School board protest halts business in Phoenix district

Phoenix-based Cartwright School District’s governing board is at a standstill, unable to approve policies, contracts or other district business because two members have missed meetings or refused to approve meeting agendas.

With only four members on the board, the absences and protest votes have left the district without enough support to conduct meetings.

Board members Denice Garcia and Jennifer Romero did not attend the meeting scheduled for Aug. 26.

A scheduled Sept. 9 meeting was canceled because the board didn’t have enough members.

At the Sept. 2 meeting, Garcia and Romero appeared but voted against the agenda, so the board could not continue with the meeting.

Why are Cartwright school board members refusing to approve agendas?

Romero said she voted against approving the agenda because she believed governing board President Lydia Hernandez had failed to work collaboratively with other board members and had undermined their roles through issues involving votes.

“We have seen repeated concerns involving professionalism, transparency, cooperation, nepotism and the treatment of fellow board members,” she explained. “There have also been instances where my vote has not been taken or was called for me, which undermines my role and authority as an elected board member.”

Hernandez told KTAR 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News that the conflict began because board members want to see receipts related to a specific district vendor, a former superintendent hired to conduct district assessments.

“They’re pulling a political stunt. They want to stop the conduct of business,” Hernandez said. “Regardless of what her argument is or what she’s saying, you don’t do this. You show up. We’re elected by the people for the people, so we come and represent our families and our students’ needs.”

What is the school board protest slowing?

Hernandez said the inability to vote is affecting student safety because the board has not approved a new payment plan for school resource officers. She said it is also affecting school lunches.

“We’ve got at least 60 items, one of which is the milk. We have a contract that needs to be approved with Shamrock,” she said. “This is not a resource that you can bank on,” she said.

Because the board hasn’t voted for a month, they’ve scheduled a special board meeting for Friday night at 6 p.m.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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