Members of the Liberty Elementary School District governing board have accused its newly hired interim superintendent, Trevor McDonald, of “bid splitting,” an allegation that carries the weight of a class 4 felony under Arizona law.
The board voted Sept. 17 to place McDonald on paid administrative leave following a 90-minute executive session. The allegations surfaced today during a tense meeting where board members questioned whether McDonald improperly authorized purchases by dividing contracts into two smaller amounts to avoid the $10,000 threshold for competitive bidding requirements.
“Just so you know, bid splitting is a class four felony, and we have this situation here,” Board President Michael Todd said. “I think the best thing we can do is look at doing a self-report to the proper agencies to let them know that this took place.”
Arizona procurement law requires that purchases under $10,000 do not require quotes, purchases between $10,000 and $100,000 must receive at least three quotes, and larger projects often trigger a Request for Proposals process. Intentionally dividing a contract to avoid those thresholds is considered bid splitting, a felony offense punishable by fines or prison time, according to Arizona law.
Vice President Kristopher Kenyon pointed to two separate contracts, each for $9,900, with the same vendor. “We have a contract for one month that started on July 23 for $9,900, just under that $10,000 limit, to bring it to the board,” he said. “Then we have another contract, $9,900, starting September 2. When asked if legal had reviewed this, it was determined that legal advised not to do it. It still happened.”
Todd also warned that procurement violations could not be undone after the fact. “You can’t retroactively go back and get quotes. The business has already been done. The person’s already asking for pay. You can’t build a house and then go back and ask two more contractors to give you the price on building that house that’s already been done,” Todd said.
Board President Michael Todd told InBuckeye that the matter will be referred to the county attorney for investigation.
McDonald, who was appointed as interim superintendent earlier this year following the departure of Cort Monroe, has not publicly responded to the accusations.
One Response
It appears he was working this job while at the same time holding another management position in another school district in another state (Chief Business Officer in the Vista Del Mar Union School District in California). How was that allowed? Was the Liberty School Board aware of his concurrent employment?