School bond to pay for new football stadium
Topline: When voters in Tolleson, Arizona, approved a $125 million school bond last November, there was no indication that most of the money would be used to build a new domed football stadium. Yet the Tolleson Union High School District is moving ahead with the $80 million project, despite public backlash and a pending state audit.
Key facts: The bond listed six approved uses for the money, including “general and preventative maintenance on all buildings” and “technology, furniture, fixtures and equipment to support student growth.”
With only 22% of the district’s students proficient in math and 26% proficient in English, a new football stadium could be considered a luxury. But Superintendent Jeremy Calles has allegedly had an “obsession” with building the stadium since he was appointed in 2023, according to testimony former Tolleson High School Principal Felipe Mandurraga gave before the Arizona Joint Legislative Audit Committee on Oct. 7.
Mandurraga also claimed that Calles lied about the district’s enrollment numbers to try and boost state funding and use it on the football stadium, which Calles denies.
The Tolleson school district is asking voters for another $16 million bond this November.
Background: The Tolleson school district has resisted oversight of its spending. When state Rep. Matt Gress requested two years’ worth of financial records from the district, Calles sent him a $26,000 bill for the labor of compiling the records. Gress, a former school board member and current chair of the legislative audit committee, said it was “unprecedented” for a legislator to be billed.
The state auditor general has initiated an investigation that will review the school’s spending and its handling of a recent sexual harassment incident. It is expected to end in early 2027.
Supporting quote: “I would challenge anyone who thinks we don’t need the stadium to be out on that field when it’s 115 [degrees] and you’re playing on turf in 115,” Calles said. “If there is any state that should have more dome stadiums, if there is any county that should have more dome stadiums than zero, it is definitely this one.”
Calles earned $230,774 in salary in 2023, the latest year available.
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Critical quote: “There’s a lot of room for improvement when it comes to academic performance, and this feels like a distraction in that environment,” Katie Ratlief, executive director of the research organization Common Sense Institute of Arizona, told the news station KPNX. “They’re not providing what students really need, which is to learn how to read, write, and do math.”
Summary: Everyone loves a good football game, but voters should know what they are paying for before approving millions of dollars for a new stadium.
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