Arizona’s Auditor General is calling out the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT), the career and technical education trade school for East Valley school districts.
In a 70-page report, the Auditor General says EVIT did not “follow requirements, recommended practices, or its policies in various areas, increasing its risk for errors, fraud, and data loss."
The Auditor General reported 10 findings in total, highlighting four. The main findings include the district not complying with important cash-handling requirements, money being spent without board approval, the adult education program spending more than it was taking in, and data inconsistencies in program outcome reporting.
They made 30 recommendations to EVIT on how to correct the issues in the report, all of which were agreed to by EVIT leadership.
On money handling, the Auditor General reported EVIT spent almost $15,000 on food for events without board approval. Without documentation, EVIT would be in danger of running afoul of Arizona’s ban on gifts to employees over a certain amount.
They also found some EVIT-sponsored programs were operating without board approval. The range of time from an EVIT program running without approval in a member district ranged from four days in Mesa to 26 in Queen Creek.
EVIT’s Adult Education program may be running a deficit. Expenses ran up $670 above tuition revenues in 2021, and in 2022 the gap grew to nearly $1 million. In the report, EVIT said the difference was covered with federal grant money, but that was a one-time occurrence they cannot rely on in the future.
The Auditor General also found EVIT’s program outcome data contained some errors.
The examples given are two students who were enrolled in the public safety and physical therapy EVIT programs but were later employed as an assisted caregiver and food service shift leader, even though EVIT’s data marked them as working in their program’s focused industries. Two other students working in fields aligned with their career and technical education program were flagged as “not using program skills.”
EVIT’s respondent is in agreement with all 30 recommendations in the Auditor General’s report. Their response letter said they had already implemented some recommendations and will continue to implement the rest.
EVIT Superintendent Dr. Chad Wilson sent the following statement to ABC15:
"The East Valley Institute of Technology appreciates the Auditor General’s willingness to help us look for ways to better our organization. We are committed to doing what is in the best interest of our students, community, and business partners and take great responsibility for being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. EVIT is committed to providing our partners the opportunities they deserve and is thankful to the Auditor General’s office for their support,"
