Our very own David Safier gave us a good summary last week of Tucson Unified School District Superintendent H.T. Sanchez’s new contract and salary deal. Basically, Sanchez will head the district until at least 2018, and his base salary is increasing to $260,000 this school year, reaching $280,000 on his proposed final year. There are also opportunities for incentives, which are discussed by the ninth anonymous letter criticizing the district’s leadership.

I never understood these so-called incentives in institutions being sucked dry by the state (UA President Ann Weaver Hart also gets generous incentives, despite continuous cuts and tuition hikes), but that is how things work. 

And because I think criticism and praise deserve equal attention, here’s a portion of the letter—released on Thursday—where the contract deal is discussed:

Sanchez’ Aloofness with Site Administrators & His Need to Become More Political

Until the Board meeting of June 9th, Dr. Sanchez’ aloofness during meetings with principals just did not make sense. He has gone from being politically friendly to becoming more and more aloof. Principals have always been treated as the superintendent’s essential partners in bringing about success for their school district. Sanchez treats most of us as though we are bothersome; a burden.

Several site administrators have commented on the immense superiority complex that has developed during Sanchez’ two years as the TUSD Tsar. It once again hit us- this Superintendent Sanchez-Frankenstein has been created. The June 9th three to two vote on the best kept secret of the month- Sanchez’ employment contract- revealed what is behind the Sanchez aloofness and the ballooning of his superiority complex.

He has three solid- no questions asked- blindly-loyal-to-the-death board members and now he is here to stay until 2018 at about $400,000 per year. He coerced his three to renew his contract now; less than two years into a three year contract- or he would get snapped up by another school district. This seems like a form of extortion. It worked. (We suspect that any school board that would do just a little research would not employ Sanchez.)

During the discussion on the contract, Juarez appeared to have broken his truce of silence by admitting that he had received a draft of the Sanchez-contract some weeks ago, via email, while Mark Stegeman and Michael Hicks complained that they had not seen the contract until they walked into executive session earlier in the day. Juarez took to scolding them for not reading their email with the drafted contract.

As Juarez realized his stupidity in disclosing the receipt of the drafted contract, he awkwardly insisted that he had not said what he had just said. Realizing, of course, that what he said is recorded, he then said that what he meant to say was that all Board members were made aware that the contract would be presented but that he had not received a drafted copy via email. The back peddling was pathetic and the foot in his mouth just could not be extracted. Is it possible for one person to be dumb and dumber?

The Board had been counseled by their attorneys not to discuss the contract until after the vote on the contract took place and the contract was signed.

Sanchez received three solid votes for his near $400,000 contract; pretty good for a rookie superintendent! (Remember, he had served as an Interim Superintendent at Ector County Independent School District from March 13, 2013 until he was appointed TUSD’s Superintendent in July of 2013 from a finalist pool of one.) He had 4 limited months of interim status superintendent experience when he was hired. Now, that is a rookie; and an interim rookie at that!

Once Grijalva, Foster and Juarez rationalized their support for the contract renewal- they voted yes. Neither Stegeman nor Hicks voted in favor of the exorbitant contract. Sanchez has lost one vote during his less than two years with TUSD.

Sanchez received a gargantuan raise and incredible benefits.

Sanchez’ base salary for 2013-14 was $210,000. His newly approved 5 year colossal base salary for 2015-16 = $260,000; 2016-17 = $270,000; 2017-18 = $280,000. These amounts are just the base salary. He gets a guaranteed raise every year he remains employed by TUSD along with incentive pay of $25,000 each year for the next two years he remains. He will receive a bonus of $152,500 for remaining with TUSD the third year of his contract. Sanchez also gets 44 vacation days that he can turn in for cash at the end of each year and a raise every year he stays and incentive pay of $25,000 for each of the next two years he stays. He will get a bonus of $152,500 for staying the 3rd year. He continues to get $3,000 to join organizations of his choice and received a $25,000/year stipend to with as he pleases. (Many times he buys tables at events such as the LULAC Awards Luncheon and “invites” Board members to sit at his table.”) Additionally, he gets a 6% performance bonus every year. The contract is arrogant; the action taken by the Board was arrogant and commits tax dollars until 2018. Foster’s and Juarez’ terms end December of 2016. They have committed funding to Sanchez beyond their term. It is enormously presumptuous of them. We assume that they assume that they will be automatically re-elected.

This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2015.

I was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I moved to Tucson about 10 years ago. Since I was old enough to enjoy reading, I developed an interest in writing, and telling stories through different...

