Argo High School Worker Tells Off Bosses About Spending

SUMMIT, IL – An Argo Community High School employee denounced the superintendent's spending on his school credit card.

Those expenditures included a mysterious item called "Sextpanthe," which Patch reported on earlier this year.

At Wednesday's school board meeting, Pam Young, Principal Brandon Cotter's secretary, called the board's handling of the questionable spending "ridiculous."

"There are thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars that (Superintendent William Toulios) has spent with a credit card, and you people haven't even looked at the statements," said Young, a taxpayer in the school district.

She said she has been alerting the school board anonymously for a year and a half about the spending, including submitting Freedom of Information Act requests.

But she said the school said it could not accept such requests anonymously. She said the school then asked her whether she would drop the records requests if it launched an investigation.

Later, another resident speaking to the board pointed to Young's statement.

Board member Nicholas Caprio said, "This is the first I've heard of it."

Young got up and said, "I haven't brought it up before because I was afraid I was going to lose my job."

On Friday morning, Toulios responded to Patch's inquiry about her statements. Patch asked him whether Young would be fired or put on leave.

"Ms. Young, who is a taxpayer in the community and confidential secretary, is not being investigated, being put on leave, or being terminated," he said in an email. "She is still employed by the district and performing her duties as assigned. My response to all allegations are that I acted accordingly in reporting myself and taking responsibility for the situation. The board acted in a unanimous judgment over a year ago."

In January, Patch reported that personal expenses ended up on the government credit card used by Toulios.

In 2023 and 2024, Toulios spent hundreds of dollars on what appeared to be personal expenses, some of which the school acknowledged.

Some items on Toulios' bills were through apps that hide the nature of expenses. One of those apps is called Epoch. In late 2023, a listed $20 expense inadvertently included more information than likely was intended – "Sextpanthe."

Other items were for a hockey team ($175) and a high school ($275). The high school is in the area of Toulios' house in the south suburbs.

Another $625 went to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church in west suburban Justice, with no indication what the money was for.

Among the public records was an undated statement from 2024, in which a board member, likely the president, discussed the credit card spending.

The member said the school had received multiple Freedom of Information Act requests from an anonymous person about Toulios' credit card spending.

In reviewing the records, Toulios identified unauthorized purchases with the credit card. They amounted to $457.

The expenses were blamed on a family member who used the card without permission.

"Very humbly and emotionally, Dr. Toulios immediately reported the unauthorized purchases to the Board at its next Board meeting," the statement said, adding that he reimbursed the taxpayers.

The superintendent, who makes nearly $200,000 a year, "self-imposed" on himself a half-day forfeiture of salary.

"He personally and genuinely apologized to the Board of Education for this misstep," the statement said.

Last year, Argo teacher Heather Siegel-Hickman, president of the teachers union, received a $266,000 settlement in return for her resignation.

As part of the agreement, Siegel-Hickman was required to seek the withdrawal of public records requests for Toulios' school credit card spending.

Board President Dan Kozal couldn't be immediately reached for comment Friday.