On Tuesday night, the TUSD (Tucson Unified School District) Governing Board rejected a compromise proposal to hire an internal auditor. The stakeholders of the District have been fighting for the position to be created that would answer to the elected Governing Board.
Board member Mark Stegeman had announced earlier this week that he and fellow Board member Cam Juarez had reached a compromise on the matter and it would be voted on at last night’s meeting. Instead, according to Stegeman wrote constituents after the meeting: “Cam Juarez, who shortly before the meeting wrote to me, “I assume we will have a final revised copy to approve this evening?” then voted against his own compromise. After endlessly postponing this reform, which has been recommended for years by numerous external experts and lately by TUSD’s recently departed business manager, it is hard to escape the suspicion that someone has something to hide.”
Superintendent H.T. Sanchez and Board president Adelita Grijalva have fought the measure. Sanchez has claimed that any auditor should only report to him.