In June, the majority of the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board members approved contracts for administrators. At the time, Superintendent H.T. Sanchez attempted to hide the details of those contracts from the only two curious Board members.
Now, a recently awarded contract to administrator Gabriel Trujillo has brought attention to the policy of funneling money to administrators, while starving teachers by Sanchez and his supporters on the Board; Cam Juarez, Kristel Foster, and president Adelita Grijalva.
Trujillo, who has been hired as Assist. Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, comes from the Phoenix Union High School District. There he was a high school principal. Although he is moving to a community with a lower standard of living, he will earn $20,782 more than he would have made at Phoenix Union.
While an increase in pay for more responsibilities is reasonable, Trujillo is being paid $12,000 more than his predecessor at TUSD. His contract calls for a base salary of $138,000 and includes an $8,0000 stipend and $10,000 performance bonus.
That does not include the $461.54/day he can collect for unused vacation days at the end of this year. In his first year, Trujillo will This year he will get 25 days (5 weeks) of vacation, 15 days of sick leave, 6 personal days, and 20 holidays from TUSD. Like all of Sanchez’s cabinet members, Trujillo will get free short term disability insurance. Teachers have to pay for it, if they want it and can afford it.
According to one District expert, Trujillo’s contract isn’t the only one raising eyebrows. The contract awarded to Mark Alvarez, as interim Assistant Director of Elementary and K-8 schools, is for $126,000 including the $10,000 bonus and the $8,000 stipend. While his contract is worth $3,000 less than his predecessor, Ana Gallegos’, contract, he will now be able to sell back unused vacation at the end of every year for $415.38/day That alone makes his new contract considerably more lucrative.
In the past, Sanchez’s administrators have sold back unused vacation days for between $4,000 to $22,000.
The casual award of huge bonuses is never more egregious as it is in the case of Abel Morado. Deputy Superintendent Morado is not an employee of TUSD. He is an employee of the ESI temp service. That service then contracts with TUSD. As a result, it would be ESI that would award bonus and other perquisites – not TUSD. Yet, it was Sanchez who awarded him a bonus this year despite the fact that his contract with ESI does not provide for one.
At the same time, the administration has moved to reduce the pay of counselors, nurses, and other key auxiliary professionals by $800 in 2017-18. The administration has also hoarded $20 million of Prop 301 monies that should have gone to classroom personnel over the years. All the while, the union has remained silent.
The public and education activist are not remaining silent. They are asking questions. Why – if the superintendent’s contract requires the Board to set salaries – is the Board not doing so? How is it that the Board is approving contracts with little, to no, public scrutiny? Upon what basis are these salaries set? And, can any Board member actually answer those questions without Sanchez talking points?
Michael Hicks stated, “Paying central administrators ridiculous amounts of money when we have students who are struggling in substandard schools because the Board majority cut many custodians is simply wrong. It borders on criminal.”
Bettts Putnam Hidalgo said, “Unfortunately the Districts’ response to stories like this is to try to shoot the messenger instead of hearing the message: that a District with such unfair spending practices inspires little confidence and has less chance of ever getting a bond or override passed . This is what it looks like when the District undermines the work that goes on in the schools. When the District tells us–once again–about its crumbling infrastructure and the median age of its buildings–we should consider whose funding priorities it follows–not ours.”