Arizona school boards group rocked by controversy over resume of executive director

The president of the Arizona School Boards Association resigned from his job last month over concerns that the nonprofit ignored false information its new executive director submitted in a resume.

James Bryce, a longtime board member for the association who had served as president since January, said he quit the volunteer position after the group's 25-member board of directors overruled his decision not to sign a contract with Devin Del Palacio for the executive director position, which pays $215,000 annually.

Two other employees resigned over the controversy, including an associate director. The Arizona Republic reached out to them. One didn't answer a mobile phone call. The other said she didn't want to comment.

The association declined comment on the matter.

One board member, however, defended Del Palacio as the perfect choice to lead the organization and said Bryce was making trouble because he wanted to hire someone other than Palacio for the job.

"It was very clear from the beginning of the process that James had a preferred candidate," said Monica Timberlake, who also serves on the Quartzsite Elementary School District's governing board.

Del Palacio is a noted community leader and has been a member of the Tolleson Union High School District governing board since 2014. He's worked for the Arizona School Boards Association as a "strategic advocacy consultant" for two years. Del Palacio, who is chair of the National School Boards Association’s National Black Council of School Board Members, has served on the association's board of directors for the past four years. The chair of the Black council has a seat on the association's board.

Del Palacio was sworn in for brief duty as a Democratic state lawmaker last year, filling out the 2022 term of Rep. Diego Espinoza, D-Tolleson, who resigned in September.

The association named Del Palacio in June as the replacement for outgoing executive director Sheila Harrison-Williams, who served in the job for more than three years. In a news release at the time, the association called Del Palacio a "dynamic and visionary leader" whose "extensive experience and profound knowledge of the educational sector is incredibly pertinent to our work."

"The ASBA Board of Directors firmly believe that under his leadership, the association can overcome challenges, seize new opportunities and drive ASBA to greater heights," the statement said.

Del Palacio didn't return phone messages for this article.

The association describes itself on its website as a "private, non-profit, non-partisan organization that provides training, leadership and essential services to public school governing boards statewide," adding that it represents more than 240 school governing boards statewide.

In response to questions about Bryce's allegations, newly installed association president Desiree Fowler — who also serves on the Page Unified School District governing board — told The Arizona Republic that the matter requires privacy and that the association "is unable to provide any information or details" about them.

Fowler told members of the board of directors, in an Aug. 19 email obtained by The Republic, that they should commit to supporting Del Palacio.

"Our shared journey demands that we move forward together," Fowler wrote, "and those who feel divergent from this path are respectfully invited to resign from their positions immediately."

A complaint alleged misrepresentation of credentials

Bryce, an electrician for the city of Safford who serves as a member of the Solomon Elementary School District governing board in Graham County, said he first learned of the issue when he was hit with a "whistleblower complaint" alleging Del Palacio misrepresented his credentials.

The group's legal counsel told Bryce that he risked violating his fiduciary duty to the association if he didn't properly vet Del Palacio, Bryce said. The counsel suggested that an independent law firm investigate Del Palacio's credentials, and the firm soon completed an investigative report.

But at its July meeting, a majority on the board of directors voted to not look at the report, instead demanding that Bryce sign an employment contract for Del Palacio, he said.

"They tried to say I didn't have authorization to get that legal advice," Bryce said. "They refused to hear it and excused the lawyer."

Bryce refused to sign the contract and resigned his position. Afterward, the association's legal counsel provided the board the report of the findings, Bryce said.

A summary of the report provided by Bryce states that Del Palacio submitted a resume to the association in 2021 for his consultant job but was told by Harrison-Williams that the position required a college degree. He then submitted a second resume indicating that he graduated from the former Western International University in Phoenix with a bachelor's degree in business administration.

The executive director position also required a college degree, and when Del Palacio applied for that job this year, he submitted the resume that claimed he had a bachelor's degree, according to the summary Bryce provided. Bryce said a staff member informed him in June that by having the degree, "Mr. Del Palacio met the minimum qualifications advertised in the job posting."

Bryce shared a resume with The Republic that he said had been submitted by Del Palacio. "Bachelors in Business Administration, 2010," it states under the heading "Education and Credentials." It also lists program certificates he's received from Georgetown University and Rio Salado Community College.

Del Palacio's LinkedIn account lists Western International University as an educational institution that he attended from "2006-2006" and doesn't mention a bachelor's degree. In a 2020 interview with podcaster Stevon Cook, Del Palacio acknowledged that he attended Western with a plan to obtain a business degree but "dropped out."

An association employee who knew that Del Palacio did not have a college degree brought the two resumes to the legal counsel, who raised the issue to Bryce under the association's whistleblower policy, the summary states. At that point, Bryce had a "duty and authority" to have a contract attorney review the allegation, the legal counsel told the association's board, according to the summary.

Source: Cook on Monday Morning podcast

"Since Mr. Bryce had information of this fraud allegation, he had the duty and authority to have the contract attorney review the allegation," the summary of the report by the legal counsel states. "It would be malpractice not to."

Del Palacio also submitted the same resume listing a bachelor's degree to Maricopa County last year before his selection as an appointed state lawmaker, county records show.

Departed president: 'We're supposed to teach good governance'

Bryce had served on the association's board of directors in some capacity for about 10 years and served last year as its president-elect. As president, Bryce presided over board meetings and appointed standing and special committees.

He believes he's made the right decision to step down because he said the association's leadership has abandoned its "ethics" and is setting a bad example for the school governing boards it represents. One-quarter of the association's revenue comes from Arizona school districts, Bryce said.

"We're supposed to teach good governance" but could be "our own case study" at an upcoming law conference members will attend, Bryce said.

Del Palacio was simply seen as the winning job candidate from the beginning by a majority of the board of directors who could not be swayed, he said.

Board member pushes back

Timberlake agreed that Del Palacio was viewed by the board's majority as the best choice and that, contrary to what Bryce claimed, the job didn't require a college degree. As a current school board member, Del Palacio had the right kind of experience, she said.

The main problem for the association recently has been Bryce, Timberlake said.

"His actions throughout the entire process were completely unethical," she said. "He did everything he could to make sure his chosen candidate was the selected candidate. When it didn't go his way, he found other ways to attack Mr. Del Palacio."

Bryce put the association "at risk" and violated its confidentiality rules by going public with the group's private information, she said.

Asked how the board would address Del Palacio's claim of a degree in his resume, Timberlake said she wasn't sure he didn't have a bachelor's degree but that she couldn't discuss the matter because of legal issues at stake.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 480-276-3237. Follow him on Twitter @raystern.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASBA president resigns in controversy over executive director's resume