Mingus Union High School District Governing Board President Dr. Misty L. Cox resigned Tuesday March 25, according to the Yavapai County Education Service Agency.
Yavapai County School Superintendent Steve King announced a non-partisan vacancy on the board, with the term ending Dec. 31, 2026.
In order to be eligible to hold this seat a person must; be a registered voter within the school district, be a citizen of the United States, be at least 18 years of age, possess their civil rights, have continually resided within the school district for at least one year immediately preceding taking office, and they or their spouse may not be employed by the district, or working for the district on a third party contract.
To fill the vacancy, send a letter of interest and a resume via mail to Yavapai County Education Elections Coordinator Jenn Nelson, Yavapai County Education Service Agency, 2970 Centerpointe East, Prescott, AZ 86301, or email Jenn.Nelson@yavapaiaz.gov. Include information about yourself, education, family and work experience, why you would like to be a board member, your residence and mailing addresses, and home and work phone numbers. Candidates may include letters of recommendation or support if they wish.
King will accept letters of interest and resumes from candidates until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16. Interviews will be scheduled at the MUHSD offices on Thursday, April 17. The appointment should be made on Friday, April 18.
For more information, call Nelson at (928) 442-5138.
An optometrist originally from Hornsby, Tenn., Cox was elected to a four-year term the MUHSD Governing Board in 2022.
Cox was elected vice president by the rest of the board on Jan. 9, 2024.
She was elected president on Jan. 9, 2025.
The current MUHSD Governing Board consists of Vice President Ashley Koepnick, Taylor Bell and the Rev. Frank Nevarez, elected to four-year terms in 2024, and Dr. Austin Babcock, elected to a four-year term in 2026.
2024 Failed Recall Effort
As board member, she was the target of a recall effort filed by Marianna Habern, of Cornville, on Jan. 9 2024.
The recall petition alleged, “In August of 2023, Misty [Cox] questioned the presence of books in the MUHS library which aim to support LGTBQ+ students. This action on [Cox]’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 [Cox] was sworn in as a Mingus Union Governing Board member. Misty [Cox] 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 later sent an email to Superintendent Mike Westcott on Oct. 30, 2023, in which she stated, “Below is a list of the books that I would like to have removed from the library:
- “Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore [Our] Radical Anatomy,” Kelly Jensen
- “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
“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 Governing Board held a first reading of modifications to Policy IJL Library Materials Selection and Adoption at their meeting on Feb. 8, 2024. The modifications regarded procedures for selection of materials and sexually explicit materials. The modified policy also provided a form for a request for consideration of library resources and a form of parental/ guardian consent for the use of library resources deemed sexually explicit.
Regarding sexually explicit materials, the policy states “The District will not use, nor will students be referred to, any Library resources that are “sexually explicit” under Arizona Revised Statute §15-120.03 and Policy IHAMB-R unless parental consent is provided on a per material basis. Such material will be placed on a closed shelf for student access until such parent permission has been granted for that student.”
The policy was modified to include procedures on the selection of library materials. Westcott added that the district won’t use nor refer students to any resource defined as sexually explicit in the statute unless parent or guardian gives consent on a per-material basis. Westcott clarified that no books have been removed from the library collection and any temporary relocation has been only to review those items within the context of the policy modifications.
Habern failed to collect the collect the 2,627 required signatures to prompt a recall election by the deadline Wednesday, May 8, and Cox did not face a recall.
Westcott announced in September 2023 that he would be resigning by December 2024. MUHSD hired Melody Herne, Ph.D., superintendent of Salt River Schools for the Salt River-Pima Maricopa Indian Community, in February 2024 and she formally replaced Westcott in May.
