An anonymous email was recently circulated in TUSD that is critical of Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo, questioning his residency and alleging ‘racially-biased’ hiring and questionable financial practices.
Trujillo and his backers say the emailed letter was influenced by the recent reallocation of desegregation funding and whether its claims will be taken seriously still is being debated among Tucson Unified School District leaders.
The emailed letter is one of the latest in a series that have been popping up in inboxes for the better part of a decade, Trujillo said.
Trujillo has been TUSD’s leader since his appointment in September 2017. He said the letters started appearing before his start of his tenure.
“What’s concerning is that for the first time, we have media and a board member actually looking at an anonymous letter as an actual verifiable source to take some kind of action.”
The letter, attributed only to “Administrators for TUSD Accountability,” was distributed anonymously and claiming it was from whistleblowers representing the concerns of administrators, teachers and parents among others.
Toward the top of the letter, which numbers about 10,000 words, it asserts Trujillo does not live within TUSD boundaries or even Tucson. Trujillo said he “owns property” in Maricopa County, but has a primary residence in Pima County.
The letter states Trujillo is only physically at the office two to three says a week and spends the rest working from home. Trujillo said that is inaccurate and the he works on-site full time.
Trujillo’s contract, as renewed in 2022, set his salary at $230,000 a year, with $5,000 added every year following July 1, 2023.
Governing board president Natalie Luna Rose said Trujillo rents property within the district, and that is his primary residence. Fellow board member Sadie Shaw said she’s skeptical of the claim.
“A Superintendent working in a district as large as ours should live within the general area in order to fulfill their duties. To work three days a week remotely in another county in my eyes is a misuse of taxpayers’ funds and is cause for disciplinary action,” Shaw said.
Trujillo said he is not especially concerned about the anonymous attack which portrays him as an absent leader, or any of the accusations made in the letter.
“Not really,” he said, adding that he had pressing, like the reallocation of desegregation funds, making it difficult this year to spend much time visiting TUSD schools.
Trujillo also noted, “These letters show up after a controversial decision, or would show up after maybe some contentious items.”
Changing how desegregation funds are used in order to save jobs tethered to COVID-19 funding, has certainly brought about conflict. At one TUSD Governing Board meeting with desegregation reallocation on the agenda, hundreds of individuals opposed to reallocating funds attended.
Shaw, a vocal opponent of reallocating desegregation funds., said she had nothing to do with composing the anonymous letter and was unaware of who wrote it.
Luna Rose questioned the motivations of the letter writers.
“They don’t have the best interests of the students at all. It’s all about them and their ego, and trying to bring us back to the past to a darker time at TUSD.”
Luna Rose said during school visits, she has not been approached about accusations made in the letter.
“I thought I was going to run into things like that, but I haven’t, and I’ve been on the board for years,” she said. “I’ve never had anybody say anything negative. They may say things like, ‘Well, we need more funding.’ Most of the time, it’s about the budget.
One mid-level administrator, who asked not to be named citing potential retaliation, said they experienced a toxic work environment at TUSD, particularly surrounding racial issues. That individual, who is leaving the district, said they did not have any knowledge as to who composed the letter.
Shaw called her own relationship with Trujillo “strained.”
“Many who watch the board meetings have come to notice and speak out about it. I don’t believe this is the experience for the other members of the Governing Board.”
It hasn’t been for Luna Rose, the board president said.
Both Shaw and Luna Rose are up for reelection in November.
“The allegations in the whistleblower letter should be taken seriously and not ignored,” Shaw said. “If the board is not interested in taking action, I will personally request an investigation from an independent agency.”
Luna Rose showed little interest in taking emergency action on the accusations.
“As board president, I will not entertain an emergency board meeting. I will not. Who calls an emergency board meeting for unfounded allegations from an anonymous letter?”
“’Dr. Trujillo was a racist. He engages in racial discrimination during the hiring practice,’” he said, paraphrasing the letter’s content. “How are we supposed to investigate that? We don’t have a person to go to, to ask specific questions. It’s anonymous.”
Luna Rose said, “If any employee feels they’ve been wronged in any way, there’s so many avenues to share their concerns through board policy, and with Title IX and our EEO officer.
“Having people targeted by anonymous letters, and unfounded accusations, I think is just a low blow.”
Trujillo said the letter’s writers are still welcome to officially file grievances. That would involve being on the record and specifically sharing allegations and concerns.
“Part of that investigative portion would be if the claim was against me and decisions that I made, I would have to answer questions.
“That’s why policy is here. And I would happily cooperate.”
