Key Points:

• Republican lawmakers consider legislation to monitor school districts

• Audit planned into Tolleson Union High School District’s finances

• Superintendent Calles accused of enriching his consulting firm True Professionals

Republican lawmakers are considering legislation next session to keep a closer eye on school districts and their governing boards next session.

Members of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee said on July 21 that they plan to approve an audit of the Tolleson Union High School District after hearing testimony that raised several concerns for Republicans on the committee about the district’s Superintendent, Jeremy Calles. 

Calles and the school district were the main subject of JLAC’s hearing. One of the committee’s co-chairs, Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, has scrutinized the district for months after it entered into a $25 million contract to help the Isaac Elementary School District recover from a budget deficit exceeding $20 million. The deal involved selling the land rights of Isaac Middle School to Tolleson, only for Tolleson to turn around and lease the building back to Isaac so the school didn’t have to close. 

Calles testified to the committee that he is proud to have the highest average teacher salary in the state, the highest starting base salary for teachers and the highest paid teacher in the state.

Despite that, lawmakers pointed to state proficiency scores from district students and questioned how a district with an influx of cash could have low-performing test scores, referencing that district students scored an average of 22% in math proficiency in 2024 and 26% in English and language arts. The state’s average is 30% and 38%, respectively. Tolleson’s 87% graduation rate in 2024 was about 10% higher than the state average.

“We’re here focused on being a bank, loaning money to other institutions because it’s a good idea,” said House Majority Leader Michael Carbone, R-Buckeye. 

Committee co-chair Mark Finchem suggested adding school districts to the SB1487 complaint law, which allows lawmakers to request investigations from the Attorney General’s Office into a municipality when they believe the municipality has broken state law. School districts are currently exempt from the law. 

That idea likely wouldn’t get far with most Democrats, who are seeking greater oversight into Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. 

“Before we put more on district schools in terms of scrutiny, we need to institute oversight on the universal voucher program since it’s a billion dollar expense,” said House Assistant Minority Leader Nancy Gutierrez, D-Tucson. “District schools are already tasked with providing transparent budgets and spending. Universal vouchers are not, but should be.”

Members of the committee also accused Calles of using his position as superintendent to enrich his school consulting firm, True Professionals. Calles said Isaac’s former superintendent, Mario Ventura, initially reached out to him about the district’s deficit and, although Calles was operating as a consultant to Ventura, he said he never billed Isaac for any services. 

Calles said he originally advised Isaac to seek a lease purchase through a bank. When Isaac didn’t have six weeks to wait for a bank to approve that request and the district’s payroll was in jeopardy of being frozen, he said the plan changed to Tolleson entering into a contract with Isaac.

The contract between the districts gives Isaac 12 years to repay the $25 million Tolleson spent, at a 6% interest rate, which Tolleson projects will result in a net gain of $7 million.

“Where you normally would have had $25 million sitting there and generating nothing, you now have $7 million,” Calles said. 

Gress said he believes this deal is “predatory” to taxpayers since Tolleson taxpayers can’t be guaranteed they will ever see that $25 million return, and Isaac taxpayers now have to help generate funds to pay the contract.

Other officials from the city of Tolleson attended the hearing to testify about their interactions with Calles. 

Tolleson City Manager Reyes Medrano shared details about a land deal the city and the district had in 2023, when the school district acquired the land where the old city hall was. 

According to Medrano, Calles wanted to give the city an additional $85,000, along with the purchase for the land, so that Medrano could pay a broker that the city never engaged with.

“When you’re conducting any transaction between government bodies, it’s very simple. Brokers, from our perspective, are unnecessary,” Medrano said.

When Medrano refused, he said Calles asked him to reconsider paying a broker because it would make the deal “cleaner” for Calles.

Medrano then prompted his team to carefully examine any future engagements with the superintendent. In his 20-year career as Tolleson’s manager, Medrano said Calles has been the most difficult superintendent he has ever worked with.

Calles and the city’s Police Chief, Rudy Mendoza, also have a significant disagreement about the removal of a school resource officer from one of the district’s campuses after that officer used excessive force on a student, leading to the school district ending its school resource officer contract with the city. 

Mendoza said he believed the decision was politically motivated by the district’s Governing Board President, Leezah Sun. Sun was a former Democratic state representative who resigned from the Legislature in 2024 after the House Ethics Committee concluded she threatened a Tolleson lobbyist. 

“Sun clearly has an axe to grind with the city,” Mendoza said.

Other community members testified and accused the district of attempting to silence people during public comment at its meetings, pushing through curriculum without a public vote, moving board meetings to Glendale to keep constituents from attending, and hiding multi-million dollar expenses in the consent agenda during board meetings.

Gress said he also plans to introduce legislation next year to make it explicitly clear that school officials can’t conduct activities related to their private businesses while they’re on the clock for school business, and to tighten conflict of interest requirements. 

“If there was a clear example of the atrocious behavior that I’ve seen school districts display, look no further than the Tolleson Union High School District,” Gress said. “President Sun and Superintendent Calles are culprits, and they’re culpable, and we will be looking into their behavior even more.”