PHOENIX — With Diane Douglas boycotting the meeting, the state Board of Education voted today to sue her.
The unanimous vote came after board member Charles Schmidt pointed out that Douglas, as the state superintendent of public instruction, is refusing to allow board investigators to have remote access to teacher files. The result, he said, potentially "endangers students'' because it could leave unqualified — and potentially criminal — teachers in the classroom.
"It's time to stop the political grandstanding,'' Schmidt said. He said the situation is only made worse by the decision by Douglas, who is a member of the board, not to even attend.
Separately, the board voted to authorize yet another lawsuit against Douglas if she does not give up a web site the board used to use and redirect traffic to the board's new site.
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Douglas, in a prepared statement, said she saw no reason to bother to attend the meeting.
"President Greg Miller has turned State Board of Education meetings into spectacles that do nothing but harm our education system,'' she said.
Douglas also accused Miller of not releasing board agendas until 24 hours ahead of the meeting, adding items "that have no purpose but to incite conflict and create billable hours for his attorneys.''
That claim, however, is not true: The agenda for today's meeting actually had been available for days. But an aide to Douglas said she would not make herself available for questions.
The board also voted to proceed with hiring a replacement for Christine Thompson, the panel's executive director. Thompson quit Friday, months after Douglas tried to fire her but found her decision effectively overruled by Gov. Doug Ducey.
That is likely to provoke another legal fight.
Steve Tully, Douglas' attorney, contends that state law allows the board to hire new employees only on recommendation of the schools chief. And she has not made any such recommendation.
