The EVIT lawsuit is a funding fight filed on December 1, 2025, in Maricopa County Superior Court by nine member school districts against the East Valley Institute of Technology, the Phoenix-area career and technical education district. At issue is how state Average Daily Membership funding for satellite career and technical education programs should be divided between EVIT and the districts that host those programs on their own campuses. As of mid-2026, the case remains unresolved, with a partial ruling in place, failed negotiations behind it, and a June 24, 2026 hearing on the calendar.
Who Sued and What They Want
The nine plaintiff districts are Apache Junction, Cave Creek, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Higley, J.O. Combs, Queen Creek, and Tempe Union. Represented by the law firm Osborn Maledon, they asked the court for three declarations to resolve the funding standoff.
Their core legal argument is that Arizona law requires EVIT to pass through a “proportionate share” of state funding to the districts running satellite programs, and that EVIT may keep only the funds actually used to support those programs. The districts say they carry essentially all the costs of the satellite courses — teacher salaries, equipment, materials, and facilities — and that EVIT’s proposed cuts would force program closures on local campuses.
Chandler Unified, one of the largest plaintiffs, added that EVIT’s proposed changes would deny or retroactively strip students of academic credit unless they finished an entire multi-year sequence, and that many courses would be offered only at EVIT’s central Mesa campus rather than at neighborhood high schools. Apache Junction Unified said the suit was filed to protect “student access, credit, and graduation pathways.”
The Money at the Center of the Case
Both EVIT and the local district receive a share of state funding for each student enrolled in a satellite program, with the exact split negotiated in intergovernmental agreements. Roughly 25,000 students attend satellite programs across the region; about 3,400 attend EVIT’s central campuses.
Under the expired agreements, districts kept 85% of satellite funding in fiscal year 2023, rising to 87% by fiscal year 2025. When the agreement expired in June 2025, talks collapsed. The districts proposed moving their share to 90%. EVIT proposed cutting it to 83% in year one, 78% in year two, and 75% in year three, with small increases available only if districts hit performance benchmarks tied to student persistence, instructor quality, and certificate completion.
A short extension carried the parties through August 2025. When it lapsed with no deal, EVIT stopped its quarterly payments to the nine districts. The districts say EVIT has withheld roughly $8 million during the current school year, leaving them to cover satellite costs out of their own budgets.
How EVIT Is Fighting Back
EVIT called the lawsuit an “aggressive and unlawful attempt” to seize control of the career technical education district, eliminate financial oversight of taxpayer dollars, and disregard state law and findings from the Arizona Auditor General. In early 2026, EVIT filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, arguing that no state statute requires it to distribute any minimum level of satellite funding to districts.
Superintendent Dr. Chad Wilson has framed the dispute as an accountability issue. He has pointed to roughly $50 million sitting in the districts’ Fund 596 accounts, which hold voter-approved property tax revenue dedicated to career and technical education, and argued that districts have spent from those accounts on programs EVIT did not approve. On May 5, 2026, EVIT filed a separate request for an injunction to freeze the Fund 596 accounts until a new agreement is in place.
EVIT has also cited a March 2024 Arizona Auditor General performance audit as justification for demanding tighter fiscal oversight. On the satellite side, the auditor found that EVIT’s timelines for approving satellite programs were too short, and in at least one case a district spent money on a program the EVIT board later rejected. The plaintiff districts note that the report’s more pointed findings concerned EVIT’s own internal controls, not district spending.
What the Court Has Decided So Far
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury issued a partial ruling that set boundaries without resolving the central funding question. He ruled that EVIT cannot retain state funding unless the money is specifically used for the career and technical education programs it is meant to support. He also ruled that the court cannot force EVIT into any particular intergovernmental agreement or dictate the funding split.
Judge Coury ordered that any future agreement must include two provisions: language stating that “payment for services shall not exceed the cost of the services provided,” and an itemized list of the goods and services EVIT will provide to districts in connection with satellite programming, paid out of whatever share EVIT retains. The ruling pushes the parties back to the negotiating table, but with guardrails.
Where Negotiations Stand
Talks have repeatedly stalled. On June 8, 2026, the EVIT Governing Board voted to cover 100% of the estimated $4 million in annual transportation costs for students traveling to the central campus, up from a previous offer of 50%. Board member William Hobson argued that the lack of district-provided transportation disproportionately hurt lower- and middle-income students. Board member Amber McAffe called the offer a “huge opportunity” and urged parents to press their local school boards to accept.
The districts treated transportation as a side issue and said the broader fight over satellite funding and program control was unchanged. Superintendent Wilson rejected the districts’ proposal to negotiate one comprehensive agreement covering both central-campus and satellite programs, insisting the two be handled separately. Going into the June 24, 2026 hearing, reporting described “little hope” that the parties would reach a deal beforehand.
What It Means for Students and Families Right Now
Districts have told families that existing programs continue to operate and that students will not lose credit for courses already completed. Apache Junction Unified told parents that “nothing changes” for now and to keep planning career and technical education pathways as normal.
The longer-term picture is less certain. Districts warn that if EVIT succeeds in raising its share of satellite funding from 13% to 30%, they will have to close programs on local campuses and offer fewer options. Transportation is a related worry: if districts stop busing students to EVIT’s Mesa campus, some students could be forced to drop out of programs entirely. One parent told reporters that losing transportation would force her to pull her daughter from a culinary arts program, a loss she described as “devastating.”
What the Lawsuit Does Not Cover
Three EVIT member entities — Mesa Public Schools, Scottsdale Unified School District, and American Leadership Academy — signed new intergovernmental agreements with EVIT more than a year before the dispute escalated. The terms have not been made public, and none of the three is part of the litigation, so the court’s eventual decision will not directly reset those existing deals.
Separately, EVIT is backing HB 4034, a bill by Republican Representative Matt Gress that would clarify definitions, accountability standards, and funding rules for career technical education districts. It passed the House Education Committee in February 2026 and cleared the Committee of the Whole with amendments in March 2026 with support from both party caucuses. Its progress through the full legislature was still ongoing as of mid-2026, and it would change the rules going forward rather than decide this case.