🚨 Desert Deception: Augustine Romero's Greatest Hits Tour from TUSD Scandals to Tribal Leadership, Helped by Adelita Grijalva
Because why let a little grade fraud and federal lawsuit stop you from failing upward into Indigenous education?
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
🏫 School districts are supposed to help students learn and succeed, but in Tucson's biggest school system, some powerful adults allegedly spent decades protecting their friends instead of protecting students.
👥📚 Teachers and community members have written detailed reports showing how a former school board member and a principal who got in trouble for changing students' grades worked together to avoid consequences.
🤝✏️ While students at one school were mostly failing their classes, these adults were busy manipulating court cases and lying under oath to protect each other. 📉⚖️🤥 Now taxpayers might have to pay millions of dollars because of their alleged corruption, money that could have been used to actually help students learn. 💸➡️📘
🗝️ Takeaways
🔥 111th whistleblower letter exposes alleged systematic corruption involving political dynasty members in TUSD leadership
⚖️ Federal court case manipulation claimed through witness intimidation and legal proceedings rigged to favor disgraced principal
📊 Grade-changing scandal cover-up where 86% of students were failing while the principal inflated graduation numbers illegally
💸 Superintendent earned 40% performance rating while allegedly committing perjury under oath about the administrator's competence
🕸️ 20-year "maquina de daño" prioritized political connections over educational quality for predominantly Latino students
🎯 June 10 board meeting will decide whether to fight lawsuit or pay massive settlement with taxpayer funds
🔍 Critical witnesses silenced as district's own lawyers allegedly worked against district interests in federal case
Below is a video of the current Pascua Yaqui Education Director, who is suing TUSD. Profane public shouting match puts Pueblo principal under fire - Arizona Daily Star.
Corruption in the Classroom: TUSD Whistleblowers Expose a Tangled Web of Power, Privilege, and Politicking
In the scorching heat of southern Arizona, where the desert sun bakes everything from saguaro cacti to school district scandals, a 19-page bombshell has just dropped like a monsoon storm on the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD).
The TUSD Whistleblower Group's 111th open letter reads like a telenovela written by investigative journalists – complete with corruption, cover-ups, and a cast of characters that would make even the most seasoned politiqueros blush.
Because apparently, when you're dealing with public education in Arizona, the real education happens in understanding how power games destroy our kids' futures while enriching the well-connected.
The Players in This Desert Drama
Picture this: a former school board member with political dynasty connections, a disgraced principal with a grade-changing scandal, and a superintendent who apparently can't keep his story straight under oath.
Welcome to TUSD, where the corruption runs deeper than a Tucson arroyo after a flash flood and flows just as predictably toward those with the least power to resist it.
The whistleblowers' latest exposé centers on what they call a "corrupt and conniving" conspiracy between former TUSD Governing Board member Adelita Grijalva and Augustine Romero, the former principal of Pueblo High School.
For those keeping score at home, Grijalva recently stepped down from her 20-year tenure on the TUSD board to run for her late father Raúl Grijalva's congressional seat in Arizona's 7th District.
Romero, meanwhile, has been embroiled in controversy since his days as principal, particularly surrounding a grade-changing scandal that ultimately led to the non-renewal of his contract in 2018.
But according to these whistleblowers – a self-described "large dedicated collection of concerned current TUSD administrators, teachers, parents, grandparents, former students, retired administrators, and teachers who speak and write the truth" – the rabbit hole goes much deeper than a simple grade-changing incident.
Oh, how naive we were to think it was just about changing a few grades. This is about an entire system rigged to protect the powerful while failing the very students it's supposed to serve. It's capitalism's education division in action – privatizing profits while socializing the costs.
La Maquina de Daño: The Grijalva Machine Exposed
The document paints a picture of what the authors call the "maquina de daño" (machine of harm) – their pointed rebranding of what has long been known as the Grijalva political machine. This isn't just about one school board member allegedly overstepping boundaries; it's about a systematic abuse of power that the whistleblowers claim has "steadily grown and permeated" TUSD over the past 22 years.
Twenty-two years of turning public education into a personal playground. That's longer than most students spend in the entire K-12 system, which means an entire generation of kids has grown up thinking this level of corruption is just how things work.
