By Nancy Cantor I have been involved with our schools for so long……as a student, as a parent, as a volunteer, as an advocate, as a proud neighbor and many will agree, a noodge. Always a noodge and my teachers encouraged me to be a noodge. And that is what I am going to do now. Bond and override elections … Read More
Arizona’s Attorney General is Suing SUSD: Sounds Like an Election Year
When elected officials seek re-election, or worse yet election to a more prominent position, it will cause them to do all sorts of wild things to get the attention of voters. Sometimes, they are truly detrimental, sometimes they are warranted…but we wonder aloud if this particular instance is both. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich recently filed a lawsuit against the … Read More
Do We Have an Impending Schools Crisis in Scottsdale? 30% of SUSD Staff Gone Since Start of ‘21
Just last week we talked about how highly Scottsdale was ranked as a place to raise a family. Well life comes at you fast as the saying goes, and this week we came across a new challenge that may damage our status in future related rankings. According to the Scottsdale Independent, around 30% of SUSD’s staff has left for one … Read More
Further Turmoil at SUSD: Lawsuits are Filed Against the Greenburgs
Well we had about one week of kumbaya-esque good feelings about the Scottsdale Unified School District; as regular readers will note, just last week we wrote about Scott Menzel’s contract extension and how much he deserves it, having navigated SUSD through a significant amount of turmoil. Well grab your popcorn folks, because Menzel is going to earn that extension. This … Read More
Amidst Continued Turmoil at SUSD, Scott Menzel Received a Much-Deserved Extension – We Are Fortunate
For it being one of the premier school districts in the state and perhaps the country, the Scottsdale Unified School District has had a rough go of it recently, as we have noted. It has become a hot-button and magnet for far-right activists for reasons which make no logical sense, and has even had the Q-Anon Congressional candidate stop by … Read More
A Potential Financial Doomsday for Scottsdale Schools: Why Our Legislature Needs to Act Now
Scottsdale Unified had its share of struggles last year; an incredibly onerous number of struggles. 2021 could easily be considered a Year From Hell for the district. 2022 is arriving with a struggle that is even more imposing than scandal and angry protestors however; it brings the potential of financial crisis. Due to a relatively arcane statute that is over … Read More
SUSD Considers Limiting Public Comment: Not Enough Adults in the Room
The Scottsdale Unified School District recently considered rather draconian moves in response to public input and discourse: to limit public comment, as well as to restrict it to people who have a vested interest in the district. While the board took no action, it does highlight a growing issue at SUSD meetings, as political activists from around the state as … Read More
Arrogance Personified: Congressional Candidate QAnon Ron Speaks Up at SUSD Meeting, and We All Lose as a Result
By Alexander Lomax You almost certainly aware of the QAnon movement, the far-ranging group of halfwits who believe that Congress is a big child sex-trafficking ring and that Trump would jail all of them and come back and become president again. Perhaps you didn’t know that one of the people widely believed to be a person posting as “Q” and … Read More
There’s a New President and VP on the SUSD Board – Does This Demonstrate a Leftward Shift?
We have spoken at length about the issues that have befallen the Scottsdale Unified School District, primarily related to the actions of former board president Jann-Michael Greenburg. The effects of those dominos are now starting to become more clear, as SUSD recently announced new leadership. Julie Cieniawski was recently announced as the new President of SUSD, and Dr. Libby Hart-Wells … Read More
Menzel Proving His Value Again at Performance Pay Meeting: While Progressive Areas Decry Importance of Math, He Prioritizes It
Scottsdale Unified Superintendent Scott Menzel was recently on the hot seat in his recent assessment, where his performance pay came under light fire by board members perhaps trying to look tough in the face of potential recall elections and re-election campaigns. Superintendent Menzel recently showed why he deserves the benefit of nearly any doubt, and how he plans to help … Read More