Scottsdale Unified Board Member Libby Hart-Wells appears to have been determined to force through a dress code change to enable girls to attend school with their navels exposed.
To achieve her goal, newly obtained documents show that Hart-Wells circumvented normal board procedure, pressuring SUSD administration through an aggressive email campaign, demanding that they override the work of the district’s Code of Conduct Committee.
Hart-Wells’ emails, sent June to October 2022, reveal that she never sought feedback from parents, the committee or fellow board members. Instead, she used vague, evidence-free claims of students’ concerns about “equity” to justify her request that kids be allowed to have bare midriffs in school.
When district administration did not immediately comply with her demands, Hart-Wells became increasingly frustrated and admittedly “pressed” staff to remove ‘navel’ from the student dress code. Staff members told Hart-Wells that they wished to honor the work of the Code of Conduct Committee, however, that message did little to sway Hart-Wells from pursuing her personal agenda.
Despite the committee’s lack of alignment, Superintendent Scott Menzel directed staff to make Hart-Wells’ demanded changes to the dress code, and to include the updated Code of Conduct in the consent agenda of the October 18, 2022, governing board meeting.
The removal of navel from the dress code was approved without any public discussion in a 4-0 vote. Board members voting yes were Libby Hart Wells, Zach Lindsay, Jule Cieniawski and Patty Beckman.
Hart-Wells’ lack of interest in parents’ opinions is not new. In October 2023 she explained her vote against a bathroom accommodation policy that would have required parental involvement by explaining her belief that harm of children can come from the home.
Board members Hart-Wells, Lindsay and Cieniawski are not seeking re-election. On November 5, 2024, voters will have an opportunity to select between two slates of candidates. One slate includes candidate Mike Sharkey who complained online about the “uptick” in parents who feel they are best suited to make decisions for their kids, causing some to question if he could be an extension of the anti-parent attitude displayed by Hart-Wells.
The alternate slate of candidates, which includes Gretchen Jacobs, Jeanne Beasley and Drew Hassler, promise to “Just Be Honest” about SUSD to refocus the district on quality academics, parental involvement and student safety.
View Hart-Wells’ dress code communications below, as shared on X by Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity.
”Newly received documents indicate that Scottsdale Board Member Libby Hart-Wells badgered SUSD staff via email regarding a dress code policy change that she personally desired. Her reason: Equity.”
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Newly received documents indicate that Scottsdale Board Member Libby Hart-Wells badgered SUSD staff via email regarding a dress code policy change that she personally desired.Her reason: Equity. pic.twitter.com/rWIGvtBAZm
— Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity (@ScottsdaleUnite) August 22, 2024
On June 14 222 Hart Wells’ wrote: “I request that the navel be removed from the list of body parts.”
On July 25, 2022, Hart-Wells used vague claims of student feedback to justify her campaign against the Code of Conduct Committee’s decisions.
On July 25, 2022, Hart Wells acknowledged that she was pressing a district committee for changes. “Please know I press this issue not for myself or as any sleight to the committee’s work but for the students and the learning community,” she wrote.
On September 25, 2022, Hart Wells wrote: “I am catching up and circling back on outstanding items one of which is the status of the requested re-review of the student dress code. Specifically, to remove the inclusion of ‘navel’ in the definition of a private part from the dress code.”
On October 12, 2022, Hart Wells admits she is frustrated that the SUSD administration have not implemented her demanded changes to the dress code.
In a second email on October 12, 2022, Hart Wells pressed the district again in boldface type, stating: “I would like to understand, with reasons and evidence, not excuses or rhetoric, why the district asserts that the navel is a private part. I am without any material feedback after a year of trying to start this conversation.”