According to the letter, Grijalva and Romero maintained a relationship they described as "comadre" and "compadre" – terms of endearment that suggest a family-like bond. The whistleblowers write that "Augustine advertised this information throughout TUSD once Adelita became a member of the Governing Board twenty-two years ago. It protected and seemed to warm him, much like the Mexican wool poncho he used to fashion during cold winter days at 1010 East 10th."
Because nothing says "professional educational leadership" quite like flaunting your personal connections to intimidate colleagues and protect yourself from accountability. It's the educational equivalent of wearing your gang colors to work.
The relationship allegedly crossed professional boundaries when Grijalva used her position to manipulate legal proceedings in Romero's favor during his federal lawsuit against TUSD. The whistleblowers describe their bond in almost religious terms: "Augustine Romero's and Adelita Grijalva's Facebook regularly has him claiming he is with Adelita as he dedicates a religious 'manda' to several individuals."
The irony is palpable – invoking religious promises while allegedly engaging in deeply unethical behavior. As they say, the devil can cite scripture for his purpose, and apparently can also manipulate federal court cases.
The Federal Court Case: Justice Tilted?
Here's where the story gets particularly damning, like watching a rigged casino where the house always wins and the players don't even know the dice are loaded.
After Romero's contract was not renewed in 2018, he filed a federal lawsuit against TUSD, claiming racial discrimination and retaliation. According to court documents referenced in the whistleblower letter, a federal judge found that "sufficient evidence existed to go to the jury on whether the school district's proffered reasons for not rehiring him were pretextual, given the public opposition from three hard-right school board members who criticized the Program and potentially intimidated district employees."
But the whistleblowers argue that this legal victory was orchestrated through a web of corruption involving Grijalva, Romero, and others within TUSD's administration. They claim that "critical witnesses and evidence never reached the Federal District Court for the Judge to consider" and that "the TUSD attorney from a TUSD-contracted law firm appears to have taken on the role of defending the plaintiff, Augustine Romero, rather than the respondent, TUSD itself."
Let that marinate for a moment – a school district's own legal team allegedly working against the district's interests. It's like hiring a defense attorney who secretly works for the prosecution, or like capitalism pretending to care about workers while maximizing profits for shareholders. And we wonder why public trust in institutions is flatlining faster than a heart monitor in a morgue.
The letter provides an extensive list of witnesses who were never deposed, including:
The former Mexican-American Studies teacher whose grades were changed
No teachers from Pueblo High School
Assistant Superintendent Abel Morado, who was Romero's immediate supervisor
Security staff regarding break-ins and property damage
Three board members who voted against Romero's contract renewal
It's almost like they were playing judicial Jenga – carefully removing every piece of evidence that might make their house of cards collapse.
The Grade-Changing Scandal: Educational Fraud by Any Other Name
The original grade-changing incident deserves deeper examination because it reveals a pattern of behavior that was protected rather than punished – a perfect microcosm of how the system shields the connected while crushing the conscientious.
In 2016, Romero changed the grades of six students from failing to passing without the teacher's permission—a clear violation of Arizona state law and TUSD policy.
According to the whistleblowers, "Augustine Romero devised several excuses to allow students who had not completed the coursework to receive passing grades, thereby enabling them to graduate. The students did not meet state standards. Teachers throughout the District stated that Augustine had, in reality, cheated them out of a legitimate education."
So we're not just talking about bureaucratic rule-breaking here – we're talking about educational fraud that cheated students out of actually learning what they needed to succeed. It's like giving someone a counterfeit diploma and sending them into the world to fail spectacularly.
When initially confronted about the grade changes, Romero "denied the allegations on the Pueblo High School website" but later was forced to admit the truth when evidence became overwhelming. Even more troubling, he "directed the teacher not to step on Pueblo High School property- a blatant form of retaliation" against the educator who exposed his misconduct.
Because when you can't attack the message, you attack the messenger. And when you can't even do that effectively, you just ban them from the building like some sort of educational bouncer.
Gabriel Trujillo: The Superintendent Caught in the Web
Current TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo emerges as a particularly tragic figure in this narrative, though the whistleblowers show about as much sympathy for him as a cactus shows for a balloon.
They describe him as "the most incompetent and corrupt superintendent in multiple decades" and note that "Trujillo only received 40% of his possible merit pay, one of the most accountable actions this particular Board has taken."
