Students will be back in class Monday at the East Valley Institute of Technology after EVIT and its nine-member school districts finally reached an agreement following months of negotiations.
According to EVIT, the agreement will allow students to continue attending the school's career and technical education programs while providing a path forward for both EVIT and its member districts.
One of the biggest changes is transportation. EVIT said it will provide transportation to its Mesa campuses for the first time in the school's more than 30-year history, backed by a nearly $5 million investment in buses and related services.
According to EVIT, the agreement also outlines how the school and its member districts will continue working together, including reviewing satellite campus programs. The deal also pauses the ongoing lawsuit between EVIT and the districts.
Nine East Valley school districts shared a statement on the resolution of EVIT transportation; read the full statement below:
"After months of advocating for East Valley students and taxpayers, the nine East Valley school districts have secured an agreement with the East Valley Institute of Technology that delivers $5 million in new transportation funding this year and resolves the current issues around transportation funding and program transparency for all students.
Throughout this process, the nine districts showed an ongoing determination to resolve this dispute through agreement rather than conflict. Over the past 18 months, the districts offered EVIT multiple opportunities to reach a resolution outside of litigation. Litigation became necessary only after those efforts did not produce the outcome students and taxpayers deserved.
Under the agreement, EVIT will take over transportation costs for its programs going forward. For years, the nine districts were the only districts in the Valley required to shoulder these transportation costs. That changes now.
With EVIT covering transportation, the districts' 76% pass-through funding can finally be used for what it was always intended for: satellite programming that serves students directly in their home districts.
The agreement also protects students currently enrolled in EVIT programs. EVIT has agreed to honor all previously approved programs and will not close them midyear. If a program is discontinued, the districts have the ability to continue offering it independently, with EVIT covering the associated costs.
The districts remain committed to the success of every student enrolled at EVIT's Central campus. This agreement does not change that commitment. It strengthens the districts' ability to invest directly in students across the East Valley while EVIT fulfills its own funding obligations.
Finally, the agreement preserves the court's ruling on the districts' 596 funds. Money the districts have already accumulated, along with any property purchased with those funds, remains the districts' own.
This outcome affirms what the nine districts have said from the start: taxpayer dollars should be spent transparently, and district students deserve the same level of support as every other district in the Valley.
These results reflect the value of the districts' persistence in standing up for East Valley students and taxpayers throughout this process."
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