Judge issues partial ruling in East Valley Institute of Technology suit |
Judge issues partial ruling in East Valley Institute of Technology suit |
Publish Date: 2026-05-17 03:00:00
Source Domain: www.eastvalleytribune.com
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge last week handed both the East Valley Institute of Technology and nine member school districts a partial victory in a closely watched lawsuit over millions of dollars in career-technical education funding while also signaling the legal and political battle is far from over.
The nine districts immediately declared the ruling a major win and accused EVIT of trying to retain increasing amounts of student-generated funding without sufficient accountability or transparency.
“This ruling validates what districts have said from the beginning: student-generated funding cannot simply be absorbed into EVIT’s rapidly growing administrative structure without accountability,” Tempe Union Superintendent Dr. Stacia Wilson said in a joint statement issued by the districts.
On the other hand, EVIT Superintendent Dr. Chad Wilson (no relation) said in an interview the judge “confirmed what I’ve been saying all along.
“We absolutely agree with what the ruling says, that EVIT can’t fund beyond what the programs cost.”
He also said, “I don’t know that this is a victory for anybody.”
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury agreed with the districts on one major point: EVIT cannot keep career-tech money generated by district satellite programs unless the money is actually being used to provide related services.
But Coury also rejected the districts’ broader effort to force EVIT into specific intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) and declined to determine whether EVIT improperly retained money in past years because the factual record remains incomplete.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by nine EVIT member districts — Apache Junction, Cave Creek, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Higley, J.O. Combs, Tempe Union and Queen Creek — against EVIT, one of 14 CTE Districts…
