The Tucson Unified School District will have to pay more than $1 million for failing to provide the minimum required instructional hours to seventh- and eighth-grade students at more than a dozen schools.
The settlement with the Arizona Department of Education reduced the fine from the original $1.9 million penalty. It was unanimously approved by the TUSD Governing Board on Tuesday.
The fine was issued as TUSD is working to address an impending budget shortfall of $17 million next school year.
There was no discussion before the vote. The district said new procedures have been put in place to correct the problems.
"The issues that precipitated this situation occurred over two years ago, and we have taken steps to ensure that all schools follow the prescribed hourly requirements," TUSD Superintendent John Pedicone said. "The formula for calculation of minutes does not provide much latitude, and it is essential that practices be monitored to ensure compliance. That is being done."
People are also reading…
The shortage in instructional hours was discovered by TUSD's independent auditors, prompting an investigation by the state Education Department.
The investigation looked at instructional hours for fiscal years 2008, 2009 and 2010, and found that TUSD failed to provide a sufficient amount of instructional hours at 17 of the 26 schools serving seventh and eighth grades.
The result was a $1.9 million penalty for the district - state funding that already had been paid to TUSD based on several factors related to student enrollment and attendance.
In addition to enrollment factors, school districts must provide at least the statute-required minimum number of instructional hours - for seventh- and eighth-graders, it's 1,068 for the school year.
A common mistake at schools involved counting noninstructional activities as instructional time. Examples of noninstructional time include homeroom, study skills, advisory time and wrap-up activities at the end of the school day, like passing out paperwork and cleaning work areas.
The range of instructional hours provided per school varied greatly - from a high of 1,123.67 hours to a low of 913.75 hours.
In addition to the fine, TUSD was directed to make changes to address the deficiency, which was attributed to inadequate oversight and errors in developing bell schedules that detail the start and end times for the school day, along with classes, lunchtime and passing periods.
As a result of the settlement, which worked to mitigate costs, the state Department of Education will collect $1,065,000 over a two-year period.
The fine, which will be collected by reducing TUSD's monthly state aid starting Sept. 1, will affect the district's maintenance and operations budget. M&O funds are used for the day-to-day operation of the school district.
On StarNet: Find more education and TUSD news and resources at azstarnet.com/news/local/education
How the schools fared
Audit findings for fiscal years 2008, 2009 and 2010:
• Schools that did not provide at least the minimum number of instructional hours for all three years audited: Booth-Fickett Magnet School, Carson Middle School, Gridley Middle School, Dodge Middle Magnet School, Mary Meredith K-12 School, Pistor Middle School, Secrist Middle School and Southwest Alternative Middle School.
• Schools that did not provide at least the minimum number of instructional hours for two of the three years audited: Doolen Middle School, Hohokam Middle School, Teenage Parent Program, Utterback Middle Magnet School and Wakefield Middle School.
• Schools that did not provide at least the minimum number of instructional hours for one of the three years audited: Alice Vail Middle School, Joyce Drake Alternative Middle School, Naylor Middle School and Pueblo Gardens K-8 School.
• Schools that were in compliance for all three years audited: Magee Middle School, Mansfeld Middle School, Maxwell Middle School, Miles Exploratory Learning Center, Richey Elementary School, Roskruge Magnet Middle School, Safford Magnet Middle School, Townsend Middle School and Valencia Middle School.
Contact reporter Alexis Huicochea at ahuicochea@azstarnet.com or 573-4175.
