Public input in superintendent search ended with KOAT betrayal

The search for the next APS superintendent is over.
The board knows who they are going to select and that person's name is hidden among five others in pretense.

Veronica Garcia  Next Supt?

I was told at least a month ago, and long before candidates names were finally made public, that the next APS supt will be an Hispanic female; likely Veronica Garcia.

And voila, up she pops.

The thing is, there is no way to check the story against the facts because its all happening behind closed doors.

Nobody knows on what bases the six finalists were actually selected.  We know that APS held a bunch of public forums to "gather input" to guide them; but you never heard them say;

based on what we heard, this is what we are going to be looking for.  

Just like every fact finding tour they've ever undertaken, when they get back, they can't tell you anything that they learned, that they should not already have known.

Peggy Muller-Aragon

On Thursday, for the first time ever, a school board member stood up to protest the unjustifiable secrecy the rest intended for their process.  Had anyone noticed or been told, a public discourse would have begun on the limits of transparency in the superintendent hiring process.   The next meeting might not have remained entirely in secret.

Instead, Peggy Muller-Aragon did her thing, the board shut her down in violation of their own internal rules and KOAT reported nothing.  They filmed her objection and then buried the story, likely at the behest of the board who don't want any light shined on their process.

Not one of the six other board members had to explain, defend, or even acknowledge their need for secrecy far beyond what the law requires.  They didn't articulate their objection at the time and KOAT hasn't followed up.

KOAT simply went along with them.  As a direct result, the board will repeat the performance next Thursday morning when they will meet in secret again to shorten their short list.

Muller-Aragon will likely protest again;
the board will ignore her protest, and
they will complete their decision making in secret.

Nobody will really understand what happened because they won't be told by those whose responsibility it is to inform stake and interest holders; KOAT and the Journal, KOB and KRQE.




photos Mark Bralley