Winslow Unified School District’s Business Manager Casey Hancock announced that he is resigning and as a result the governing board held a special meeting last Monday where the board authorized raising the salary for the position after Board President Debbie Martinez stated during the regular meeting the week before that the current pay is too low to attract a replacement. “I think the base rate paid for Casey’s job is $70,000,” Martinez said. “I don’t think anybody’s going to apply for that. I think that’s too low. We haven’t raised it in cost of living.” She called the business manager “probably the most important job in our district” and asked the board to meet within the week. The decision by the board was to increase the salary to $85,000.
Hancock, who oversees the district’s roughly $19 million operating budget, will leave Jan. 29, 2027. The board accepted his resignation as part of the consent agenda at last week’s meeting held at the Winslow High School Performing Arts Center.
The job is already posted on the district’s website, using a description that has not changed in several years. Board member Janice Childers asked whether the board could advertise a salary range instead. She also noted that the posting does not reflect a raise the board gave Hancock a few meetings ago.
Hancock’s departure comes a week after the board approved the district’s 2025-26 annual financial report, which he presented at a special meeting Oct. 13. Dr. Martinez thanked him for his help since she took the job. “It was a hard conversation to have, but I’m really excited for him,” she said. “He has to put his family first.”
During the call to the public, Winslow High School student Gabriel Gerber criticized the district for installing cameras in high school classrooms with little explanation. Gabriel said “rumors and gossip” have filled the gap left by the board’s failure to release a detailed statement on how the system works, why it was installed or who will have access to those cameras.
Gabriel said they trust the current school administrators to use the cameras responsibly but added that “a trustworthy office in the present does not constitute a trustworthy office in the future.” Classrooms have long been a place where students confide in teachers and classmates, Gabriel said and the cameras “will completely strip away” that privacy. Gabriel asked the board to reconsider, or at least to “properly inform the public of what you intend to do and how you intend to do it.”
The cameras were not on the agenda and under board policy members do not respond during public comment.
Two other speakers raised concerns about school roofs. Aspire Contracting inspected the roofs at Winslow Junior High and Jefferson Elementary with district staff and found wind and hail damage on both. The company recommended the district file a storm claim with its insurer as the roofs were only two years old.
Sharon Vasquez, a candidate for the governing board, said leaks in the old Bulldog gym roof have twice canceled the city’s co-ed volleyball games she referees there. “There’s probably at least eight to 10 leaks,” she said, adding that she worries about damage to the gym floor and the potential for black mold. Vasquez said Aspire is replacing the roofs on her home and two of her rental properties. The same night, the board approved a building renewal plan that lists roofing among the systems to be addressed “as funding allows.”
The board also got a first look at calendars for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years. The drafts cut the student year from 180 days to 175, because the district now counts instructional minutes rather than days. Teacher contracts would stay at 182 days. The calendars also add a full Thanksgiving week off, Good Friday off and a teacher training day after each break. The board is expected to vote on them Nov. 4.
In other business, the board approved early release at all schools on Feb. 4 and Feb. 11, 2027, and approved $1.77 million in the ratification list. Before the business portion of the meeting, dozens of students were recognized for high scores on state tests and the ACT. The board’s next regular meeting is 5:30 p.m. Nov. 4 at the district office, located at 800 N. Apache Ave.
In other business, the board:
* Approved past meeting minutes.
* Approved $300 donation from Honyoutlink for a percent sale of cross-country screen printing.
* Approved resignation of Brianna Allen, sixth grade teacher.
* Approved resignation of Janeen Barton from girls basketball head coach and Frank Stacey as the new head coach.
* Approved Tony Armijo and Preston Betoney as wrestling coaches.
* Approved the following extra duty pay: Tyler Allen, WJHS band and orchestra; Denise Estudillo, WJHS chorus; Alisha Jones, WJHS honor society; and Jordan Sawyer, WJHS student council.
