By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

Chandler Unified School District’s Governing Board didn’t have career and technical-ed spending and the East Valley Institute of Technology as specific items on its most recent meeting agenda, but those topics were discussed anyway.

CUSD board member Kurt Rohrs said, after Chandler Unified chief finance officer Lana Berry had finished her Oct. 8 study-session presentation on the annual financial report, that a Sept. 10 outpouring of public input about career and techncial education funding was a false alarm and misguided.

“With CTE funding, there’s a lot going on there, right now,” Rohrs said. “The balance we had at the end of the year was more than $10 million. I know we’re complaining about the cuts they (the EVIT board is) proposing, but I tag that at about $350,000. So with more than $10 million, that’s about 25 or 30 years of excess funding.”

Rohrs said when more than 15 students, former career and tech-ed students and some faculty spoke at the board’s Sept. 10 meeting about proposed CTE cuts, they were misinformed about the depth of the cuts and whether any programs would be eliminated.

“I just want to make sure that people who listened to that ‘performance’ (the Sept. 10 public speakers) know that it was absolute misinformation,” Rohrs said.

Berry, whose annual financial report touched on CTE funding, in part, replied to Rohrs, though he hadn’t asked a specific question.

Berry, addressing Rohrs, said she’ll answer a couple of items “that you think are important, factually, about that.” She explained the carryover amounts Chandler and other EVIT-agreement districts have are due to several factors.

“EVIT, unfortunately, has never been able to make its payments on time,” Berry said. “We have to have enough money in that fund to pay for salaries and benefits.”

Berry explained that a carryover from a previous school year — as long as money is targeted toward specific CTE needs, is not a bad thing. She points out that EVIT, itself, isn’t bad or uncommon.

“So, yes, we do have a CTE carryover each year, but that is so that we can maintain high-quality CTE programs,” she said. “EVIT, which has an overall budget one-tenth the size of ours, still has a $22 million carryover in its capital fund. Construction management is one of the CTE programs we’d like to grow here. That’s expensive. Sometimes, you need that carryover to cover large one-time expenditures. So those people (who spoke Sept. 10) were right and correct in the things that they were saying.”

She also said the district spent $8.7 million on CTE last year, while only taking in $8.2 million in that fund.

Berry said there are $41 million in CTE capital needs around the district, with about $10 million labeled as immediate, in furntiure, equipment and renovations to maintain Chandler CTE programs.

Rohrs reiterated that EVIT has no intention of eliminating an entire CTE specialty. Berry pointed out that some students and parents have staked entire educational and career paths on EVIT and district CTE programs remaining intact, certified and fully funded for years to come, so it’s understandable that any changes to EVIT’s intergovernmental agreements with Chandler and other East Valley districts raise eyebrows.

“There were a number of things teachers and students were talking about, within that IGA,” Berry said.

Also at that Sept. 10 meeting, the board voted unanimously to become one of at least nine East Valley districts contracted with a law firm for possible action against EVIT over funding. But Rohrs was the lone “no” vote in a 4-1 Chandler board decision to allow that law firm to initiate action against EVIT, if necessary.

Jason W. Brooks can be reached at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our  Civility Guidelines.

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.