The Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 governing board took several formal personnel actions and convened an executive session at its Dec. 10 meeting.

Key votes

- Release of John Fanning: The board voted to release Mr. John Fanning from his 2024–25 contract and to waive liquidated damages in the amount of $1,000. The motion passed with three board members voting yes and one abstention. The transcript identifies the abstention as Governing Board Member Renee Ramirez; the three yes votes were Governing Board Members Norvis Vasquez, Susan Fobian and Brad Beach. The mover and seconder were not specified in the public record of the meeting.

- Release of Rachel Newman: The board voted to release Ms. Rachel Newman from her 2024–25 contract and to assess liquidated damages of $1,000, as recommended by the principal. The motion passed; the board recorded the motion and a second and called the ayes, and the motion carried. The transcript does not record a named abstention or a roll-call tally by member for this item.

- Brianna Moreno: The board considered a recommendation tied to the principal’s request on Brianna Moreno’s contract. A motion “not to release Ms. Brianna Moreno from her 2024–25 contract until replacement” (with liquidated damages language stated on the record) was moved and seconded and passed with three ayes and one abstention (recorded in the transcript as 3–0–1). The transcript does not attribute who made the motion or second.

- Executive session: The board voted to convene an executive session under the cited Arizona statute to discuss the superintendent’s evaluation and performance pay (the meeting cited ARS 38-431.03 and related subsections). The motion to enter executive session carried on a voice vote.

Procedural notes and context

- Several motions referenced assessing or waiving liquidated damages of $1,000; the board debated consistency and precedent in how liquidated damages had been handled in prior, similar matters before advancing the items.

- The board handled these personnel matters in open session and then moved into executive session for separate discussion of the superintendent’s evaluation and performance pay plan.

Below are structured records of the motions as stated in the meeting transcript.