Many parents do not know this, but on August 15, 2025, the Arizona Auditor General notified the Amphitheater School District that it is out of compliance with the Uniform System of Financial Records (USFR) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024.
The findings include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Unreconciled cash balances for six months (pg 2)
- Misclassified state aid payments (pg. 2)
- Capital assets not recorded correctly (pg. 4)
- Multi-million-dollar discrepancies between the district’s Annual Financial Report and its own accounting records (pg. 6)
- Inaccurate attendance reporting, which affects (ADM) funding and enrollment numbers (pg. 7)
These are the exact systems used to justify the proposed school closures. I'm including the letter here and the list of deficiencies here. This is all public record and available on the Arizona Auditor General's Website.
Despite being made aware of these issues, the district is still holding tonight’s meeting as the “public meeting to discuss closing a school,” as required under Arizona law. This means they may attempt to count tonight’s meeting as fulfilling their statutory notice requirement, even though families were never informed of the district’s financial noncompliance, nor was it made clear that tonight's meeting was meant to serve as a public meeting to "discuss" the school closures.
This information has already been shared directly with the Board in advance of tonight's meeting, along with this petition specific to CCES families - thank you for your support!
Again, we're asking the board to pause this process, restore financial compliance, correct the errors identified by the Auditor General, and provide the community with verified, transparent data before taking any further action.
Please continue to share your comments and circulate this petition. Again, it has already been submitted to the board, but I will send an update to include new signers and comments. Our community deserves accurate information and a fair process. Let's make sure we're getting it!
Halley