In a press release dated October 17, 2014, former TUSD Governing Board member and current candidate Miguel Cuevas called for the resignation of current TUSD superintendent HT Sanchez.
Here is the press release:
Former TUSD Board Member Miguel Cuevas calls for TUSD Superintendent Resignation
After lengthy discussions with current and former TUSD employees and community members, Former TUSD Board Chairperson Miguel Cuevas is calling for action regarding TUSD leadership.
“If I return to the TUSD Board, I will call for Superintendent HT Sanchez’ resignation. The majority of the current TUSD Board is not holding Superintendent Sanchez accountable for multiple instances of abuse of power.” states Cuevas.
“Superintendent Sanchez knowingly recommended hiring the current TUSD Board Chairperson’s mother-in-law without disclosing the relationship prior to the Board vote, he recommended hiring a consultant that he used as a reference in his personal resume and with whom he had multiple discussions prior to the bid being awarded. Dr. Sanchez continues to mismanage TUSD’s budget by overspending despite numerous warnings of the potential grave consequences by TUSD financial officers. Additionally, there are multiple accusations of mistreatment of TUSD employees by the superintendent.”
While Miguel is concerned about the high turnover of TUSD Superintendents, he is more concerned about the stability of the district if Dr. Sanchez continues to lead it. He will recommend policies and procedures to fully investigate the backgrounds of potential Superintendent candidates through additional employee involvement, visitation of the candidates’ current employers and the implementation of a citizens advisory committee. These procedures are not part of the current Superintendent search process.
With this press release, Cuevas joins the growing group of candidates opposing the actions of the current TUSD superintendent. He is also positioning himself in opposition to the current majority of the TUSD Governing Board who have repeatedly stated that they have supported virtually every action of the current superintendent because TUSD, in their words, “needs stability.” Current Board President Adelita Grijalva and current Board members Cam Juarez and Kristel Ann Foster have served as an “amen choir” for Sanchez since his arrival from Texas more than a year ago. No matter what Sanchez has done, they have provided automatic, and often very defensive, support.
Candidate Cuevas has done a good deed for everyone in the TUSD community by openly challenging the implied claim that TUSD students and teachers must put up with virtually every sort of behavior, no matter how unethical or even illegal, in the name of “stability.”
Does stability have some intrinsic value that outweighs the way that stability is achieved? Many despots in history have used fear and intimidation to maintain “stability” in their countries. Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Saddam Hussein all had very stable regimes. That stability came through fear and intimidation. According to the two letters written by TUSD administrators, Sanchez and his “enforcer,” Adrian Vega, have done the same things…though on a much lesser scale. They didn’t kill anyone, but they have fired and demoted a long list of educators for a perceived lack of loyalty to Sanchez and Grijalva. They have controlled the information provided to TUSD employees by blocking access to the Arizona Daily Independent on TUSD servers while allowing access to pro-Grijalva media. They have used their flunkies such as a couple of bloggers over at the Tucson Weekly to publish hit pieces about other candidates for TUSD Governing Board, and they have lied to the public on numerous occasions. Though Mr. Cuevas’s short record as president of the TUSD Governing Board was not a good one, he is headed in the right direction in this attempt to rehabilitate himself.