declined outright.

“I don’t need to be vice president for not any meeting,” Knorr quipped, drawing chuckles.

“I don’t care,” said Anderson. “I’ll serve wherever the board needs me.”

Knorr went on to nominate Coutre “as vice president of no meeting,” adding, “Just kidding.”