East Valley Institute of Technology reports 2011 lease deal to state, federal authorities
Posted 9/19/24
An internal review by the East Valley Institute of Technology discovered a lease signed in 2011 may have resulted in the school not being paid fair market value for rent while a third party may have …
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An internal review by the East Valley Institute of Technology discovered a lease signed in 2011 may have resulted in the school not being paid fair market value for rent while a third party may have made millions of dollars on the deal.
East Valley Institute of Technology offers 50 career training programs for Phoenix-area adults and high school students who reside in 11 East Valley school districts – Apache Junction, Cave Creek, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Higley, J.O. Combs, Mesa, Queen Creek, Tempe and Scottsdale.
The review found the lease for Adelante Healthcare, a community health center on the EVIT Main Campus, 1601 W. Main St. in Mesa, signed by previous EVIT administration in 2011, may not have been approved by the EVIT Governing Board as required by law. Nor was it approved by voters in the EVIT Career Technical Education District as also required by law. It was then renegotiated between Adelante and a third party, resulting in Adelante paying over $60,000 in monthly rent to that third party while paying EVIT only approximately $2,700 a month, which is much lower than market value, according to a release.
No one currently employed by EVIT was involved in the negotiation or approval of the lease, it states in the releae.
Legal counsel for EVIT reviewed the matter and the findings have been reported to the Arizona Auditor General, Arizona Attorney General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The EVIT Governing Board was informed of the internal review during a special board meeting on Thursday.
“EVIT has not concluded anything nefarious has occurred, but it is our duty to report issues we have concerns with,” said Superintendent Dr. Chad Wilson. “EVIT is an institution funded by taxpayers. It is our great responsibility and privilege to ensure that we are good stewards of the financial investment taxpayers have made in our school.”
As required by law, EVIT was audited this year by the Arizona Auditor General.
Wilson said EVIT appreciates the AG’s findings and has been using their recommendations “to do our own deeper dive to ensure greater fiscal accountability. That’s when we discovered the problem with the Adelante lease.”
Third-party audits are performed at EVIT on a regular basis to help maintain strong fiscal accountability. But since the lease was signed in 2011, none of those audits, including those by the state auditor general, detected a problem with the Adelante lease, the release states.
EVIT is a public trade school providing career training for high school students and adults at two central campuses in Mesa. High school programs are funded by the state; adult programs are tuition-based.
Since 2012, Adelante Healthcare has operated a community health center on the EVIT Main Campus. As part of the partnership, EVIT students in several health programs have participated in internships at Adelante.
Wilson said the issue with the Adelante lease will have no impact on training that EVIT health students receive as the school has many health-care partners across the Valley where they can intern.
For more information about EVIT, visit www.evit.edu.
