Arizona school board votes to sue Superintendent Diane Douglas if necessary

PHOENIX — The Arizona Board of Education has voted to sue to force Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas to give remote access to board investigators, but only if necessary.

The board has complained that investigators need remote access to efficiently investigate bad teachers. Douglas’ spokesman Charles Tack said no one gets remote access to the records the board seeks because they contain sensitive personal and student information.

The board also voted Tuesday to demand Douglas redirect web traffic to the board’s new website and to sue if she doesn’t. Tack didn’t immediately comment on the website issue.

Douglas didn’t attend the board’s special meeting. She instead released a statement saying the “real legal issues will be decided in the courts.”

The statement accused State Board of Education President Greg Miller of turning the meetings into “spectacles.” Douglas also said Miller has used seating assignments and mute buttons on microphones to keep opposing viewpoints to a minimum.

“Mr. Miller finds it impossible to control his temper without dictating where people sit and being able to turn off the microphone or yank it away if he disagrees,” the statement read.

In April, Douglas called police after Miller allegedly grabbed her arm during a board meeting. Miller said he hit Douglas’ arm by accident when trying to take a microphone away from her and later said Douglas’ claim was politically motivated.

“I reached over, grabbed the microphone attached to the dais and just moved it forward,” he told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Mac & Gaydos in April. “Maybe, in doing that, I touched her arm or something in that process, but I never grabbed her.”

The Board and Douglas have been at odds since February, when she tried to fire the board’s executive staff. A judge ruled against her in March, saying the board oversees its staff.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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