The state superintendent of public instruction supports recent actions of “academically oriented school boards” that have resulted in controversies in the Apache Junction Unified and Liberty Elementary school districts.

“There have been disruptive protests against newly elected, academically oriented school boards that are seeking new academically oriented district superintendents,” Tom Horne said in a release.

“Apache Junction has, under old leadership, three of its five schools rated as ‘C’ schools. It has a new majority of three academically oriented school board members.

“They are naturally seeking a new academically oriented superintendent and arrived at a mutual agreement with the old superintendent to part ways.”

A severance agreement for Superintendent Heather Wallace was approved at an April 10 meeting of the Apache Junction Unified School District governing board that did not include public comment, discussion or debate.

The governing board voted 3-2, with board members Bobby Bauders and Cami Garcia dissenting with the severance agreement.

“Ms. Wallace and the board recently determined that their visions for the district are different,” AJUSD Board President Dena Kimble said in written a statement. “(T)he district’s administrative, operational and teaching functions will continue without interruption.”

At the April 11 governing board meeting, more than 20 people spoke during the public comment section against the decision by Kimble, Gil Cancio and Gail Ross to approve the agreement.

They included Barbara Kanzler, who retired in May 2021 from AJUSD and ran unsuccessfully for school board at the Nov. 8 election.

“We were heading in the right direction. Our kids were working to meet their full potential. Madame president, what you did deserves discussion and debate. How you did it was wrong,” she said.

Wallace worked more than 20 years as an educator at AJUSD. She was executive director of educational services when she became interim superintendent in July 2021 and then later was employed as superintendent.

Wallace was the second superintendent in two years to be released from their contract and the third superintendent to be employed by AJUSD since June 2017.

Horne also referred to a “protest” that took place at a meeting of the Liberty Elementary District school board which, he said “also has a newly elected majority of academically oriented school board members. They were ‘accused’ of planning to implement a ‘classic traditional education model’.”

Horne ended his release, saying: “It is a positive development for the academic performance of our schools when academically oriented school board members replace those that are not so inclined.”

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