Mingus Union High School District Governing Board Vice President Misty Cox is facing a recall petition filed by Marianna Habern, of Cornville, on Jan. 9.
“Misty Cox has consistently shown that the education and welfare of all of the students at Mingus Union High School is not a priority,” the recall petition stated. “She has consistently shown that her political agenda is her priority, at the expense of the mental and physical health of our students. In August of 2023, Misty questioned the presence of books in the MUHS library which aim to support LGTBQ+ students. This action on Misty’s part is a violation of federal laws [457 U.S. 853, 870 [1982] and many others], Arizona state laws [A.R.S. 15-120.02, A.R.S. 15-342 and many others] the Mingus Union High School policy handbook and a violation of her oath of office when Misty was sworn in as a Mingus Union Governing Board member. Misty is putting the district at risk of expensive lawsuits by trying to ban books based on content regarding sexual orientation and is trying to limit the information accessible to students based on her personal political agenda.”
Cox did not reply to multiple requests for comment.
Cox had previously sent an email to Superintendent Mike Westcott on Oct. 30, in which she stated, “Below is a list of the books that I would like to have removed from the library:
- “Queer as a 5-Dollar Bill,” Lee Wind
- “Queer: The Ultimate LGTBQ Guide for Teens,” Kathy Belge
- “The New Queer Conscience,” Adam Eli n “Love that Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life,” Jonathan Van Ness
- “The Pride Guide: A Guide to Sexual and Social Health for LGBTQ Youth,” Jo Langford
- “Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore [Our] Radical Anatomy,” Kelly Jensen
“I look forward to discussing establishing a policy for removal at the next meeting,” Cox concluded.
“Current policy and statute regarding ‘harmful’ or ‘sexually explicit’ materials might apply, but these are geared towards classroom materials which are not used on a voluntary basis and have exemptions and alternate assignment requirements,” Westcott replied on Nov. 1. “These policies don’t directly address the removal or reconsideration of library resources.”
Portions of the email from Westcott were redacted.
Westcott later clarified on Jan. 26 that at the time he had responded, he had not received information from the school’s attorneys indicating that the current policy and statute, Arizona Revised Statute §15-120.03, should also be applied to library resources alongside classroom materials.
“With that knowledge, we crafted the current draft policy in concert with our attorneys,” Westcott said.
The deadline for Habern to collect the 2,627 required signatures is Wednesday, May 8. Only voters in the MUHSD boundaries can legally sign the recall petitions.
The Yavapai County School Superintendent’s Office will have 10 days to check the petition once received and 60 days to disqualify signatures that do not belong to registered voters in the district.
If the petition meets the required number of signatures, the superintendent’s office will have five business days to file the petitions and notify the Board of Supervisors. The superintendent’s office will also have 48 business hours to give notice to Cox, who will then have five days to resign or 10 days to submit a statement of defense to be printed on a ballot. A call for an election will be issued within 15 days if Cox does not resign.
