Two Republican state lawmakers called for an audit of the Tolleson Union High School District on Monday, citing their concerns with the superintendent’s financial dealings.
Earlier this year, Tolleson agreed to purchase millions of dollars worth of buildings owned by the nearby Isaac School District in Phoenix. The state Board of Education had voted in January to put Isaac in receivership amid a massive budget shortfall in the district, and the cash from Tolleson provided a bailout for Isaac schools.
According to the terms of the sale, Tolleson officials would sell the buildings back to Isaac, plus interest, over several years.
At a hearing of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, Republicans like state Sen. Mark Finchem (R-Prescott) criticized the agreement arranged by Tolleson Superintendent Jeremy Calles.
“Everything that has to do with the safeguarding of taxpayers' taxpayer dollars and process. Just from what we heard today, it's a hot mess when it comes to due process,” Finchem said.
Rep. Matt Gress (R-Phoenix) accused Calles of treating the district like a revenue making opportunity, rather than an investment in students.
“It really reeks of corruption, so we’ll get to the bottom of it,” Gress said.
Calles said the arrangement with Isaac isn’t unusual. He noted Arizona’s lease purchases with the state’s own buildings during the Great Recession, as well as the Kyrene Elementary School District, which is in a ground lease with a developer.
“The only thing novel on this idea is the fact that on both sides of the transaction you have a school district. Everything else about this transaction, both sides of the transaction are not unseen,” he said.
Rep. Stephanie Stahl-Hamilton (D-Tucson) defended the bailout.
“It seems like if I care about the kids in my own neighborhood, it's just as easy to care about the kids in the next neighborhood. I would guess that that would be a driving force in wanting to have success in both neighborhoods,” she said.
But Gress said it’s not the role of a public school to act as a bank.
“You're stockpiling all this cash when you don't have a cash problem, you have the highest paid teachers in the state. You're the highest paid superintendent in the state,” he said.
Gress accused Calles of using a beleaguered school district like Isaac in a predatory way, knowing taxpayers will be fleeced to pay Tolleson back with interest.
Calles was engaged as a consultant for the Isaac district at the same time he served as superintendent in Tolleson. Calles said the former Issaac superintendent, Mario Ventura, asked for his assistance, but that he personally didn’t profit from the sale.
“At the point that Superintendent Ventura no longer had any control over what was going to happen with the Isaac School District, that is where my consulting ended. I never billed for a single dime. … I have never in my life received a single dime from Isaac School District,” he said.
Finchem also questioned why Tolleson has low test scores with 22% proficiency for students in math.
Calles defended the district, noting that Tolleson has a higher graduation rate than the state average and only slightly worse math proficiency scores.
As for the audit, whether or not one happens will be up to a vote of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee at a later date. Gress said lawmakers held off holding the vote immediately on Monday to gather more information from the Auditor General’s Office.
The Tolleson district was last audited in 2008, predating Calles’ tenure as superintendent.
