TUSD's governing board decided Tuesday to seek outside legal counsel as it deals with the future of Superintendent H.T. Sanchez.
The governing board voted in favor of hiring an external firm for legal guidance but the motion approved did not include the name of a firm the district would hire.
Board member Mark Stegeman suggested Rusing, Lopez and Lizardi, a Tucson law firm. Adelita Grijalva suggested xxx.
Last week, in a surprise move, new board member Rachael Sedgwick requested for the board to talk about other options for the district's superintendent. The item was pulled off at the meeting, but appeared again on the agenda for today's special meeting.Β
The general counsel of the district advises both the board and the superintendent. As the board will be considering the superintendent's future, the general counsel, Todd Jaeger, advised the board that it would be prudent to hire an outside counsel.Β
The board then went into executive session.
The agenda for today's meeting said there will be a discussion, consideration and/or action regarding the βemployment, assignment, appointment, promotion, demotion, dismissal, salaries, disciplining or resignationβ of the top administrator.
But itβs clear Sedgwick and Stegeman want to explore other options for superintendent than Sanchez.
βMy intention is for us to take the opportunity to discuss the different options that could be available going forward,β Sedgwick said in an interview. Board members should be able to bring forward their concerns, suggestions or ideas about the districtβs top administrator, she added.
Itβs not necessarily that βweβre going to fire this guy,β she said. Should an occasion arise that Sanchez resigns or gets fired, there should be a system in place to deal with that, she said.
Sanchez was hired in 2013 and has a base salary of more than $200,000. His contract is up for renewal in 2018.
