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Auditor General presses ADE on risk‑based ESA audits; Department says staffing, handbook delayed consultation
Summary
The Auditor General said the Arizona Department of Education has not completed required consultation to develop risk‑based audit procedures for the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program; ADE said it delayed meetings while finalizing an ESA parent handbook and that the program’s rapid growth strains a small staff.
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee heard sharply different accounts about the status of risk‑based auditing for Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program.
Auditor General Lindsey Perry told the committee she had repeatedly sought a meeting with the Department of Education to complete procedures required by a 2024 law. “Since January 2025, my office has called and emailed the department on multiple occasions to request a meeting about risk based auditing procedures for E.S.A.s,” Perry said, and she told lawmakers the department had not completed consultation or provided required documentation as of the committee packet date.
John Ward, director of the Department’s ESA program, disputed a suggestion his…
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