A 40% performance rating for a superintendent is basically a public vote of no confidence served with a side of "please find another career." In any functional organization, that would be a pink slip, not a paycheck. But in the upside-down world of public education administration, apparently failing upward is still an option.
The court documents reveal particularly damaging testimony about Trujillo's contradictory statements under oath. While he testified that he had "no disciplinary concerns about [Romero]" and that Romero "performed the functions of Principal at Pueblo High School fine," Human Resources Executive Director Janet Rico-Uhrig testified that Trujillo told her he was "not happy with [Romero's] performance as a principal" and would "never let him get to the governing board."
When Rico-Uhrig questioned this bias, she testified that "Dr. Trujillo responded by telling Rico-Uhrig, 'I can think however I please.'"
The arrogance is absolutely stunning. Here's a public servant, paid by taxpayers, essentially saying he doesn't have to follow fair hiring practices because he's the boss. This is exactly the kind of attitude that destroys public trust in institutions and makes people think government is just a jobs program for the politically connected.
The Human Cost: Students Pay the Price
What gets lost in all this political maneuvering is the real impact on students and families – the actual human beings whose futures get sacrificed on the altar of adult ambition and corruption. The whistleblowers include a particularly poignant quote from a student's father:
"My daughter was distraught that students were given passing grades when they did not complete the required work to pass. She said, 'Papa, it is not fair to all of us who did our work to earn our high school diploma. But, what is even worse is that the head of the school cheated in front of the whole world and got away with it.'"
This is what corruption in education looks like from the ground level – honest students watching dishonest adults game the system while they're told to work hard and follow the rules. It's like teaching kids that merit is meaningless and connections are everything, which is basically a master class in reproducing inequality.
The academic data paints a grim picture of Pueblo High School under Romero's leadership.
According to the whistleblowers, "In English Language Arts, 86% of all students at Pueblo were below proficient and functioning at a level of failure. In math, 79% of all students failed, assessed as being below proficient."
These aren't just statistics – they represent hundreds of young people, mostly Latino students from working-class families, who were failed by the very system that should have been fighting for their success. Instead, they got a principal more concerned with protecting his own reputation than improving their education.
The Current State of TUSD and Romero's Troubling New Chapter
As this scandal continues to unfold, TUSD faces an uncertain future. The district is scheduled to discuss Romero's lawsuit in executive session on June 10, 2025, where board members will decide whether to continue fighting the case or settle for what the whistleblowers suggest could be a "substantial amount of money."
Meanwhile, in a development that would be darkly comedic if it weren't so tragic, Augustine Romero has most recently been hired by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe as their Education Director, a position that, according to the whistleblowers, "was influenced by Adelita Grijalva."
This appointment represents a particularly troubling development for Indigenous education, as it places someone with a documented history of educational misconduct in charge of educational services for one of Arizona's sovereign tribal nations.
The tragic irony here is absolutely devastating. The Pascua Yaqui people, who have survived centuries of colonization and fought to preserve their language and culture, now have their educational future in the hands of someone who allegedly betrayed his own educational mission at TUSD. It's like the chain of educational harm has found a new link – from federal policies designed to destroy Indigenous education with Linda McMahon, to state interference that banned ethnic studies under Tom Horne, to local corruption that now reaches into sovereign tribal territory with Romero. Every level of Education leadership that affects the tribe is horrible.
The current TUSD board includes members whom the whistleblowers claim are still under Grijalva's influence, despite her departure. They specifically call out Jennifer Eckstrom, Natalie Luna Rose, and Ravi Shah as being unable to break free from what they call their "addictive political dependence on Adelita Grijalva."
The Broader Pattern: Systemic Corruption in Public Education
What makes this story particularly troubling is how it fits into broader patterns of corruption and abuse of power that have plagued TUSD for decades.
The whistleblowers describe years of what they call "an incredibly oppressive environment" where employees were "concerned about retaliation if they did or said things that were not aligned" with certain board members.
This is what happens when public institutions become personal fiefdoms. The mission gets lost, competence becomes secondary to loyalty, and the people the institution is supposed to serve become casualties of political games. It's like watching democracy get eaten alive by its own parasites.
