Parents and students press Apache Junction board over coach hirings and steep facility fees

Scores of parents, students and community members used the July 22 public-comment period to urge the Apache Junction Unified School District governing board to reverse recent staffing choices and revise facility-rental fees that they say are pricing out nonprofit youth sports programs.

"The recent fees you have implemented for nonprofit club teams make it nearly financially impossible," said Jill Bright, an AJUSD alumna and parent, criticizing rental charges she said range "between $600 and $2,000" for uses the city charges far less for. Bright told the board those local club teams serve as critical feeder programs for Cactus Canyon and AJ High and that higher fees reduce opportunities that spotlight Apache Junction.

Several students and parents focused on the board’s hiring choices for varsity coaching positions. "Coach Conley has had a huge impact on not just me, but also on all the other players he touches," student Jackson Salas said, asking the board to reconsider Conley for a varsity post. Multiple other speakers, including former employees and volunteers, described Conley as a longtime local contributor whose dismissal, they said, has disrupted conditioning, summer programs and feeder-team continuity.

Other speakers recounted operational problems they tied to the new rental policy: cancellations that left teams waiting outside in extreme heat, difficulty scheduling gym time, and allegedly inconsistent staff knowledge of the new rules. "Now you want us to pay thousands of dollars to use the gym," one commenter said, warning that higher charges will force nonprofit programs to raise prices and hurt kids who rely on scholarships and donations.

The public comments prompted no immediate reversal or formal response recorded in the meeting transcript. Later in the agenda a board member moved to remove the new-hire list from the personnel report for further discussion and a motion to table that portion was seconded; the transcript ends before a final vote on that request was recorded.

Why it matters: Speakers linked athletics staffing and access to facilities to student experience, district reputation and enrollment trends. Several said decreasing athletic opportunities can drive families to transfer out of the district, compounding the board’s stated efforts to increase enrollment.

What the board heard: The board recorded public comment and later engaged with the consent-agenda process; the board approved prior meeting minutes 5–0 earlier in the session. The transcript does not record any immediate district commitments to change the facility-fee structure or to re-evaluate the specific coaching hires raised by commenters.

Next steps: The transcript shows a motion to pull the new-hire list and a motion to table that agenda item for further discussion; the outcome of that motion is not captured in the available transcript.