Roxanne Morris, the embattled superintendent of the Saddle Mountain Unified School District, has submitted her resignation.
The district superintendent, who held the post since 2001, did not return a call before press time.
The State Board of Education took over the district in June after finding the district had "grossly" mismanaged funds and overspent its budget for the last four years and is $3.5 million in debt. The board appointed Elizabeth Monty and John White, two certified public accountants from the Phoenix-based accounting firm Veriti Consulting, as receivers for the district.
The district's business manager, Joan Durant, answered a call to Morris' district office phone line Monday. When asked to confirm Morris had submitted a resignation letter, Durant said, "I'm sorry, I can't do that."
Durant directed calls to White, who refused to talk to the View and told Durant to tell the reporter to call back later in the day, which was after press deadline.
District staff attending training Monday morning were informed of Morris' resignation and told not to discuss it, according to sources who asked not be named.
Governing Board President Gary Burton and Board Member Dan Blackson said they had no comment about Morris' resignation.
A reporter called Board Member Kathy Torres and identified herself.
"No comment," Torres said, and hung up the phone.
Calls to board members Ken Blackson and Charles Jones were not returned by press time.
A call to Vince Yanez, executive director of the State Board of Education, was not returned before press deadline.
The three-school district (with a fourth under construction) has almost 1,300 students, about 159 employees and encompasses about 550 square miles in the Tonopah Valley and Buckeye areas.
State law mandates the appointed receiver audit the district's books and gives the receiver the authority to run the school district, including the ability to reverse or override governing board decisions, suspend or fire employees and supervise day-to-day operations of district staff.
Rebecca I. Allen can be reached by e-mail at rallen@westvalleyview.com.
