Education

Tuba City probe says raises not OK'd

By Cindy Yurth
Tséyi' Bureau

TUBA CITY , Feb. 28, 2008

Substantial pay raises to Tuba City school district Superintendent Eugene Thomas's two closest underlings were never approved by the district's governing board, an independent investigator reported to the board at a special meeting last Thursday.

The investigator also found school vehicles that had not been marked as such and may have been used for personal commuting, in violation of Arizona state law.

However, the investigator, Denise M. Bainton of the law firm DeConcini McDonald Yetwin & Lacy, found no evidence that Thomas was unqualified for his position, or that he had retaliated against an employee who had filed complaints against him.

The investigation was launched by the school board in December after two district employees brought a list of complaints against Thomas to the board. Bainton completed the investigation in January.

Thomas's use of an employee purchase program to buy a 60-inch television was questionable, but not outright illegal, Bainton's 20-page report to the board states.

And as for allegations that a contractor was hired for jobs outside the scope of its license, that is a matter to be taken up with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, according to Bainton.

After deliberating in executive session for three hours, the board accepted the report and voted to implement its recommendations, which were mostly for tighter accounting practices and keeping mileage logs for school vehicles.

No action was taken against Thomas.

Rosanda Suetopka-Thayer, who along with Ron Begay had brought the allegations against Thomas, called the report "extremely disappointing."

"We had nine separate areas of concern and only five areas were addressed by the Bainton report," she said. "I would like to see a state-ordered fraud investigation into our school budget."

Ron Begay, while agreeing that the report was not as thorough as he would have liked, maintained that there was enough damning material in it to warrant keeping a close eye on Thomas.

"It may not have been illegal, but definitely there was and is evidence that the superintendent and his two administrators manipulated the system to their best interest," he said.

Begay and Suetopka-Thayer said they will continue their effort to recall the three members of the school board they feel are not challenging Thomas, and said they have joined Mohave County superintendent of schools Mike File in calling for the Arizona Board of Education to revoke Thomas's teaching and administrative credentials.

"We are getting strong support now from both the Shonto and Dilkon communities," Suetopka-Thayer said. Thomas was an administrator in both those Navajo Nation communities prior to coming to Tuba City. (see separate story)

Thomas did not return a phone call to his office Friday.

Among the report's findings:

• Thomas would be qualified to hold his position even if he did not hold a doctorate degree. The employees had alleged that Thomas was unqualified because his doctorate degree is from an unaccredited, online college. However, Arizona law does not require a school superintendent to hold a doctorate degree.
  
  
• Promotions for Adelbert Goldtooth from human resources/support services director to associate superintendent for human resources/support services, and for Joe Begay from business manager to chief financial officer, were approved by the school board in October. However, Bainton could find no board minutes indicating the board had approved the $20,000 pay raise Thomas had authorized for each man.
  
  Bainton advised the board either to approve the pay raises retroactively or to start deducting money from the men's paychecks until the difference is made up. The board took no action on the matter at Thursday's meeting.
  
  
• While Thomas did not technically qualify for the school's employee purchase program, which allows employees who have been with the district for at least a year to purchase technology products for personal use on credit through paycheck deductions, he did obtain special permission from the district's technology director, Mike Nelson, to use the program.
  
  There were two other irregularities in Thomas's purchase of the $2,400 TV monitor, however: the TV was not on a list of approved items under the program, and the vendor, Sam's Club, was not one of the approved partners in the program.
  
  It also placed Nelson in a compromising position, according to Bainton, for having to decide whether to approve a purchase for his boss.
  
  Although it was not illegal, "I do find that there is good reason for individuals to question this particular purchase," she wrote in the report.
  
  
• Three school vehicles assigned to Thomas, Goldtooth and Joe Begay were not originally marked with the district's seal and the words "for official use only," in violation of state law. Bainton reported that "it is my understanding" that the vehicles were so marked after her site visit in January.
  
  The complainants had alleged the vehicles were being used for personal commuting. However, because no mileage documentation existed, Bainton could not confirm or deny that.
  
  She recommended that the district start mandating mileage reports for all district vehicles, and that all gasoline credit cards be turned over to the district's director of transportation to be checked out when needed.
  
  Bainton also found that the two Dodge Durangos purchased for Goldtooth and Joe Begay in November were not part of a "normal fleet rotation," as Thomas had maintained. The vehicle assigned to Goldtooth has since been placed in the district's fleet and is no longer assigned to him.
  
  
• The complainants had maintained the district had hired Circadian EnviroCon of Gilbert, Ariz., to remove mold from district structures, but the company had gone beyond the scope of its license by performing a variety of other tasks including removing evaporative coolers and installing air conditioners, running gas and electric lines and replacing carpeting.
  
  Ron Begay had alleged Circadian is not licensed to perform those tasks. However, Arizona law permits a "specialty contractor" to undertake work that is "incidental and supplemental" to its contract.
  
  Bainton wrote that she is not a specialist in construction law and was unable to determine whether the tasks could be considered "incidental and supplemental" to mold removal. She encouraged the district to investigate this further with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.
  
  
• Suetopka-Thayer, the district's public information officer, had alleged Thomas had retaliated against her for bringing complaints about him to the school board by disconnecting her office phone, cell phone and e-mail.
  
  Bainton found that Thomas was within his rights to take those actions because Suetopka-Thayer had violated his direct order to suppress information about a threatened walkout by the district's bus drivers, and instead had used office equipment to disseminate the information to media outlets.
  
  The actions "were in direct response to her violation of his specific directive, and thus, provide a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for his actions," Bainton wrote.
  
  Suetopka-Thayer said her e-mail account has since been restored but she still does not have a working telephone in her office.
  
  
• Release of district records appears to be inconsistent. While in some cases, district personnel leaked documents that should have been formally requested and the copies paid for, in at least one other instance an employee seeking a document of public record was told he would have to pay the "retrieval cost" of the document. A retrieval cost may only be assessed if the requester plans to use the document for commercial purposes.
  
  In addition to her findings, Bainton cautioned the board not to consider Thomas's past record in other districts in any decision it makes concerning Thomas's employment.
  
  A recent forensic auditor's report concerning Thomas's handling of finances at the Peach Springs school district, where he was employed before coming to Tuba City, can't legally reflect on his performance at his present job, Bainton wrote, unless the Arizona Department of Education decides to revoke Thomas's credentials.

"Thus, it is my recommendation that the Tuba City Governing Board, at least for the present, deal only with matters occurring in the Tuba City School District, and allow the Peach Springs issues to be addressed by other agencies," the report states.

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