PHX Reporter

In a recent development within the Paradise Valley Unified School District (PVUSD), Governing Board Member Sandra Christensen has raised concerns regarding closed-door meetings conducted by Superintendent Dr. Troy Bales.

The school district is home to approximately 32,000 students attending 45 schools across northeast Phoenix and Scottsdale.

Christensen alleges that these meetings, purportedly under the guise of superintendent committees, have sidestepped Open Meeting Laws and operated as advisory committees to the board without proper transparency.

“The reason I say that is because they meet in secret and they don't follow Open Meeting Laws. They don't produce meeting minutes and then they recommend things to support,” Christensen told the PHX Reporter.

She contends that this lack of transparency violates the principles of open governance and prevents adequate public oversight.

“I often say in board meetings just to report to the people not to the superintendent. We have to weigh the needs of all of our constituents, teachers, parents and community members,” she said.

According to Christensen, the committees have presented recommendations directly to the board for a vote, a process she believes undermines the board's authority and circumvents proper decision-making channels.

"A superintendent cannot vote to close or open a school, that is the job of the governing board. And so you can't have a committee to decide something that they can't even decide," Christensen said.

In a letter addressed to the Attorney General's office, Christensen outlined concerns regarding multiple instances where PVUSD allegedly conducted meetings in violation of OML, particularly citing the formation of a School Closure and Boundary Review Committee in 2023.

According to Christensen, this advisory committee held seven meetings between April 24, 2023, and November 17, 2023, without allowing public attendance or posting meeting agendas and minutes as required by law.

"The Paradise Valley Unified School District No. 69 ('PVUSD') has repeatedly violated Arizona's Opening Meeting Law ('OML'), regarding several superintendent committees, the most recent being the formation of a School Closure and Boundary Review Committee in 2023," Christensen's letter stated.

She pointed out that these advisory committees, purportedly formed under the superintendent's discretion, have been presenting recommendations directly to the PVUSD governing board, a practice she argues circumvents OML and shields controversial topics from public scrutiny.

"The Paradise Valley Unified School District has a history of these types of violations under the guise of superintendent committees that are not administrative in nature, they are advisory committees to the board that deliberately circumvent Open Meeting Law to shield controversial topics or information from the public," Christensen said.

The controversy surrounding these closed-door meetings has sparked debate within the PVUSD community and taken on more gravity as PVUSD is moving to close four schools based on recommendations from Bales’ private committees.

“Because they did not follow Open Meeting Laws I'm arguing that those committee meetings were invalid and that we need to start from scratch. What has happened is that individuals are affected in those four schools. They didn't find out until December,” she said.

The suggested closure of Desert Springs Preparatory Academy has resulted in vehement opposition to the recommendation.

“The community is outraged and they're saying they're not going to go to the schools that they're recommending, they're going either home school or they are going to (another school district). We're hearing that over and over again,” Christensen said. “The Board is getting many, many emails. They've alienated the people that we're supposed to be representing.”

Christensen questioned the rationale behind closing a top-rated school, emphasizing the Desert Springs Preparatory Academy boasts an exemplary record of academic excellence and is highly regarded within the district.

"Why would you close an A or A+ rated school that is first in the nation and one of the best in our district?" Christensen said. "You start with a wide variety of criteria to determine what schools to close. Some of them are the ages of the school. But I will argue that there were several other schools that remain open that were not an A-plus rated school that were built in the same year.”

She also raised concerns regarding the transparency of the decision-making process, alleging that the superintendent hand-picked committee members.

The proposal to close Desert Springs Preparatory Academy has sparked outrage among parents and staff members, who argue that the closure would disrupt the education of students, particularly those with special needs.

“The governing board conducted a hearing at Paradise Valley High School last month, and we heard from lots of community members. I will say the most vocal are the Desert Springs staff," Christensen said. "As I mentioned, they are a wonderful school. They do have low enrollment. But they do have a lot of special needs students, they are Title I. They're arguing that it's very difficult to uproot a whole school and then split them up into other schools and split the district.”

Meanwhile, Bales, who has been at the helm for two years, has tendered his resignation and the board is set to initiate a superintendent search following its next meeting Thursday, Feb. 8.