East Valley schools send alarm about potential cuts to career programs

Parents with children taking part or planning to take part in nine East Valley school districts' career and technical education satellite programs are begining to meet with parents to explain how proposed changes by the East Valley Institute of Technology could have a negative effect on funding.

The Queen Creek Unified School District will be holding its CTE Parent Night Roadshow Presentation at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center, 22149 E. Ocotillo Road.

“With over 2,600 students participating in 35 programs across QCUSD, these courses not only prepare students for college and careers but also help meet workforce needs in areas like health care, technology, skilled trades and more,” according to a district statement.

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

Of concern to district officials is an effort by EVIT to alter intergovernmental agreements it has with nine East Valley school districts in Maricopa and Pinal counties that have more than 24,000 students enrolled in satellite programs. Funding for the CTE satellite programs is distributed through EVIT.

“EVIT is proposing a reduction in funding over the course of the next five years, so instead of receiving 87% of that funding, which we receive now, EVIT is proposing that the first year of the next (intergovernmental agreement) that these satellites receive 83%,” said Erin McRae, director of college and career readiness and CTE at QCUSD.

The cuts will continue at about 2% to 3% each year for 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.

Currently, "high-level discussions" are underway between EVIT officials and representatives of the nine school districts to continue the current funding and support structure for the satellite programs, according to a joint press release.

Queen Creek, Chandler, Gilbert, Higley, Cave Creek, Apache Junction, Fountain Hills, J.O. Combs and Tempe Union school districts offer more than 100 satellite programs — 15 of which are available exclusively on high school campuses.

“Now more than ever, protecting satellite CTE programs means protecting Arizona’s future workforce,” the districts stated in the joint release. “All students deserve access to relevant, hands-on career training without sacrificing their electives, enduring long commutes, or losing connection to their school communities.”

In a letter sent to parents, EVIT said the 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 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) been calling out that they’re responsible for the quality and the content. They don’t feel that the quality and the content at the high schools is the same as the quality and content at EVIT — which is not true,” McCrae said. “We have a lot of certifications and quite a number of award-winning programs. So, that part of their messaging is not accurate.”

Tuesday’s meeting will provide information about changes in funding and program structure and what parents can do to try to stop the cuts.

“They could reach out to the EVIT board, let them know why it’s so important for their students to have access on campus and why those programs are so important across the board,” said QCUSD spokesperson Irene Mahoney-Paige. “We’ve asked them to shout out and really brag about the impact that these satellite programs have had on our alumni.”

The fear is 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.

“EVIT’s great for those kids that go to EVIT, but it’s not a fit for every kid. And I think the farther away you live from EVIT, the harder it is for kids, to use EVIT,” said Mahoney-Paige. “For us in Queen Creek, it’s a hike. It’s a good 45 minutes on a good day with no traffic and no accidents to get (to EVIT).”

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