By Diane Douglas, former Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction
Nothing was “amiss” at the May 29 meeting of the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board. Rather a long overdue change took place. The board dais was once again restored to and reserved for the board members who are elected by the community to represent the constituents of the district.
I don’t know when district superintendents began inviting themselves up to sit on the dais among the elected officials serving the district (that was not the case when I served on the PUSD board) or why superintendents would think so little of elected officials and the office they hold to deem it appropriate. Or quite frankly, why board members think so little of their office to allow superintendents to abase it in such a manner.
On the surface this may not seem like a big deal but I assure you it is. In a representative republic such as ours there is a huge difference between the people we choose to elect to represent us and the bureaucrats who are hired to implement and oversee the decisions, policies and budgets that elected officials adopt on our behalf.
Mr. Haldiman may be correct that it is no longer “an uncommon arrangement.” However it is an inappropriate arrangement at best. Remember - “Right is right even if no one is doing it. Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it” - St. Augustine.
Superintendents are there to serve the board and by extension the community, not represent themselves however tacitly as a member of the board. But that is exactly what happens when the superintendents are on the dais with the elected officeholders during a public meeting. It implies the employee is equal to the elected officials. Whether intended or not, this demeans the elected office.
Regardless of how vehemently any of us may disagree with any individual elected official, it is imperative that we always respect the office they hold. The office, not the office holder, must be unassailable otherwise our representative republic will be lost to a bureaucracy.
To Ms. Ewing’s point that teachers design classrooms for effective learning, likewise board presidents should sit where she/he deems they can best serve the members and run the meeting effectively, efficiently and fairly.
Kudos to President Heather Rooks. I hope that more school boards across Arizona follow her lead and protect the dignity of the office to which they have been elected.
Editor's note: Diane M. Douglas was the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction 2015-2019, and Peoria Unified board member, 2005-2012, President 2008, 2009.
