District records show repeated failures to conduct business
Cartwright Elementary School District’s governing board has been unable to complete several scheduled meetings. The district’s meeting page lists the Aug. 26 meeting as “NO QUORUM,” the Sept. 2 special meeting as canceled and the Sept. 9 meeting as “NO QUORUM.” The board has one vacancy, while two other members have not been attending, according to AZFamily. The district’s calendar and meeting notices are posted by Cartwright School District #83.
The vacancy is now part of the county appointment process
The district posted notice concerning board member Cassandra Hernandez on July 30, according to LegiStorm. Under Arizona Revised Statute § 15-302(A)(3), the Maricopa County School Superintendent may appoint a qualified elector to fill a school-board vacancy. The district governing board may submit as many as three names within 30 days of notifying the county about the vacancy, but the superintendent is not required to select from that list, according to the Office of Maricopa County School Superintendent. That office lists Cartwright as having one vacant seat.
Cartwright is asking the county superintendent’s office to accelerate the appointment, AZFamily reported. Until the seat is filled or enough members attend to establish a quorum, routine matters remain pending, the station reported. Its latest agenda contained 58 items awaiting action.
What the rules allow
Arizona law provides that when a governing-board vacancy exists, a majority of the remaining members constitutes a quorum for conducting business, although a single member does not, according to A.R.S. § 15-321(F). The supplied sources do not specify which district-staff decisions may proceed without board approval, so the legal rule does not by itself establish that pending contracts, meal agreements or stipends can be approved administratively. The Office of Maricopa County School Superintendent says the county superintendent may call a special election to fill a vacancy if doing so is deemed in the community’s best interest. The office also says the superintendent may appoint a qualified elector and is not required to choose from up to three names submitted by the district board.
Pending decisions include food service and employee payments
Among the unresolved items are a milk-supply contract with Shamrock valued at more than $1 million and an agreement with St. Mary’s Food Bank, according to AZFamily’s report. The station also reported that students have been receiving sack lunches rather than cooked cafeteria meals and that stipends for teachers who lead clubs or coach after-school sports are delayed.
District size and meal eligibility
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Cartwright Elementary had 15,177 students enrolled in fall 2020, and 36.4 percent were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Board President Lydia Hernandez said the board cannot legally meet without a quorum and described approval of the meal-related agreements as critical, AZFamily reported. She also said teachers were already stretched thin. Those statements come from the station’s interviews and were not independently sourced in the materials available for this revision.
Members offer different explanations for the impasse
Hernandez blamed members who have not attended meetings, saying they were refusing to participate, according to AZFamily. Denice Garcia, identified by the station as one of the absent members, disputed that characterization. Garcia said her position centers on governance, transparency and fiscal responsibility and that she and another board member are protesting the district’s failure to provide requested information and documents. She said she planned to attend the next board meeting, the station reported.
