A panel of Arizona lawmakers wants more accountability for taxpayer dollars going to public schools. Their eyes are on two Valley school districts.
Earlier this year, the Isaac School District in Phoenix went under a state receivership due to a cash deficit of several million dollars.
The nearby Tolleson Union High School district stepped in to bail Isaac out by buying the other district's property for $25 million.
Isaac will pay that money back gradually with interest.
However, some lawmakers are disturbed by Isaac’s unusual deal with Tolleson and the financial situation Isaac got into in the first place.
“It's this kind of stuff that is showing up as an epidemic throughout, not just school systems, but it's the lack of focus, on mission, of what we are spending taxpayer money on,” said Sen. Mark Finchem (R-Prescott), the Joint Legislative Audit Committee co-chair, at a hearing on Friday.
Fellow committee co-chair Rep. Matt Gress (R-Phoenix) said in a text that the committee is "exploring the need” for more audits and gathering more information.
The Arizona Auditor General’s Office had marked Isaac high risk for several years leading up to the receivership.
Gress is also sponsoring a bill that would require school board members of failing schools to resign and ban real estate deals like the one between Tolleson and Isaac.
Lawmakers and speakers brought up slipping test scores, financial mismanagement and alleged conflicts of interest in hiring
“It's just a notorious policy. I just don't think that school districts should become a friends and family employment center,” Gress said.
One question that resurfaced is about the role of Tolleson Superintendent Jeremey Calles, who also did work as a consultant for Isaac and helped broker the deal between the districts.
The receiver, Keith Kenny, issued a bleak report on Isaac in May.
Kenny testified to the legislative panel that Isaac was probably “the worst situation” he’s ever walked into.
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