Senators at the Arizona Capitol advanced a bill that would punish superintendents and school board members who lead their districts into financial crisis.
Under Rep. Matt Gress’ bill, the superintendent of any district put under receivership by the State Board of Education would be fired. The school district’s board members would also be forced to resign and be barred from holding office in the future. But superintendents and board members could appeal those actions to the Board of Education in an attempt to keep their positions.
The bill was crafted in response to financial mismanagement at the Isaac School District in Phoenix, which was put under a receivership by the State Board of Education after it became aware the district was in a multimillion-dollar financial hole.
Gress (R-Phoenix), a former Madison Elementary school board member, said Isaac officials sat on the problem for too long.
“A disaster of epic proportions, led by a superintendent who had been there since 2012, a school board president who had been there for 22 years, and other board members who had been on there for, at a minimum, one term,” Gress said.
He said HB 2610 would incentivize school board members and other district officials to draw attention to financial problems more quickly in the future.
“I think it puts the onus on the school board members to say, ‘I see something. I need to say something, because if I don't, not only will I not be able to be the school board member, but my entire political career is over,’” Gress said.
The bill, which was approved by the Arizona House of Representatives last month, passed through the Arizona Senate’s Education Committee with some bipartisan support.
But two Democrats — Sens. Flavio Bravo (D-Phoenix) and Mitzi Epstein (D-Tempe) —opposed the measure.
Bravo, whose district includes the Isaac elementary district, said he doesn’t believe the punitive measures in Gress’ bill will prevent similar problems at other districts in the future.
“It's important to note that the priority needs to be focused on ensuring that this does not happen again, and this bill does not do that,” Bravo said.
And Epstein suggested including county school superintendents — who oversee some school district operations — in the bill, as well.
Gress said he was open to amending the legislation to include accountability for those county school officials if “the county superintendent is involved in the financial collapse of the school district.”
In addition to targeting superintendents and school board members, the bill would also ban school districts from “engaging in two or more real estate transactions” within one year “if the transactions involve both the same parties and the same property.” That section was inspired by a $25 million property deal between Isaac and the Tolleson Unified High School District that helped dig Isaac out of its financial hole.
Gress is a frequent critic of the deal, which he said amounts to property speculation.
“These districts are not supposed to be land barons,” he said.
Sen. Eva Diaz, who represents the Tolleson district, was the lone Democrat to vote for the bill. She said many of her constituents opposed the land deal.
HB 2610 must still pass through a vote of the entire Senate and win approval from Gov. Katie Hobbs to become law.