17 replies on “Anonymous TUSD Critics Aren’t Happy with H.T. Sanchez’s Renewed Contract”

  2. And here is the link to Arizona Daily Star Editorial which appeared in the June 14 paper:
    http://tucson.com/news/opinion/tucson-unified-superintendent-s-percent-raise/article_2f0dd6fc-85ff-5ead-93e1-1b6f5e69b64d.html
    The Star’s Editorial got it right!

    I am so glad that you have included a section of the letter from the anonymous TUSD group who reports things that are actually happening as opposed to the Sanchez propaganda. TW’s David Safier usually just echoes whatever he is hearing from the HT clan- Adelita Grijalva, Krystal Foster and Cam Juarez. I have taken one of the comments to Safier’s post and re-posted it.
    The words of the anonymous letter writers ring true from what I see is happening in TUSD and as a long-time teacher, I find myself distressed with what is happening.

    Ms. Inés Taracena, you are great addition to TW. I hope you will cover TUSD and do some deep digging… as in investigative journalism. Please, please, please- at a minimum do whatever it takes to balance Safier’t tilted viewpoint.

    ___________________________________________

    Take a look at the Sanchez “leadership” crew:

    Adrian Vega was a high school principal in Sanchez’ former school district. Sanchez elevated his Texan friend to Deputy Superintendent. They are very close friends, having intentionally moved to rental homes within the same Fruchthendler neighborhood. Vega is best known for screaming at people and generally mistreating them. Allegations of sexual harassment resulted in warning him to cease any such inappropriate sexual conduct. In the two years as Deputy not one single notable accomplishment can be pointed in his direction- except having Sanchez’ back. Other than that, he is known for nothing. He is a rookie.

    Ana Gallegos was promoted from a Title I Director to an Assistant Superintendent right at the same time Sanchez swept the Title I money from direct Title I services to haphazardly lowering class size. Fast climb. She is a rookie.

    Eugene Butler was promoted from a director position at the middle school level by Sanchez to an interim position and then promoted again to Assistant Superintendent by Sanchez. Fast climb. He is best known for screaming, cussing, using vulgarities and bragging that he is looking to get another job in Florida. He is a rookie.

    Karla Soto was promoted from Finance Director to CFO, on the heels of the former CFO leaving- Yousef Awaad. She is best known for saying yes to Sanchez; a dangerous word in her line of business; especially with his propensity to spend money. She is in over her head.

    Stuart Duncan was hired by Sanchez. The verdict is still out on him. He is a rookie to TUSD.

    Anna Maiden may be the very worst HR person TUSD has ever experienced. She is responsible for massive mistakes with the compression pay. It is a massive mess which has harmed several teachers. Sanchez hired her. She is the former HR Director at Sunnyside. Krystal Foster voted against her hiring. Foster is employed by Sunnyside and knew something the other Board members did not know. Maiden is not a rookie. She is a lousy HR director.

    Scott Morrison was hired from the private sector by Sanchez. His experience base is in project management, client relationship management, technology implementation with positive ROI results, risk management and reengineering of system processes, in the private sector. He was hired by Sanchez to “project manage” anything and everything having to do with desegregation. He knows nothing about desegregation or public education. From that position he was promoted to Chief Technology Officer. Fast climb. He is a rookie.

    Abel Morado is a recycled administrator. He is not a TUSD employee but rather a contracted employee. He is known as a get-along-go-along “company man.” He has the most TUSD experience of anyone remaining on the Sanchez central team which is alarming as hell. Does anything else need to be said? Oh, and he is the only person on the Sanchez team who was on the team when Sanchez arrived from Texas. All others were hired by Sanchez.

    NOT a lot of depth. Not a lot of experience. Lots of lacking expertise and leadership. Lots of rookies. Lots of fast and furious promotions. TUSD has a so called leadership team that is comprised mostly of rookies, with serious smatterings of incompetence. Does Safier expose any of this? No!

    Steve Holmes’ departure from TUSD is a loss. He contributed more to the District through his work, direction and leadership than the whole group of people above combined.

    Steve Holmes recently commented that with his departure as well as that of Ignacio Ruiz, TUSD historical memory would vanish.

    Reality check: Morale has hit rock bottom in TUSD. Parent and student programs have been cut by Sanchez, with no posts by TW on such topics. School budgets have been “swept,” leaving schools without the support for school improvement, which would go far in keeping students in TUSD schools. Has Safier posted on any of these things that impact students first hand? NO! (Safier will probably ask for the specifics and herein lies the problem. Safier writes what he is fed by Sanchez, Foster and Grijalva- in that order. He has no reliable contacts or sources to provide him with the facts about TUSD. Safier has done no investigative journalism with regard to Sanchez. He is seen as having been won over by Sanchez. No wonder!

