The Higley Unified Governing Board last week joined eight counterparts in hiring a Phoenix law firm to represent them in stalled negotiations with the East Valley Institute of Technology over new community technical education (CTE) contracts.
But board member Anna Van Hoek drew the line at authorizing Osborn Maladon to sue the Mesa-based CTE District – one of six such districts in the state.
In the Higley meeting, board member Anna Van Hoek rapped the move to include a lawsuit in the motion to hire Osborn Maladon.
Noting the district’s Nov. 4 all-mail election on its request for renewal of Higley Unified’s 15% operating budget override, Van Hoek said:
“I cannot in good conscience support taking EVIT to court. Lawsuits are costly, divisive and take resources away from our classrooms and CTE programs when our focus should remain on our students.”
Chandler Unified Governing Board member Kurt Rohrs also cast a no vote two weeks ago on the same measure, saying he wanted the law firm to return to the board for separate consideration on any recommendation to sue EVIT.
Higley Unified’s vote, together with an identical vote by the Fountain Hills Unified Governing Board the day after Higley’s Sept. 16 meeting, means nine of EVIT’s 11 feeder districts have turned to Maladon over the negotiations of new intergovernmental agreements (IGAs).
EVIT wants to withhold more of the money it passes to the 11 districts for their own on-site CTE programs and also wants greater control over them.
EVIT serves about 8,000 students high school juniors and seniors who spend half their day at one of EVIT’s two campuses every school day for CTE courses.
The districts also have CTE programs on their high school campuses for a total of about 24,000 students.
The other districts balking at EVIT’s demands are J.O. Combs, Apache Junction, Tempe Union, Gilbert Public Schools, Queen Creek Unified and Cave Creek.
The remaining two districts – Scottsdale Unified and Mesa Public Schools – already have signed new IGAs.
They also have won support from EVIT for a Fire Science Academy at SUSD’s Chaparral High and a nursing program at MPS’ Red Mountain High.
In seeking the new terms of its agreements with the other nine districts, EVIT Superintendent Dr. Chad Wilson has cited a March 2024 audit by the state Auditor General that slammed EVIT’s supervision of its programs and those of the 11 districts.
The audit said that some $84 million was spent on programs but neither EVIT nor the districts supplied data showing students actually were completing CTE programs and were emerging from them with certifications or adequate training for jobs once they graduated.
The governing boards that are fighting EVIT conducted discussions in executive session and made no comment after they ended.
But Higley Unified Board President Amanda Wade took issue with Van Hoek’s statement, noting that the agenda item the board approved in a 4-1 vote only suggested a lawsuit might be in the cards and that it was not necessarily a foregone conclusion since Maladon will represent the nine districts in talks with Wilson and his board.
Tempe Union’s counsel, attorney Jordan Ellel, also has said the same thing.
“At this time,” he said, “it is not clear whether litigation will be necessary given ongoing negotiations.”
