Peach Springs Unified School District

In fiscal year 2017, Peach Springs Unified School District’s school received an “F” letter grade and was required to participate in a school improvement program. Although the District operated with lower costs in nearly all operational areas, we identified a number of improvements needed in the District’s operations. Specifically, the District’s plant operations cost per square foot was much higher than the peer districts’ average primarily because the District paid for utilities and some other costs of its leased high school but collects no revenues. Further, the District’s food service program produced many more meals than were needed, resulting in food waste, and at least some meals served likely did not meet the National School Lunch Program’s nutritional and portion-size requirements. Additionally, the District did not maintain records supporting that its bus driver met the State’s certification requirements, that it performed preventative maintenance and inspections on its buses, or the route mileage and number of riders it reported for state funding purposes. Finally, the Governing Board approved and paid the superintendent bonuses totaling $25,000 but likely did not have statutory authority to pay those bonuses. This likely constitutes a gift of public monies in violation of the Arizona Constitution.