A group of parents, educators and community members have launched a recall effort against the board president of Buckeye’s Liberty Elementary School District.
This comes less than two weeks after the board terminated its interim superintendent.
It’s just the latest episode in an ongoing battle between the district’s board and some members of the community.
Earlier this year, they gathered signatures to recall former President Bryan Parks and current Vice President Kris Kenyon, who they said created an environment where teachers no longer felt supported.
Parks ended up resigning, saying: “Due to the invasion of my personal privacy, including relentless attacks and threats against myself, family and my business ventures, I must make a difficult decision to step down."
But parents say they would have been able to recall him successfully if he hadn’t resigned.
Then Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs appointed Michael Todd to the board vacancy, despite pleas from some members of the community to choose someone else, because they don’t think his decisions are in the best interest of their children.
In a written response to the recall effort, Todd said the campaign was launched "by a fringe group of disgruntled former employees and activists who are not interested in holding administrators and teachers to account for low student proficiency."
He added: "Every policy and direction of this Board is to ensure the highest quality of education, accountability and safety of our students. I am committed to do everything necessary to make that happen. Recall campaigns cost me personally time and money as well as taking tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars from the district and the classroom. "
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been modified to clarify that Todd was appointed to the board by Boggs, but not made president by Boggs. The board made him president. It has also been modified to provide more details and clarity on Parks' departure.
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Pam Lach is a digital humanities librarian at San Diego State University. This week, she is coming to ASU to give a talk called “The Stories We Still Need: Podcasting For Urgent Times.”
