Laveen superintendent voted out of job at school board meeting

LAVEEN, AZ - The man named Superintendent of the Year is out of a job after the Laveen Elementary School District’s governing board made it official at a meeting Monday evening.

“Our interest is in the interest of the students, we plan everything around them,” said teacher Gloria Fala, who praised Dr. Dickson during the public comment session of the meeting. “They mean the world to us. Dr. Dickson means the world to all of us as well.”

But not everyone felt the same.

Another teacher, Rayeann Noyes, told the board she and other teachers “stood for injustices.”

Noyes and 12 other teachers from Vista del Sur Traditional School made a decision not to sign new contracts because of his leadership.

Noyes spoke on behalf of several of them at the meeting, criticizing Dickinson’s management style and the district’s “micromanagement.”

“Rules are changed daily, expectations are changed daily,” said Noyes. “Our leadership is not on site, they are behind closed doors. They’re not approachable.”

“This core of teachers, the ones that stood up for our children and not for the administration, are leaving,” said Mayra Hawkins during the public comment section.

Parents, teachers and administrators were also fractured last October , when the district cut an afternoon recess to accommodate more classroom time.

But several parents and teachers stood up to give Dickson credit for turning the district around, improving test scores and developing relationships with them.

“Your leadership has helped to change teachers, students and the community of Laveen,” said teacher Cory Woodard.

“I believe that I am a better teacher after having met you,” said another.

One mother stood up to thank him for not implementing teacher layoffs in the midst of a budget crisis. Another thanked him for his fiscal responsibility.

The board nominated Dr. Bill Johnson as Dickson’s replacement after returning from executive session.