(The Center Square) – Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes plans to launch an investigation into the Isaac Elementary School District.
The district is facing a roughly $28.5 million budget crisis, according to an estimate from Maricopa County, which is leaving officials with questions and teachers wondering when they are going to get paid next.
“So our top priority right now is trying to make sure that the Issac School District becomes solvent, and we can make sure kids can go to school in the Isaac School District,” Mayes said.
“We will investigate what happened at the Isaac School District, and we will obviously brief you after that investigation,” she continued.
Republicans in the Arizona State Legislature are asking for a criminal investigation into the matter, as they are also looking into the what happened themselves.
“At the heart of this crisis are more than 4,800 students and hundreds of employees who have been abandoned by failed district leadership,” House Speaker Steve Montenegro said in a statement on Monday. “The falsification of financial records and the mismanagement of public funds are a betrayal of trust and must be investigated immediately.”
The school district’s superintendent stepped down last week. The Arizona Department of Education obtained $6 million in last ditch federal funding in order to keep the school district running for a short period of time while the situation gets resolved.
Meanwhile, House Bill 2610, sponsored by Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, passed the House Education Committee unanimously on Tuesday to help provide a temporary solution and to dump all of the current governing body leadership in the district.
According to 12 News, district educators opted to return on Wednesday despite the pay concerns. Leaders in the Tolleson Union High School District could also be intervening to help with the district’s financial problems, the Arizona Republic reported.