West Valley school district blocks lawmakers’ records request in transparency clash

By Stacy Mantle
Mail

An Arizona public school district has refused to provide financial records requested by the Legislature, igniting a battle over transparency that has turned personal.

At stake is not only access to Tolleson Union High School District's financial records, but also a broader precedent. If districts can demand steep fees or refuse electronic records, lawmakers and watchdogs say they fear oversight will be undermined statewide.

Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, requested two years of Tolleson’s financial transaction records following a July 21 Joint Legislative Audit Committee hearing on district finances. That request included all purchase orders.

The district refused to provide electronic files and instead demanded $26,000 in fees — charges it admitted were designed to discourage requests.

Gress called the move unprecedented.

“Exporting purchase orders from financial software is simple, and other districts have complied quickly,” he said. “Arizonans have a right to know how their money is used, and blocking these records sets a dangerous and unacceptable precedent.”

Emails reveal growing mistrust

Newly released correspondence between Gress and district officials shows how the dispute escalated.

In a series of emails, Superintendent Jeremy Calles rejected Gress’s assertion that legislators can demand records outside the state’s public records law.

“You are once again changing the data that you are requesting and failing to cite where you derive your conclusion that as a legislator you have special privileges,” Calles wrote Sept. 15.

He also likened Gress’s shifting requests to asking for, “a football, then a hockey puck, then a tennis ball and then back to a football.”

In a Sept. 23 email, Calles accused Gress of exchanging texts during the JLAC meeting and shielding communications under “legislative privilege,” calling it “hypocrisy” to demand transparency from districts while refusing to release his own messages. He said the district’s attorneys would ask the Attorney General’s Office to weigh in on whether lawmakers are bound by the same public records requirements as residents.

The tone escalated further in a Sept. 25 internal directive, in which Calles told staff to release only limited records and prepare to take the fight public.

“Representative Gress continues to use bullying and defamation tactics that he believes he is entitled to as an elected official,” Calles wrote. “My attorney will be filing defamation charges against Representative Gress.”

District spokesperson Joseph Ortiz later confirmed only the superintendent’s authorized records were released.

Bigger than one district

The conflict also highlights a gray area in Arizona law: how far legislative oversight extends beyond the state’s public records statute, and whether lawmakers have special access rights school districts must honor.

Education finance advocates warn the dispute could erode public trust at a time when school spending is under scrutiny. From ESA voucher oversight to superintendent contract transparency, Arizona has faced repeated challenges in ensuring taxpayers can see how education dollars are used.

Policy experts say lawmakers may need to clarify the law to prevent similar standoffs.

For now, the Tolleson case is a flashpoint, raising new questions about transparency, accountability and the balance of power between local districts and the state.

Editor’s note: A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.