Marriage of county schools, City of Nogales on rocky road

It seemed like the perfect marriage. But now, the Santa Cruz County Schools Superintendent’s Office may file suit against the city.

In 2005, the City of Nogales planned to build a park on land it owns southwest of the Monte Carlo Subdivision. Within that park, Santa Cruz County School District No. 99 was offered space to construct an “accommodation school” for students who don’t do well in the traditional school setting.

An agreement was signed between former Mayor Albert Kramer and the district, which operates under the auspices of the county schools superintendent’s office.

The district began the design process for the school.

Then, the November 2006 elections happened. A new mayor and city administration halted the park, ergo the school project for which design plans were 90 percent complete.

There was another problem: There's no way to get to the school site. The city does not have the land, which it would need to build the roads.

Three different options existed for access roads and two involve buying from private developers in the area. The third - which would run along Calle Sonora - is undesirable to Monte Carlo residents. They said as much at a public meeting held in 2007.

Since then, the school superintendent’s office claims it has incurred about $110,000, according to city and county sources. It wants to be reimbursed.

Research

In May, the city council directed Interim City Attorney Jose Luis Machado to research the issue. Officials had raised concerns about gifting public funds and what account the reimbursement would come from. Questions were raised concerning exactly what the $110,000 would buy the city. Would the city now own the design plans?

According to the county attorney’s office, all that doesn’t matter.

“The lack of movement towards building the school or cancellation of the contract by the city has left the superintendent’s office in some financial difficulty,” Thomas O’Sullivan chief civil deputy county attorney, wrote Machado in late August.

O’Sullivan threatened: “If the superintendent’s office or the county attorney’s office does not hear from the city regarding progress in complying with the contract leading to completion of the school within 30 days, they will deem the contract cancelled, and breached, by the city.�  So we are clear, this is not intended as an offer to re-negotiate the contract.� The superintendent’s office entered into the contract in good faith, and failure to proceed with completion of its intended purpose, will be deemed by us a breach.

“Should the city breach the contract, the school superintendent will consider all options, including proceeding with litigation to recover expenses, and any associated fees and costs.”