Online TUSD feud spills onto real-life board meeting

Shaw wrote an Op-Ed for the Arizona Daily Star last week about why she voted no on the revision for the district budget and the kind of information she’s requested in the past from Hernandez but has not received.

Hernandez took to social media Aug. 20, writing, “When life gives you lemons because one of your elected bosses puts you on blast… what do I do? I use lemons on tacos! It makes me feel better that I’ve been doing this for 23 years and my career will outlive their pendejadas.” The post was later removed.

Multiple speakers during the call to the audience portion of Tuesday’s board meeting called for a public apology from Hernandez or defended his work on the budget.

“My hope is not to add to this tit-for-tat nonsense I've seen online, but to encourage more understanding and collaboration for both parties,” said Derika Louk, a governing board audit committee member. “We all represent TUSD, and your leadership sets a tone for how the board supports not only its constituents but also the employees of the district.”

A letter was read by board clerk Natalie Luna Rose that was sent at 4:09 p.m., according to Shaw, which is four hours after the cutoff for call to the audience letters to be sent.

“I do want to point out that nepotism and cronyism seems to reign supreme in this district,” Shaw said. “As you know, our CFO's wife is in the board office. Typically, if you submit a letter after 12 p.m., you have to wait for the next meeting. And I would like to see our district run in a way that is fair and equitable to all.”

Shaw also asked district staff to investigate if Hernandez violated board policy in his post outside of work and called on “any elected official who puts their personal relationships over their responsibilities that they were duly elected to do” to resign.

Board members Luna Rose and Jennifer Eckstrom defended Hernandez and claimed he was always open to providing budget details with them. Hernandez did not speak on the feud Tuesday night.

A few hours later, Shaw apologized to Hernandez and his wife, saying he also apologized to her during a short break and it was “water under the bridge.”