Argo Official Alerted On Porn Spending, Did Nothing: Report

SUMMIT, IL – An Argo Community High School board member was alerted in early 2024 to the superintendent's spending on porn, but did nothing about it, an investigation's report said.

He also tried to fire an employee who blew the whistle on the spending and pressured the school into giving his girlfriend a job, according to the inquiry.

Argo hired Oakbrook Terrace-based F3 Law to investigate complaints against board member Dan Kozal. Patch obtained the report Thursday through a public records request.

Kozal was the longtime board president until April 2025. That was when the board voted in a new leader amid the fury over the allegations against then-Superintendent William Toulios, who resigned later that year and now faces felony charges. Records show he spent thousands of dollars on porn.

In the law firm's report, employees said Kozal met behind closed doors with Toulios for hours each day. They said Kozal wanted a puppet and that he pushed out the previous superintendent.

In January 2024, Claudia Gonzalez, the superintendent's assistant, told Kozal she was concerned with her boss's spending on the school's credit card, citing apps used to access porn as well as gift card purchases, the report said.

She also told Kozal that her office got a package containing Viagra, which the superintendent purchased using the credit card, according to the law firm. She discarded the Viagra.

Gonzalez asked Kozal to look into the matter, but not to inform Toulios that she was the source because she feared retaliation. She told investigators that she assumed Kozal relayed the concerns to the board.

Kozal acknowledged to the law firm that Gonzalez shared her concerns, but he recalled suggesting she go to the business office, the report said. He told investigators that he did not share the information with Toulios or the board.

"He also recalled that Ms. Gonzalez did not want him to say anything," the report said.

By summer 2024, the school was receiving anonymous public records requests for Toulios' credit card spending. So the board asked the business office to look into expenditures.

Joe Rojek, assistant superintendent of finance, identified a few hundred dollars of misspent money, but that was chalked up to mistakes. Nothing was said about porn. The superintendent reimbursed the school. (Rojek later left the school.)

'F-----g spilling information'

In January 2025, Patch wrote a story about the porn. And three months later, Pam Young, the principal's secretary, announced at a school board meeting that she was the anonymous requester. She denounced the spending.

After Young's announcement, Kozal, Toulios and other officials met about "what to do with her," according to the inquiry. Kozal and Toulios were reported as wanting Young fired, but others, including the school's lawyer, advised against it, the report said.

Kozal denied the conversation took place, while the law firm said it was unable to speak with Toulios.

The investigation concluded that the evidence showed Kozal tried to fire Young, who retired in December.

Earlier this year, Patch reported that Kozal called Young a "f-----g c--t" and accused her of "f-----g spilling information." That was in text messages to the new superintendent, Brandon Cotter, formerly the principal. Kozal later told Patch that the messages were inappropriate.

The report also said Kozal requested that the administration fire Cassandra Vasquez in mid-2024. The allegation was that Kozal targeted her at the request of his girlfriend, Tracy Tough, whose title is the school's communications director.

Witnesses told investigators that Kozal had inquired about Vasquez's absences and directed an investigation into them. One witness said others were told that they needed to find a reason to let Vasquez go, the report said.

Vasquez was ultimately terminated because of concerns with her attendance and tardies, the report said. The law firm said it could not determine whether the earlier discussions involving Kozal impacted the ultimate decision to dismiss Vasquez.

'I'll fire his ass'

The law firm also concluded that Kozal used his influence to hire Tough, his girlfriend, as an assistant track coach, although it said it was inconclusive whether the hiring interfered with head girls coach Eva Manzke's ability to do her job.

Patch has covered this situation in detail.

In 2019 text messages to Manzke, Kozal campaigned for his girlfriend to get the extra job. He told Manzke that Nick Browder, the athletic director at the time, had better not stand in the way.

"I'll fire his ass too like the super," said Kozal, referring to Superintendent Jill Kingsfield, who left in 2019.

The law firm noted that statement.

"This message carries more weight given that the principal and superintendent of Argo were both fired or non-renewed that year," the report said. "Notably, Dr. Browder also was not brought back after (that) school year."

The principal in question was Chris Covino, now the superintendent of La Grange School District 102.

The report said Tough had no experience for the $10,000-a-year position.

The law firm said it was unable to interview Browder, but witnesses said Browder did not want to hire Tough but felt he had to.

According to the report, Kozal and Tough denied he directed anyone to hire her. She told investigators the allegations were a shock because she said she and her boyfriend were friends with Manzke.

The law firm said the school had other candidates with experience for the coaching job.

Kozal and Tough did not return messages for comment Wednesday.

'Do not condone'

At Monday's school board meeting, members voted unanimously to release the 14-page report on the investigation.

"As a Board, we do not condone the behaviors outlined and discussed in the report," the board's president, Jennifer Grenier, said in a statement to Patch. "We also made the decision to release the report in its entirety, just as we did with the superintendent investigation. Transparency is extremely important to me as Board President."