PHOENIX — The Arizona School Facilities Board has not been inspecting school buildings properly and could be giving schools access to grant funds they should not be entitled to, according to the Arizona Auditor General.
A recent review of the board, which regulates the conditions of Arizona's classrooms, found it lacked sufficient staff to inspect schools and failed to have a formal review process in place.
"The Board has not conducted statutorily-required school building inspections since at least January 2017, except for 4 inspections it did not document," the auditor's report states.
The board further admitted to not conducting any inspections in the fiscal year 2021, telling auditors that they instead focused on lobbying for legislation that could improve the board's ability to inspect schools.
Arizona law obligates the board to annually publish a list of the state's vacant or partially-used school buildings. Auditors noted how this list could contain misleading data if the board wasn't routinely conducting campus inspections.
"If the information the Board publishes or provides to meet this requirement is incomplete or inaccurate, districts may miss opportunities to reduce their building maintenance costs and increase revenue by leasing or selling vacant buildings," the report states.
Auditors additionally faulted the board for not updating its databases with accurate information about Arizona's school districts.
"Twenty-four of 217 districts that are required to annually submit building inventory information to the Board did not submit the required information in fiscal year 2021," the audit report states.
Not having accurate data on a school's facilities could result in a district gaining access to grant funds they should not be eligible for, auditors noted.
Starting on Sept. 29, the board's legal powers will be transferred to a division of the Arizona Department of Administration, where the board will be expected to contract with a third party to conduct school inspections.
ADOA will be responsible for addressing the auditor's recommendations once the board’s responsibilities have been transferred.
Up to Speed
Catch up on the latest news and stories on the 12 News YouTube channel. Subscribe today.
