PHOENIX â State schools chief Diane Douglas is sending a warning of sorts to potential future Board of Education employees: Be aware that you could be out of a job.
Press aide Charles Tack said Wednesday his boss is weighing yet another lawsuit against board members â this would be the third â if they pursue their plans to hire a replacement for Christine Thompson. She is the executive director Douglas tried to fire, unsuccessfully, in February, but who recently quit on her own.
But the real person in harmâs way could be whomever the board does hire, if it does so without her express recommendation.
Tack said Douglas, in her new lawsuit, would ask a judge to overturn any hiring decision and force out whomever the board chooses. And that, he said, means anyone who takes the job should do so with the understanding it may be temporary.
âIf theyâre committed to hiring someone, I donât think thereâs a whole lot we can do to stop them,â Tack said. But he said those hired should understand the risks if his boss can convince a judge the board canât act without her OK.
Board President Greg Miller said Wednesday heâs not worried about the latest threat. He said a recent ruling by a judge in another suit brought by Douglas makes it clear the board can hire and fire its own employees.
Miller said the legal saber-rattling is not dampening interest in the job. He said more than three-dozen people already have applied for the post, which has a salary range of $80,000 to $100,000, with more rÊsumÊs still coming in.
âMost of the candidates that have submitted are being made well aware of what the existing situation is and what they can expect,â Miller said. âAnd we still have some highly qualified people that are very interested in pursuing that position.â
After Thompson announced her resignation, Miller formed a screening committee to review applications. And he even put Douglas, who is a member of the board, on that panel.
Douglas, however, has shown no interest in participating.
âAs I am sure you can understand I will not be attending the meeting,â Douglas wrote to other board members last month, ahead of the first meeting.
That comes down to her reading of a state law that says the board gets to hire âon the recommendation of the superintendent of public instruction.â
âIt is my role in the hiring process to handle all job screening, reviewing of rÊsumÊs and ensuring that candidates meet the qualifications for any job,â Douglas wrote to the panel members. âVetting potential employees is an executive and administrative function, not a policy matter.â
And just to make sure the message was not lost, Douglas said, âI will be forced to defend the power of my office and bring another lawsuit.â
Millerâs response, essentially, was for Douglas to bring it on.
âShe can file any suit she wants,â he said, citing the July ruling by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Patricia Starr in the parallel case, rejecting Douglasâ contention she can fire board employees.
Miller does not take issue with the wording of the law about the board acting on recommendations from Douglas.
He noted that Douglas already has put forward two names of people she believes would be good choices: Aiden Fleming, one of Douglasâ deputy associate school superintendents, and Nickie Kelley, an aide to Phoenix City Council member Sal DiCiccio.