  3. Easy solution, incentivize him based on enrollment, say $100 per student.

    So in the case of last year when about 1500 students fled with their feet, $150,000 is deducted from his pay.

  4. All that stuff may be true, but the Arizona legislature is responsible for almost all of the school funding problems. Ducey is a smoke and mirrors pawn of Goldwater and the Koch Beothers who financed and hired him. At least Sanchez was eating dinner with Diane Douglas in Flagstaff Friday at the ASBA workshop. What this means for the future remains to be seen.

  5. Well it looks like TUSD does not need my annual charitable contributions, with all the funds they are throwing around. Next year I will send a letter to those I gave money to tell them to ask Sanchez and the board for the money.

  6. The state is one problem The TUSD board is another problem. I am appalled that some members got advanced copies of the document while others didn’t. Bottom line, if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to hide!

  7. I agree sad. Why was it keep from board members? They are supposed to be the adults in the room. Not so since Grijalva arrived.

  8. It has been clear to many of us who work within TUSD that the three rascals who make up the Board majority violate open meeting law on recurrent basis. Sanchez tells them to jump and they then deliberate between one another just how high they will jump to please him and make sure he does not leave as he implies he can do at the drop of his cowboy hat. Catching them in the act of violating the open meeting law is the trick, because they are sneaky. They text and talk on the phone which is much more difficult to trace than emails or actual meetings. And then there are the one-on-one meetings between Sanchez and individual Board members- during which Sanchez will tell one of the rascals that he has the other’s vote. It has become quite a disturbing cult. Part of the conspiring has been to come up with strategies on “freezing” Stegeman and Hicks out of District business, just as they did on Sanchez raise and contract. They have been quite successful. Caught or not- they are corrupt and TUSD is spiraling into the most negative place it has ever been. As noted by the second commenter above, there is extremely shallow “leadership” represented on the team that Sanchez has assembled. He does not like surrounding himself with those who have any depth of expertise and experience; his rookie status and fragile ego just won’t allow it. I have been part of TUSD for decades and have never seen the situation as bad as it is right now. TEA has totally folded neatly into Sanchez’ pocket. While my plan was to retire from TUSD in another 4 or 5 years, I can now not imagine working in an organization that has become so corrupt. Public education funding in Arizona is horrible. Everyone can agree on this fact. However, it is a mistake to point to the Legislature or Governor as responsible for the lack of leadership within TUSD; the lack of ethical behavior both at the Board and administrative level; the lack of respect shown to students, parents and community members; the level of fear and
    intimidation that is executed from 1010; the lack of effective communication; the lack of support for the schools and the general corrosion of the institution.

    Within the last month- TUSD has lost 4 high level administrators. Most had been with TUSD for years; were well liked and respected. Turn-over rate at 1010 has NEVER been as high as it has been since Sanchez arrived. Fear, intimidation, lack of leadership, favoritism, and all the ills he has brought to us from Texas is driving professionals out. Period. It is very sad!

  9. Leadership void, very well said, the proof needed to show the violation of open meeting laws are in the recordings of the meetings , they are there. I have had enough , I have spoken to so many people about this including government officials. I have written Sanchez and the board majority asking for their resignations . They will ignore me , or take legal action against , but it needed to be done. I hope that the TW will begin to do real stories about TUSD , instead of the propaganda parade that has been happening. There is a RECALL effort beginning and I encourage everyone to join. We need help in every area , if you want to make a difference and change TUSD for the better join this RECALL , write to Sanchez , and the majority , demand their resignation. Contact me at bsauber8@hotmail.com, we can change this together.

  10. Advice and help for HT Sanchez…. Cross post from 3 Sonorans

    Well son, looks like you’ve gone and got your tail in a crack, again. Some of us could see it coming, but rather then waste our wind on we-told-you-so, let’s focus now on what you need to do to get out of this jam.

    You know from back home that folks don’t look kindly on a guy in sharp suits and a big wallet. Something about that just says wrong. And when you have all kinds of budget cuts going around you the LAST thing you want is for folks to think of you as being above them. If you remember Pulp Fiction think of this as advice from “The Wolf”

    Step 1: Publicly thank the TUSD board for their generous offer of a huge salary increase. Thank them for their recognition of your team’s work (not just yours) and pledge your ongoing efforts to the people of Tucson.

    Step 2: Admit that this whole dust-up over your salary has become a distraction from the important work of the district. Clearly state that ” no good will come from an ongoing debate over my pay.”

    Step 3: Announce that you will propose to the board a salary structure for yourself that will pay you no more than what any other superintendent in AZ (not Tejas, forget Tejas) is making. That nice man up in Mesa would most likely be a good one to copy.

