Queen Creek Unified prepares for legal battle with EVIT

The Queen Creek Unified School District’s governing board has voted to begin legal action — if needed — against the East Valley Institute of Technology as it attempts to reduce funding for career and technical education satellite programs.

The board voted 4-1 on Tuesday to authorize the law firm of Osborn Maledon to “initiate legal action on behalf of the district if needed” regarding EVIT’s proposal to alter the terms of an intergovernmental agreement with QCUSD and eight other East Valley school districts regarding CTE satellite program funding. Board Member Kelli Anderson voted no.

Under the satellite program, students can take CTE classes on their high school campuses rather than going to two EVIT locations in east and west Mesa.

The district fears that the funding cuts could result in some satellite programs being eliminated, forcing students who want to study a particular vocation to travel to the EVIT campuses in Mesa rather than study at their respective high schools.

“We are fighting for our students. Money that we receive (from EVIT) is not extra. We use that money for program expansions, program costs, equipment repairs, transportation needs and the constant updates needed to keep CTE programs aligned with the industry standards,” Board Member Patty Campbell said before the vote. “This is bigger than a funding disagreement. It’s about fairness, opportunity and access. Every student in Queen Creek, whether they can travel to EVIT main campus or not, deserves access to strong, high-quality CTE programs at their home school.”

QCUSD and the other districts currently receive 87% of their funding for satellite programs from EVIT. Erin McRae, director of college and career readiness and CTE at QCUSD, has said that in the first year of the proposed new agreement, EVIT will reduce funding to 83% with cuts continuing at about 2% to 3% each year for the life of the contract.

“Essentially, by the time the five years have passed there will have been significant cuts to each satellite district to run their programs,” McRae said.

In a letter sent to parents in August, EVIT said the proposed funding and structural changes to the satellite program were the result of an audit by the Arizona Auditor General’s Office.

According to the letter, the audit “emphasized the EVIT governing board is ultimately responsible for the quality and content of all CTE programs within our district, both at EVIT and in our district’s high schools.”

“Our previous method of calculating costs and allocating funds does not align with best practices used statewide. We’re asking to adopt the same funding structure used by other large career technical education districts in Arizona,” the letter added. “To be clear, this isn’t about EVIT wanting more money.”

EVIT is also proposing adding more “accountability measures” to the intergovernmental agreements measuring program persistence, student-completion rates and the number of certifications earned by students.

EVIT has a powerful ally in its corner. Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs, who once sat on the EVIT board, has come out in support of EVIT’s position.

On Aug. 20, Boggs posted on her Facebook page: “Why don’t they want to be held accountable for their outcomes?? Probably because their outcomes aren’t so great!”

Along with QCUSD, the funding cuts are also being challenged by the Chandler, Gilbert, Higley, Cave Creek, Apache Junction, Fountain Hills, J.O. Combs and Tempe Union school districts. Each district will be making its own decision on whether to take legal action against EVIT.

In total, the nine districts offer more than 100 satellite programs.

QCUSD Governing Board Vice President Jennifer Revolt said eliminating satellite programs would create a hardship for students who also have a full slate of extracurricular activities as they would have to travel to Mesa to take certain courses.

“Satellite programs are such an awesome opportunity for our students to kind of explore potential career paths to earn certifications. And I just hate to see some of those opportunities taken away because of reduced funding,” she said. “I just want to make sure that we are maintaining and continuing to increase the offerings that we have for our kiddos so that they can continue to pursue what it is that interests them for the future.”

Anderson, who voted against taking legal action, said she believed that “EVIT wants to provide the services that they have for Queen Creek.”

Anderson was hand-selected by Boggs to fill the QCUSD board vacancy created when James Knox resigned earlier this year.

“Obviously, we want to not just fund what we have, but to grow these programs with our growing population,” Anderson said. “I, personally, in my heart of hearts, maybe it’s my simple mind, but I think that more communication on a personal level with EVIT would give us the opportunity to avoid litigation — the funding it’s going to take away from our kids to fight this in court.”

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