Six years later, accountability still waits

Rod Wielkie

Submitted photo/Rod Wielkie

Arizona’s Department of Education and professional disciplinary process must protect fairness, but they must also provide resolution. School districts, meanwhile, must decide what level of responsibility they are willing to entrust to administrators while serious proceedings remain unresolved.”

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OPINION — More than six years have passed since the underlying events at a Chandler Unified School District high school, yet a serious professional-conduct matter involving a district administrator still lacks a final public resolution.

That delay raises a basic question of public trust: How long can an educator-discipline case remain unresolved while the administrator involved continues to hold significant authority over students, staff and campus culture?

The issue is especially relevant now because the Arizona Professional Practices Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet again on Nov. 9 and 10. According to the published agendas, this matter is not set to be heard at either meeting. Another meeting will pass, and the public still will have no answer.

This is not an assertion of guilt. A pending recommendation or proceeding is not a final adjudication, and every educator is entitled to due process. But due process should not mean indefinite delay. The public can respect an educator’s rights while also expecting a timely and transparent resolution from the state’s professional-accountability system.

The concern is practical as well as procedural. A principal exercises meaningful authority over school operations, employee decisions, student discipline, campus expectations and the trust families place in public education. When serious questions about professional conduct remain unresolved for years, district leaders should not simply point to the state process and wait.

Chandler Unified School District has its own responsibility to consider whether continued placement in a position of substantial trust is appropriate while the matter remains pending. That assessment does not require prejudging the outcome. It requires recognizing the seriousness of the unresolved questions and the community’s interest in accountability.

The passage of time makes the delay harder to justify. The students connected to the underlying events were in high school. More than six years later, they are adults. Careers have continued. Positions have changed. Yet the system has still not delivered a clear public conclusion.

Arizona’s Department of Education and professional disciplinary process must protect fairness, but they must also provide resolution. School districts, meanwhile, must decide what level of responsibility they are willing to entrust to administrators while serious proceedings remain unresolved.

Rod Wielkie is a retired federal agent, military veteran and former middle school social studies teacher. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.