School boards are officially opposing the new Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA) executive director, Devin Del Palacio, due to his falsified resume and attempts by ASBA to move past it.
Last week, the Flowing Wells Unified School District and Vail School District issued resolutions declaring Del Palacio’s falsified resume to be a “serious breach of trust and violation of ethical standards” and a cause of serious doubt for the credibility and efficacy of ASBA leadership. The resolution also noted concern over ASBA leadership’s response to discovery of Del Palacio falsifying his resume.
“[T]he response of ASBA’s executive board leadership to criticism from constituent members regarding the executive director appointment, thus far, has been to wholly stifle and dismiss the members’ legitimate and understandable concerns — even going so far as to suggest that such members resign from their rightly held positions to the organization,” stated the resolution.
The districts called on ASBA to conduct another independent investigation into Del Palacio and take actions to correct the situation.
The resolution was based on a template passed around Pima County’s school districts amid the ongoing controversy over Del Palacio’s hire.
This week, the Amphitheater Public Schools, Catalina Foothills School District, and Sahuarita Unified School District will consider the resolution as well during their regular board meetings.
ASBA named Del Palacio as their new executive director in June. The gig cuts a neat paycheck: $215,000.
Del Palacio has been hailed as a rising star among Democrats: governing board member of Tolleson Union High School District, chairman of National Black Council of School Board Members, honorary commander for the 308th Fighter Squad at the Luke Air Force Base, and appointee of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors last September to briefly fill the empty LD-19 legislative seat (he ran and lost in the 2018 Democratic primary for the same seat).
"It's not about how much time you have, but it's what you do with that time that matters most."
We welcome our new Rep. @Devindelpalacio to the Caucus! He will fulfill the remainder of former-Rep. Diego Espinoza's term for LD19 until mid-January. #azleg pic.twitter.com/kFYj6CGwCa
— Arizona House Democrats (@AZHouseDems) October 5, 2022
On his now-private Instagram page, Del Palacio described himself as a “Scientist Astronaut Candidate.” Del Palacio serves as a NASA volunteer within their Solar System Ambassadors program.
Discovery of Del Palacio’s falsified resume occurred after several whistleblowers came to ASBA leadership. ASBA’s president at the time, James Bryce, acted on attorney advice and commissioned an investigation into Del Palacio’s professional background.
The resulting report of that investigation concluded that Del Palacio intentionally misrepresented his qualifications for the executive director position.
Del Palacio claimed on his now-deleted LinkedIn that he obtained a bachelor’s degree from Western International University in business administration and management, listing his enrollment as beginning and ending in 2021. That’s the same year that he applied for and was initially turned down for ASBA’s Advocacy and Strategic Initiatives Consultant position.
According to the report, Del Palacio’s predecessor, Sheila Harrison-Williams, advised him that he needed a college degree for the consultancy position. It was after notice from Harrison-Williams that Del Palacio resubmitted his application with an updated — and falsified — version of his resume to include a Western International University degree obtained in 2010. ASBA gave Del Palacio the consultancy job through that falsified resume.
The investigative report noted that Del Palacio admitted in a since-deleted 2020 podcast interview with a California school board member, Stevon Cook, that he never got his degree.
“[I went to] Western International University. But I actually dropped out,” said Del Palacio. “I dropped out because at the time, I was majoring in business administration. It wasn’t my thing.”
Western International University closed in 2017.
The report also noted that Del Palacio modified his Rio Salado College background in his executive director resume to represent himself as an associate’s degree recipient. However, his prior resume reflected his completion of a 13-hour certification course from the institution, not a graduation.
Del Palacio also claims to run a business, “Phx United,” which provides volunteer and voter registration services. Del Palacio claims to have registered tens of thousands of minority voters through his business. The listed website for the organization is now defunct. No such entity exists within the Arizona Corporation Commission records.
According to ASBA members who spoke on condition of anonymity, the organization has avoided addressing the Del Palacio investigation. At a law conference earlier this month, anytime a request was presented to ASBA to address the issue with an agenda item was either ignored or denied.
In August, ASBA fired their general counsel, Nick Buzan. Buzan claimed the firing was retaliation for advising the board to get rid of Del Palacio based on the external investigation into his background. Multiple sources told ADI that ASBA’s board has refused to review the investigative report.
ASBA’s president at the time, James Bryce, resigned after the 25-member board ignored his opposition to Del Palacio’s hire. Bryce told the ADI that ASBA has refused to walk back on Del Palacio’s hire, though he was chosen over two highly qualified candidates.
Bryce’s replacement, Desiree Fowler, told the board that they needed to either support Palacio or resign in an email.
“[T]hose who feel divergent from this path are respectfully invited to resign from their position immediately,” said Fowler.
The turnover prompted by Del Palacio’s hire has, apparently, opened up opportunities for other hires. ASBA didn’t respond to ADI about rumored plans to hire Micah Ali as an organizational consultant. Ali chairs the National School Boards Association (NSBA) entity, Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE). A source told ADI that Ali attended ASBA’s annual law conference last month.
ASBA left the NSBA earlier last year over controversy prompted by the national organization’s request to the Biden administration to investigate parents attending school board meetings for domestic terrorism.