EVIT faces potential lawsuit by 9 local school districts over revised agreement

PHOENIX — Nine school districts are preparing to take legal action against the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) over changes to how state funding is distributed.

EVIT partners with 12 districts to offer career and technical education (CTE) programs in fields like firefighting, nursing, cosmetology and engineering.

According to EVIT Superintendent Chad Wilson, nine of the districts have hired a law firm and are demanding more than $50 million to avoid filing a lawsuit. The dispute centers on a revised agreement that EVIT introduced after its previous inter-governmental agreement (IGA) expired in August. (UPDATE: The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 2. 2025.)

Which districts are involved in the EVIT lawsuit?

The districts involved in the conflict are:

• Apache Junction Unified School District.
• Cave Creek Unified School District.
• Chandler Unified School District.
• Fountain Hills Unified School District.
• Gilbert Unified School District.
• Higley Unified School District.
• J.O. Combs Unified School District.
• Queen Creek Unified School District.
• Tempe Union High School District.

The districts’ law firm, Osborn Maledon, released a statement on Oct. 31 that said the group of districts were “shocked, saddened and deeply disappointed” by the way EVIT “misrepresented” the letter sent.

The statement described the intent to collaborate with EVIT to reach a mutual outcome, saying EVIT had refused further discussion and withdrawn its previous proposal and all state CTE funding.

The districts’ statement also made clear that programming will not stop while the conflict is ongoing.

Why are the school districts threatening to sue EVIT?

EVIT’s new agreement includes retention rate requirements and reduces the funding it shares with partner districts.

Previously, districts received a set percentage of state CTE funding to support their own programs.

District leaders argue the changes not only cut their budgets but also give EVIT more control over their programs. Thus, they’re threatening to file a lawsuit against the proposed changes to the IGA.

Why did EVIT revise the agreement?

Wilson said the changes were prompted by a recent audit that found issues with student completion rates in satellite programs.

“Part of what we are wanting to put in are some control mechanisms that would allow us to better track data,” Wilson said. “With those mechanisms and those controls, there’s obviously an additional cost associated with that that we would have to bear.”

He explained that new oversight measures would help track data, improve retention and ensure students are pursuing career paths, rather than simply taking electives.

“Our hope has been that we could have negotiations in good faith,” Wilson said. “To get a letter that essentially says you have to do this … or we’re going to sue you … was a little disheartening and frustrating.”

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

Related

Head Start programs in Arizona at risk of closing due to government shutdownAnti-DEI vote pushed off until December after State Board of Education disagreed about urgencySupt. Horne, Scottsdale district at odds over 'woke' flyer, declining enrollmentArizona voters to choose Republican and Democratic nominees for top education positionFormer Mesa High School official claims that an inaccurate police report destroyed his careerFormer ASU President, who elevated university’s status, dies at 89