The letter also reveals the existence of what they call a "blacklist" system that prevented qualified educators from being rehired, while those with political connections were protected regardless of their performance.
As one board member noted in testimony, this created an environment where "your position in the district could be said to be – you know, if the board members like you kind of thing, which is just a horrible – horrible for morale."
A blacklist in public education. Let that sink in. They created their own little McCarthyism right there in the desert, complete with political loyalty tests and career destruction for the insufficiently obedient.
The Resistance Continues: Voices from the Margins
In the spirit of resistance that has long characterized Chicano organizing in the Southwest, these whistleblowers represent a grassroots effort to hold power accountable. Their detailed documentation serves as a reminder that even in the face of overwhelming institutional power, la comunidad continues to fight for transparency and justice.
This is what real accountability looks like – not politicians investigating themselves or administrators policing their own corruption, but educators and community members willing to risk their careers to speak truth to power. It's the kind of grassroots organizing that built the Chicano movement and continues to challenge systems of oppression.
The fact that this is their 111th open letter speaks to both the persistence of problems within TUSD and the dedication of these individuals to continue speaking out.
As they write, "the information uncovered and provided here should prompt investigations from relevant agencies and the media."
Looking Forward: The Fight for Educational Justice
As we navigate an era of increasing attacks on public education – from voucher schemes that drain resources to book bans that criminalize knowledge – stories like this remind us that some of our biggest challenges come from within our own institutions. The alleged corruption at TUSD isn't just about individual bad actors; it's about systems that prioritize political connections over educational quality, profit over people, and power over progress.
The students at Pueblo High School – 90% of whom are Latino – deserve better than administrators who change grades to inflate graduation numbers and legal representatives who may prioritize political relationships over zealous advocacy for their client.
In the end, this isn't just about TUSD or even about Arizona. This is about what happens when we allow political machines to treat public institutions as their personal playgrounds while capitalism strips education of its transformative power. The price is always paid by the most vulnerable – in this case, working-class Latino students who depend on public education for their shot at breaking cycles of poverty and oppression.
Seeds of Hope in the Struggle
But even in this web of corruption and disappointment, there are reasons for hope that burn as bright as a desert sunrise. The very existence of these whistleblowers shows that the spirit of resistance remains strong in southern Arizona. The detailed documentation they've provided gives the community the information it needs to demand better from its elected officials.
Most importantly, their work continues a proud tradition of Chicano educational activism that stretches back generations. From the 1968 East L.A. walkouts to the fight for Mexican American Studies programs, nuestra gente has always understood that education is a battleground where our community's future is determined.
¡La lucha continúa! The struggle continues, and informed community members remain our best hope for creating the educational system our children deserve – one based on justice rather than connections, merit rather than manipulation, and love for students rather than loyalty to power.
What You Can Do: Your Voice Matters
If this story outrages you – and it absolutely should – there are concrete steps you can take to channel that righteous anger into meaningful change:
Immediate Actions:
Attend the June 10, 2025 TUSD board meeting where Romero's lawsuit will be discussed
Contact current board members and demand accountability for these allegations
Share this story with other parents and community members who need to know the truth
Long-term Engagement:
Get involved in local school board elections – these positions have enormous impact on our communities
Support investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable
Connect with parent and community organizations working for educational equity
Demand transparency in all public education decisions and spending
The future of public education in southern Arizona depends on citizens willing to engage, ask hard questions, and demand better from those in power. As Paulo Freire wrote, "Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral."
Education is either the practice of freedom or the practice of domination. Right now, it seems like domination is winning, but we have the power to change that – one school board meeting, one election, one act of resistance at a time.
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¿Qué Piensas? What Do You Think?
This story raises fundamental questions about accountability in public education and the price of political corruption in a system that's supposed to serve all children equally. We want to hear from you:
What specific reforms do you think are needed to prevent this kind of corruption in school districts across Arizona and beyond? How can we build systems that prioritize students over political connections?
How can communities better organize to hold their elected school board members accountable when allegations like these surface? What would real transparency look like in practice?
Share your thoughts in the comments below. Your voice matters in the fight for educational justice, and together we can build the schools our children deserve.
