The superintendent for the Paradise Valley Unified School District was placed on administrative leave earlier this month. The district has yet to give an official reason for that decision and parents and board members are expressing their frustration.
Todd Cummings was hired in April and started in July. He left his old district in Indiana amid allegations that the students’ grades had been manipulated. Paradise Valley has tapped Dan Courson to act as superintendent in the meantime.
“[Courson] brings many years of educational leadership," governing board member Jessica Wani said at a recent meeting. "[Courson] brings many many many years within PV and he’s trusted within this community and he’s gonna bring passion and thoughtfulness and most importantly integrity to this role.”
At a board meeting on Oct. 9, member Sandra Christensen thanked the public for emailing the board with their concerns.
“I am also a bit frustrated," Christensen said. "I’ve had six different seat mates and I haven’t been on the board quite three years and four of them have been superintendents.”
Paradise Valley parent Eddy Jackson echoed concerns about the turnover in leadership.
“This comes just years after the district paid superintendent Jesse Welsh over $413,000 to leave," Jackson said.
Welsh resigned in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying parents harassed him about his handling of school closures and reopenings.
As for Cummings’ administrative leave, a post on the district’s website said:
"PVSchools is aware that there may be questions surrounding this change. However, because much of this has taken place in Executive Session, where items discussed are legally protected and confidential, the information that can be shared is limited."
"There's a lot that I would like to say," Wani said. "Unfortunately I can't say most of the things that I want to say, but what I can say is I am very committed to following [and] respecting the legal process that we have in place to ensure the best possible outcome [and] the most just outcome."
