Higley USD mum on incoming superintendent's status
Nate Carman placed on administrative leave at El Paso district
Courtesy Higley Unified School District
Nate Carman the incoming Higley Unified School District superintendent, has been placed on administrative leave by his current employer, Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas
The Higley Unified School District and its leaders are staying quiet after the district’s incoming superintendent was placed on administrative leave from his job in El Paso, Texas.
A request Friday for comment from the district on Nate Carman’s status went unanswered. Governing Board President Michelle Anderson said by text message she did not have any information or updates to share.
Carman was placed on administrative leave March 25 in a 6-0 vote by the Socorro Independent School District in El Paso after an external audit found Carman had possible conflicts of interest in district purchasing decisions.
Carman could not be reached for comment.
“As we would in any instance, when we believe that there has been a violation of policy, appropriate actions were taken, whether it is the superintendent or any employee or the district,” SISD Board of Trustees President Michael Najera said in a news conference with El Paso media March 26. “When there is a violation, it's standard procedure to place them on paid administrative leave, pending review of the facts and completion and investigation.”
Najera said it did not matter that Carman is set to leave the district to begin his new job at Higley USD. Carman’s contract with HUSD starts July 1.
“The superintendent is held to the same standard as any other employee of this district,” Najera said. “The conflict of interest appears, the actions taken, it should be the same regardless. He does have a small amount of time (remaining). That doesn't mean that we just ignore the possible conflict of interest and allow him to remain in the position. We wouldn't do that with anybody else. It's no different.”
Najera abstained from the leave vote, saying he did so because he had a pending grievance but did not elaborate.
Socorro ISD has been embroiled in conflicts this year, including the discovery earlier this year it is facing a $33 million budget deficit, largely from the board approving larger-than-recommended pay raises.
The Texas Education Agency, the branch of the state government responsible for public education, will appoint a conservator to oversee corrective actions at SISD per a prior settlement agreement.
The TEA issued its own report this month on Socorro ISD that concluded that SISD exhibited a longstanding pattern of deficiencies in adhering to policies and procedures meant to ensure graduates met all state requirements. Its key findings included:
SISD violated state requirements by incorrectly graduating at least 276 students in 2019 who did not meet all graduation requirements for credits earned, attendance, and other criteria.
SISD Board Trustee Paul Guerra failed to disclose his employment relationship with a vendor, Insco Distributing, that did business with the district, violating conflict of interest disclosure laws.
From 2016 to 2022, SISD paid about $283,000 in unauthorized stipends to 246 staff members not approved by the school board's adopted budget.
However, TEA concluded there was insufficient evidence about allegations that SISD trustees violated open meeting laws by privately discussing the 2019 graduation audit or that SISD misused special education funds.
Furthermore, the report does not indicate Carman was involved in or responsible for the deficiencies identified.
"Additionally, TEA recognizes that Superintendent Dr. Nate Carman began serving in his role after the substantiated violations occurred,” the report read. “However, Dr. Carman was steadfast in his cooperation with this special investigation and his work towards an appropriate resolution.”
But the external forensic audit from Weaver & Tidwell, a national accounting firm headquartered in Houston, found Carman had been involved in purchasing decisions where work went to companies in which Carman had a relationship.
Carman communicated with a representative from ADM Group, an architecture, design and management firm with offices in Austin and Tempe. According to the audit, he assisted the firm with business development activities, planned an itinerary for officials’ visit to south Texas, provided information about conferences to attend and connected them with other superintendents in the region.
He also discussed a potential facilities analysis with the ADM Group shortly after his hire at SISD in March 2022.
Additionally, Carman requested a change in the scoring criteria for a request for qualifications on an SISD project for 16 auxiliary gymnasiums, removing points awarded to firms that had previously worked with the district, which gave firms who had not worked with the district an opportunity to win the work.
ADM Group had not previously worked with the district and won the bid.
Carman told auditors the scoring change was made at the behest of the board’s executive committee, as some members who did not want the district to select firms previously selected as part of the bond program for architectural services.
The audit also found Carman requested that ADM Group’s client services director, Giovanna Grijalva, review his portfolio submission for the superintendent position at SISD, according to the audit. Grijalva, who resides in Arizona, is a member of Arizona State University’s Alumni Council.
The ADM Group has done previous work with HUSD, including the 2021 media center and eSports remodel at Higley High School.
In 2022, San Benito Consolidated Independent School District had Weaver & Tidwell conduct a forensic audit from when Carman was its superintendent. That audit discovered on a public records request about 100 emails between Carman and Grijalva in a five-month period from September 2021 to February 2022.
The audit also identified 65 areas of concern, such as paying companies tens of thousands of dollars for work beforehand or without showing any results, according to reporting from the San Benito News.
Other issues the newspaper reported included a lack of documentation on certain matters, lack of transparency, awarding construction contracts without going through the bidding process, not following procedures; and, in some cases, going against the Texas Government Code.
Carman was not present at the March 18 or 25 SISD Board of Trustees meetings.
However, he issued a statement to El Paso Matters, an independent, member-supported nonprofit news organization.
“It is unfortunate that the SISD community is continuing to be shed in such a negative light and that I will be forced to be on (paid) leave the remainder of my tenure and unable to be performing my duties at the district during such a crucial time of the year,” Carman stated.
Carman, in his El Paso Matters statement, contrasted the forensic audit to the TEA’s official investigation, noting the Weaver & Tidwell audit is done by a third-party company hand selected by the SISD Board of Trustees to work at the direction and under the parameters of the board.
Najera said the request for a forensic audit was “good housekeeping.”
“Regardless of whether you have concerns or not, it's just a good practice to review your policies and make sure that they're compliant,” he said at his news conference. “The audit was initiated to make sure that we are compliant, and we had findings.”
Carman, who called the timing of his administrative leave “illogical,” also pushed back against the finding on the procurement for the auxiliary gymnasiums’ architectural services, saying board policy was followed in that procurement.
“Further, any mention of ‘conflict of interest’ is without merit,” he wrote to El Paso Matters. “State law and board policy defines ‘conflict of interest,’ and simply using the term as conclusory without the proper context is simply irresponsible. I am confident that there were no violations and would have appreciated an opportunity to provide a response.”
Higley USD has its own history with violations of procurement policies, dating back from than a decade ago to the building of its middle schools, Cooley and Sossaman, which the district pays for through a lease.
However, former Superintendent Denise Birdwell was charged in July 2021 with 18 felony counts, and two employees of a district vendor were charged with three counts each related to the construction of the middle schools, Cooley and Sossaman.
The charges included conspiracy, procurement fraud, fraudulent schemes, misuse of public monies, false return and conflict of interest.
Those charges came from events that unfolded from May 2012 to April 2016, according to a report from the Auditor General's Office.
The charges still await adjudication. No one from Birdwell's administration is still with district administration.
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
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