Quotes
"critical witnesses and evidence never reached the Federal District Court for the Judge to consider" - TUSD Whistleblowers, describing alleged legal manipulation
"the TUSD attorney from a TUSD-contracted law firm appears to have taken on the role of defending the plaintiff, Augustine Romero, rather than the respondent, TUSD itself" - TUSD Whistleblowers, alleging conflict of interest
"I can think however I please" - Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo to HR Director about hiring bias, according to court testimony
"Papa, it is not fair to all of us who did our work to earn our high school diploma. But, what is even worse is that the head of the school cheated in front of the whole world and got away with it" - Student to father about grade-changing scandal
"Augustine had, in reality, cheated them out of a legitimate education" - TUSD Whistleblowers on impact of grade inflation
"the most incompetent and corrupt superintendent in multiple decades" - TUSD Whistleblowers describing Gabriel Trujillo
People Mentioned
Adelita Grijalva - Former 20-year TUSD board member, daughter of late Congressman Raúl Grijalva, now running for Congress. Alleged to have manipulated legal proceedings to benefit Romero.
Augustine Romero - Former Pueblo High School principal, co-founder of Mexican American Studies program. Grade-changing scandal led to contract non-renewal and federal lawsuit.
Gabriel Trujillo - Current TUSD Superintendent who allegedly committed perjury under oath. Received only 40% of possible merit pay.
Janet Rico-Uhrig - Former TUSD Executive HR Director who allegedly lacked qualifications and was manipulated by Grijalva to provide favorable testimony.
Abel Morado - Assistant Superintendent who disciplined Romero but was never deposed in federal case.
Michael Hicks - Board member who voted against Romero's contract renewal, allegedly created "oppressive environment."
Mark Stegeman - Board member opposed to Romero, criticized for creating fear among employees.
Rachael Sedgwick - Board member who voted against Romero's contract.
Cam Juarez - Former board member described as Grijalva ally who "would often show up at Governing Board meetings unprepared."
Kristel Foster - Former board member described as Grijalva ally and part of "mean girls" culture.
Yolanda Sotelo - Former MAS Teacher whose grades were changed by Romero without permission, triggering investigation.
Have a scoop or a story you want us to follow up on? Send us a message!
TUSD's failure to educate so many students is a result of mismanagement, lack of accountability, and funding ineffective departments at the expense of fundingthe schools.
For example, for its 89 schools, TUSD has only 12 math recovery teachers and 30 reading recovery teachers. That's despite the fact that 73% of its students are not proficient in English Language Arts and 79% are not proficient in math.
It's no wonder that so many TUSD students make so little progress in reading. In 2014, TUSD laid off all of the elementary, K8, and middle school librarians.
Forget funding school libraries for new books and media. Some schools for several years, haven't gotten any money at all for their libraries.
On the other hand TUSD's $230,000/year Superintendent gets $1,000 a year in addition to buy books, media, and periodicals for himself.
His schools and students aren't nearly so lucky. In SY 2024 out of a budget of TUSD's budget of well over $700 million, the 89 schools got $41,000 total or $1 per student to fund their libraries. In SY 2025, the schools got a total of $4,684 or around 11 cents per student to fund their libraries with books and electronic media.
Teachers are short changed just as much as the students are. For years they've been paid on average thousands of dollars less per year than the average for Arizona.
Teachers don't have the instructional supplies they need, becauseTUSD hasn't increased the budget for instructional supplies for many years and it wasn't enough to begin with.
TUSD spends nearly twice as much watering the grass as it budgets for teachers' instructional supplies!
If you want to attend the Board meeting, it starts about 5pm at TUSD's Duffy Center on E 5th. The meeting is also live streamed.
You can speak for 3 minutes in the call to the audience or email the Board members to express your opinion. The Board Office staff is friendly and helpful, if you have questions.
I've never understood why, with so much more money per student than other school districts, for years TUSD has failed to educate so many of its students.
In SY 2024, 73% of its students were not proficient in English Language Arts and 79% were not proficient in math. That's the next to the lowest proficiency of Tucson's other school districts, despite having more money per student than any of those districts.
Compared to Arizona's other 10 largest urban school districts, TUSD has the next to the lowest percentages of proficient students and the next to the most money per student.
The Arizona Auditor General's reports show TUSD's percentages of students proficient in ELA and the percentages proficient in math are below the percentages in peer school districts with similar levels of poverty and are well below average for Arizona school districts, despite having more money per student.