Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
Cactus Shadows student complains to school board about Kiwanis scholarship process; board says Kiwanis is outside district jurisdiction
Loading...
Summary
A Cactus Shadows High School senior told the Cave Creek Unified School District board she felt ignored and unsupported by the Kiwanis scholarship process. The board responded that Kiwanis is a separate organization, offered to meet with the student and to pass feedback to Kiwanis officials, and declined to take formal action during the meeting.
A Cactus Shadows High School senior told the Cave Creek Unified School District governing board on April 8 that she felt ignored and unsupported in her dealings with the Kiwanis scholarship committee, prompting a public exchange in which board leaders said Kiwanis is an independent organization outside the district's jurisdiction.
Why it matters: The exchange highlights a student complaint about a community scholarship process that students associate with the district. The governing board affirmed it does not control Kiwanis activities but offered to meet with the student and pass along feedback.
Madeline Lewis, identified herself as a senior at Cactus Shadows High School, described submitting a Kiwanis scholarship application on Dec. 22 and receiving confirmation that it was received. She said she later heard peers had been contacted for interviews while she received no communications despite repeated attempts to reach the scholarship organizers by phone and email. "Not only then did my parents get involved and still days passed before a response came back," Lewis said. She said she was ultimately told her application was incomplete and that no one at Kiwanis had discussed the matter with her. "It felt like my voice didn't matter," she said.
Board President Greer Busby responded that the Kiwanis organization is independent from Cave Creek Unified and that the board has no jurisdiction over Kiwanis processes. Busby offered to meet with Lewis and her family and to relay the concerns to Kiwanis leaders: "I'm happy to sit with you and your daughter, at some point in time. My assistant can reach out to you and we can sit down and I will absolutely listen and take whatever feedback," Busby said.
A member of the audience (identified in the meeting transcript as Mr. Lewis) attempted to speak further and presented documentation he said showed emails had been opened by Kiwanis; board leadership maintained that the matter was not agendized and was not a district action item, and asked that the venue not be used to conduct a Kiwanis investigation during the board meeting. The board closed the comment period after the student's three-minute public comment.
What the board can and cannot do: The governing board confirmed it cannot take legal action on matters not properly noticed on the agenda. Board leaders said they would not adjudicate Kiwanis' internal scholarship processes at the meeting but would accept feedback and offered to facilitate a meeting between the student and Kiwanis representatives if the student wanted that help.
Next steps: President Busby offered to meet with the student and family and to bring concerns to Kiwanis leadership. The board did not direct staff to take any formal district action during the meeting.
