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Ousted AZ school superintendent challenges firing
A man who was recently removed from his role as superintendent of the Paradise Valley Unified School District has reportedly filed a challenge to the district's decision to oust him.
PHOENIX - There are new developments in the dispute between a Phoenix area school district and its now-former superintendent.
What we know:
According to an e-mail we received from a spokesperson with the Paradise Valley Unified School District, Dr. Christopher Todd Cummings has requested a hearing over the district's decision to terminate his employment as the district's superintendent.
The backstory:
Officials with PVUSD announced on March 31, 2025 that their governing board approved the start of contract negotiations with Cummings. A new superintendent was sought due to the retirement of Troy Bales.
Cummings' name was on the list of new school and district administrators that was released by PVUSD officials on July 28, 2025.
At the time officials announced Cummings' selection as the next superintendent, they mentioned that Cummings was retiring as the superintendent of a school district in South Bend, Ind., going on to say Cummings spent the previous 13 years in school district leadership.
During PVUSD Governing Board's Dec. 2 meeting, however, the board unanimously approved a motion to dismiss Cummings.
Dig deeper:
Per PVUSD documents, the Board of School Trustees with the Indiana school district where Cummings formerly worked voted on Jan. 30, 2025 to hire investigators to look into "allegations regarding illegal or unethical conduct" by the district's administration or school board members over the preceding five years. The document did not otherwise specify the allegations made in Indiana.
The PVUSD document states that on Feb. 18, the Indiana school district entered into an agreement with Cummings that would involve him retiring from the position on June 30, 2025, as well as receiving $225,000 from the district. Cummings then applied for the superintendent position on Feb. 23, 2025, and when asked if he had ever been bought out of a contract or placed on administrative leave, Cummings answered "no."
Cummings, according to the document, was interviewed in connection with the statements he made in the job application on Oct. 14, 2025, and when asked if he had given a copy of his separation agreement with the Indiana school district, Cummings reportedly said he gave it to PVUSD's marketing director and the person who was conducting PVUSD's superintendent search. Both the marketing director and the person who conducted the superintendent search denied having been given a copy of the separation agreement.
"[Cummings] finally produced the [South Bend Community Schools Corporation] Separation Agreement after a request to do so from the Board President," read a portion of PVUSD's document.
"After receiving a complaint by an employee about Dr. Cummings’s conduct, the Board retained the services of a third-party investigator to investigate the complaint and the conduct of Dr. Cummings.," read a portion of a Statement of Charges against Cummings that was released by PVUSD.
A summary of the investigation report was included in the Statement of Charges that PVUSD released. In the summary, the investigator wrote that Cummings, among other things, created an "unprofessional and counterproductive work environment," and "engaged in unprofessional conduct."
What's next:
Officials with PVUSD said a hearing has not yet been scheduled.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from the Paradise Valley Unified School District.