Arizona Legislature takes first steps to keep Isaac school district open

Yahoo

28-01-2025

Arizona Legislature has taken the first step to keep the Isaac Elementary School District open for two weeks amid the school district's financial crisis that has left it insolvent and unable to pay employees.
On Tuesday, the House Education Committee unanimously approved a bill, introduced by Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, that would direct Maricopa County Treasurer John Allen to issue $2.5 million to cover one payroll for the school district. The money would be an advance on Isaac's basic state aid, according to the bill, House Bill 2610. The bill would also remove the district's school board members from office. According to Gress, Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs was working on having appointees ready to replace the school board members quickly after the legislation was signed.
The Isaac Elementary School District, which serves approximately 4,800 students in Phoenix, was placed under receivership two weeks ago by the Arizona State Board of Education because it had overspent its budget by millions. Keith Kenny, a director at the consulting firm J.S. Held, now oversees the district's operations. Last week, the district's superintendent and chief financial officer resigned.
According to Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chair Thomas Galvin, the district owes Maricopa County $28.5 million. The county has said it will not provide any more funding for the district's expenses until it can demonstrate the ability to pay back its debt, leaving the district without cash to fund operations.
"The conduit by which Isaac receives its income and pays its expenses has been completely shut down by the Maricopa County treasurer," said Ryan Anderson, Kenny's general counsel, in a statement. Anderson said they were aware of and supported legislative efforts to unlock previously approved state aid to Isaac. If legislative efforts failed, Kenny would "likely need to temporarily close" the school district, Anderson said.
Kenny said there was a pathway to solvency for Isaac Elementary. "I just need time to continue school operations and keep the children in the classroom," he wrote in a statement.
On Monday, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne announced the U.S. Department of Education agreed to release $6 million in federal pandemic relief funds the district had previously forfeited after failing to submit a required report on time. The Maricopa County Treasurer's Office, however, said that money would go toward paying off the district's debt.
Gress said he anticipated his emergency legislation would be signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs by Friday. Payday, however, was Tuesday, and the district "doesn't have access to cash to run the payroll," he said.
Andrea Valencia, a kindergarten teacher in the district, told the House Education Committee during its Tuesday meeting that she, her students and colleagues could not "live in this uncertainty."
"I cannot do my duty and provide an education to my students living through this instability because today, I did not get paid," Valencia said. "My colleagues, cafeteria staff, janitorial staff ... we did not get paid."
On Tuesday morning, a district spokesperson said she could not confirm whether employees would be paid on time this week.
The Arizona Education Association, the union representing educators across the state, released a statement Tuesday morning saying, "Getting paid this week is an absolute necessity, but educators can't do their jobs — making lesson plans, going on field trips, coaching sports, hosting after school events — that are essential to students' learning if no one knows what will happen next week, let alone the rest of the year."
Though the bill was approved unanimously by the House Education Committee, some Democratic representatives said they were concerned it did not do enough to help the district.
Gress said that additional reforms are needed before the Legislature provides more support to the district. "If we're going to finance the rest of the school year at Isaac, there needs to be a larger conversation about the future of Isaac," he said.
But he promised another bill that would keep the district open for the remainder of the school year.
'I recognize that this does not solve the full problem of operating Isaac' for the rest of the year, Gress said. 'I commit to all of you that we will get another bill that will provide financial certainty for the rest of the school year. We cannot, and we will not let the Isaac Elementary School District shut its doors this school year.'
Tomasa Acosta, a parent of an eighth-grade student in the district, said Tuesday that she had already requested the paperwork, including grades, necessary to enroll her child elsewhere out of fear that if Isaac's schools shut down, no staff would be available to provide the information. She said she had already identified the district where she would transfer her child in a worst-case scenario, the Glendale Elementary School District, where she was formerly a teacher.
Despite Gress' bill, Acosta said that if she were a staff member in the district, she would "start looking for a job somewhere else. If they need to pay rent, if they need to pay utilities ... that's a big shock," she said. Even if Gress' bill passes, just one guaranteed paycheck leaves uncertainty, she added.
As of early Tuesday afternoon, Acosta was waiting to see what happened Wednesday, the first day after payday, before making decisions about her child. If some teachers didn't show up, she said, class sizes would be higher, and "it's going to be a mess."
Republic reporter Laura Sepulveda contributed to this report.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Legislature takes step to keep Isaac school district open