JLAC orders special audit of Tolleson Union High School District after parents and former principal raise governance, financial and safety concerns

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted by roll call (9 ayes, 0 nays, 1 not voting) to direct the Arizona Auditor General to conduct a broad special audit of the Tolleson Union High School District following detailed testimony from community members and a former principal. The audit request covers a range of topics the Legislature specified, including conflicts of interest, procurement, bond and lease transactions, transparency of public records and meetings, curriculum adoption and student proficiency monitoring, and school safety and use of school-safety grant funds.

During the hearing, Dave Briggs of Citizens for School Accountability and former Tolleson principal Felipe Manraga described a pattern of financial and governance practices they said merit forensic review. Briggs recounted differences between district capacity figures and presentations to the School Facilities Board, questioned a $312 million facility concept approved by the SFB for 3,324 students, and raised concerns about large reported surplus balances and transfers from maintenance-and-operations (M&O) to capital to facilitate a $25 million lease buyback. He also pointed to bond language he described as broad and to persistently low student proficiency rates (English…