    Step 4: Announce that as part of this proposal any amount of money in excess of your proposed pay (anything more then Cowan is making) will go into salaries. Pick a disadvantaged group. TEA will want the money. Focus on a group that will see a bigger improvement. Besides you already own TEA.

    Step 5: Emphasize (like really emphasize) that you are committed to the children, parents and teachers of TUSD. Get out of the suits and get your hiney into the classrooms. Network with the common folks, a lot. Key term: Man of the People.

    Step 6: Ignore any of your inner circle that tells you to ride this one out. Yeah you might be able to, but in the long run when you are looking for a new job, a new employer will see that you deftly handled this mess and was out in front of the crises.

    OK, HT, that’s the advice. You can follow it or not. Up to you son, remember you’re still learning this game.

  11. HT has received the best advice in the world about an array of situations, including the budget, curriculum, administrative appointments, his 27:1 student/teacher ratio, desegregation, his intertwined relationship with TEA, his overt and inappropriate support for Grijalva and Darland during the board election, his inability to stop bragging about getting key endorsements for his candidates, his incessant talking (he just does not know when to shut up), his wife’s administrative interference, his inappropriate closeness to board members, his mistreatment and shunning of Hicks and Stegeman, his retaliatory treatment towards those who do not cheer and bow to him, etc. The advice has been provided by various people. Guess what. He is simply too arrogant to listen to anyone except those who say what he wants to hear.

    His contract and enormous undeserved raise originated in his head. The majority on the board were convinced to give him anything he asked for so that he would not abandon them. After all, they would not be able to go through another sham hiring if there were the opportunity to hire a real superintendent. Many of us know exactly what is going on because HT, Cam and Krystal talk, talk and talk. HT can not stop himself from talking, and talking, and talking (yawn), and talking. Cam tells his wife (the board member behind the board member- Montserrat Caballero) EVERTTHING, who then tells many; Krystal tells her TUSD BFs about all of the workings and schemes.

    It really is kind of funny that so much is dripped (or leaked) from these three. HT has done everything to stop the leaks at 1010. He has moved people out of the building; he has frozen people out through demotion or isolation; he has forced people to resign…and still, there are THE leaks (he must think he heads up Home Land Security).

    It is beyond their capability to stop. Let’s all watch them try to silence themselves.

  12. Leakers…keep on leaking…he is not a dictator. We own these schools. Let’s try to get them back.

  14. TEA has not helped education in TUSD or we would not be at this precipis. It’s time to clean house folks.

  15. I am very disappointed in your article because you criticize or quote others that Dr. Sanchez is aloof? This is interpreted as having a superiority complex? Running a large school district is difficult and you print that?

    I have talked to him(through email) a few times and he has answered every question I have asked with respect and he doesn’t know me at all. I remember when he was being attacked because he supposedly had built an administrator’s gym and spent 450,000 on a remodeled building so there is space for so many to come to board meetings which was supposedly an excessive and unnecessary waste of taxpayers’ money. He answered calmly and truthfully and was not upset. Everything was groundless and he could have been called aloof. I am so glad he was able to be calm.

    I know nothing will happen as a result of supposed violations to board rules because people here as well as ‘anonymous’ administrators just say whatever they ‘think’ will get people to think poorly of TUSD. There are enough people on the board who will blow the whistle and say things that aren’t true. Do you really think they would ignore board rules that are violated? This polarization in the district is created by many who only want to create trouble and don’t appear to care about the kids.

    Anonymous letters that don’t even have proof(very convenient that they don’t provide it because they may be identified) are worthless to me. Prove is someone is accused, evidence is presented and it is put to the appropriate authorities. What is printed here only adds fuel to the fire that will only hurt the students. We can disagree on whether the pay raise was right or not. I give no credence to anonymous letters. Plus what never ceases to amaze me is there are so many positions available throughout the state and these phantom administrators stay when they are so miserable? It doesn’t make any sense at all.

  16. Guardians , you are so wrong about everything, what the letter writers and everyone else that works at TUSD is true, the proof is out their if you really want to find it. The board majority has violated open meeting laws its all on video . I have filed a complaint with with the AGs office. Grijalva has violated the law by not filing her campaign finance reports, the county attorneys office now has this issue. As for Sanchez , great you got to talk to him , you are the only one that I know of. I have had a few criminal issues with TUSD, Sanchez will not return my emails, or phone calls, and when I went to speak to him he wouldn’t come out. When my son begged him for help , he ignored him too. I don’t think much of Sanchez ,but what I think of him he has earned . You talk about anonymous letters not meaning much, but what are you, Guardians really, I don’t think so. I don’t hide my identity I it’s right here for everyone to see, why don’t you try it before you critize others for protecting themselves, shame on you.

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