Combs board selects Grand Canyon firm for superintendent search, adopts budget and telecommunication policy updates

The J O Combs Unified School District Governing Board voted 3-0 Thursday to hire Grand Canyon State Educational Services to conduct its superintendent search, approved the districtFY202526 annual expenditure budget and adopted several policy and administrative items, including ASBA policy advisories that address telecommunication-device rules in schools.

Board President called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. and the board moved through routine business before reaching item 8.1: selecting a firm to lead a search to replace departing Superintendent Dr. Wyman. Two proposers gave short presentations: Paul Tighe, executive director of Arizona School Administrators, outlined ASA(ASA), and Tim Carter, owner of Grand Canyon State Educational Services and former Yavapai County school superintendent. Tighe described ASA as "member based, member driven, representing over 1,500 school administrators" and said the groupoffers a national outreach and mentoring pipeline for candidates. Carter urged the board to treat the search as a long-term community decision, calling it "the most important thing that any governing board will probably ever do in their tenure."

After brief discussion, a board member moved to approve Grand Canyon State Educational Servicesto conduct the search; the motion passed unanimously 3-0. The board directed staff to work with the selected consultant on schedule and logistics, with an option to use special meetings or the August board meeting for executive-session candidate review.

In a separate but related set of actions, the board:

- Approved the FY202526 district expenditure budget as presented, satisfying ARS 15-905requirements to adopt a budget by July 15. Superintendent Dr. Wyman told the board the proposed budget used a projected average daily membership (ADM) of 3,515.134 and an M&O (maintenance and operations) budget figure of $29,608,686. He also said auditor-general budget forms issued July 1 will require adjustments once two calculations are provided by the Arizona Department of Education; the board was told any resulting amendments will be returned by the September meeting and that statute allows adjustments through Sept. 15.

- Approved ASBA policy advisories 876 through 905 and 906 through 908 on second reading. Administration emphasized that one major substantive consequence stems from recent state legislation requiring districts to adopt policy and regulation for telecommunication devices (cell phones, Chromebooks, smartwatches). The superintendent said the policy adoption is the board-level step and that district regulations with more specific guidance (for example, differing expectations by grade level and permitted use during passing periods or lunch) will be presented to the board soon. "We will be chasing this for the next two to three years," he said, noting expected enforcement and disciplinary-reporting impacts.

- Approved the annual lists and appointments that are routine at the start of the school year: the qualified evaluator list for 2025'6 (with two staff pending certification), the hearing officers roster for 2025'6, and the appointment of Board Member Steven Ray as the district delegate to the Arizona School Boards Association delegate assembly on Sept. 6, 2025.

All formal motions reported on the record passed unanimously, with the board repeatedly voting "Aye" and the clerk announcing "Motion carries 3 to 0." The meeting closed its public business by moving to an executive session at 6:17 p.m.

Why it matters: The search-firm selection sets the process and timeline for choosing the districtnext superintendent; adoption of the budget and the telecommunication-device policy will shape school operations and student-device use in the coming year. The district said it will follow up with a proposed telecommunication-device regulation and any budget amendments required by ADE.