BUCKEYE, AZ — The Liberty Elementary School District board has voted to terminate the contract of interim superintendent Trevor McDonald.
The board voted 4-1 to terminate the contract at their board meeting Wednesday night.
McDonald had been placed on leave last week in a 3-2 vote.
Video in the player above shows previous coverage of McDonald being place on leave.
Board member Kellie Zimmerman was the only vote against terminating the contract on Wednesday.
She spoke about her vote after it took place.
"I do not believe he acted with any mal-intention for the district," Zimmerman said. "I believed he made student-centered decisions. He empowered staff to do their best for students, and he clearly understood the role of the board and clearly understood the role of the superintendent and worked to establish those boundaries to make sure that the district ran smoothly. And he was given that role by this board by a 5-0 vote."
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McDonald is the district's third leader in two years, replacing former superintendent Cort Monroe in the interim.
Both former superintendents, Lori Shough and Monroe, resigned before their contracts were up, and in separation agreements, they were each paid out. Shough was paid more than $130,000, and Monroe more than $100,000. McDonald's interim superintendent contract showed he was being paid a base salary of $178,000 that was scheduled through June 30, 2026.
As to why the former superintendents resigned, community members have said Shough was pushed out by the board, and families were not happy with how Monroe led the district.
When ABC15 reached out to board members for comment on why McDonald is on leave, board president Michael Todd responded previously, saying, "It's a personnel matter. Rest assured, the board treats these matters seriously and acts in the best interest of the school district." He continued on saying he couldn't say more.
However, in two special board meetings this week, the governing board had items to look at taking legal action to “self-report” to appropriate government agencies over possible violations. According to the board agenda, two possible issues included violating policy of procurement codes in the purchase of a service as well as a possible violation of the state’s open meeting law that had to do with communication with a quorum of the governing board.
While it’s unclear if those two possible violations had to do with McDonald, the board voted 5-0 to move forward with the self reporting.
