Audit faults Arizona Deaf and Blind schools on graduations, background checks

Arizona's Deaf and blind schools graduated 25 students who did not meet requirements and couldn't show background checks for 19 employees, auditors found. The Arizona Auditor General released the performance audit of the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (ASDB) on Sept. 28, 2026. It also found problems with complaint handling, staff qualifications and evaluations, and the way the agency decided to relocate its Tucson campus. The audit, Report 26-114, was conducted by the independent firm Sikich CPA LLC under contract with the Auditor General. It responds to a Dec. 10, 2024, resolution of the Legislature's Joint Legislative Audit Committee and is part of the state's sunset review of ASDB. Auditors found ASDB graduated 25 students in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 who did not meet graduation requirements and, in the report's words, "may have been unprepared for secondary education or transition to the job market." The agency also did not keep consistent records on graduates, which the report says risks misreporting student information to the Arizona Department of Education. ASDB did not investigate all 15 complaints it received between August 2024 and June 2025 within the time frames its own policy requires, including some complaints involving safety, and it had no process to prioritize complaints by risk. The agency could not demonstrate that it obtained and reviewed background-check documentation for 19 employees who worked there at some point in fiscal years 2022 through 2024, as state law requires. The report notes that certain types of ASDB staff are not required to hold a valid fingerprint clearance card. ASDB also could not show that all of its staff met required qualifications, or that it consistently assigned qualified substitutes for teacher absences and vacancies. It did not complete 22% of required evaluations for permanent employees and 97% for probationary employees in fiscal years 2022 through 2024. Its student-teacher ratio goals have not been updated since 2007, and it has not done a required annual review of them. Auditors concluded that ASDB leadership has not established an effective internal control system. On the Tucson campus, the report says the superintendent publicly announced on Jan. 14, 2026, that the campus would move to the Amphitheater School District's Copper Creek Elementary School site in Oro Valley. Auditors found ASDB did not assess risks and impacts for students, seek stakeholder input, or obtain formal Board approval before the announcement. The ASDB Board voted on Feb. 5, 2026, to approve the relocation and authorize the lease. The new site serves only deaf and hard of hearing students and has no residential option. The move closed the residential program, shifted blind and visually impaired students without other sensory impairments to ASDB's Itinerant Services Program, and came with a reduction in force of about 80 teachers and staff. The superintendent cited a budget shortfall of about $3 million, the cost of maintaining the Tucson campus, and declining enrollment. The audit recommends that ASDB review student graduation records and staff qualification files to correct errors and fill gaps, and adopt policies covering student records, complaint investigations and prioritization, background checks, staff qualifications, teacher absences, staff evaluations, class-size goals, and public input on decisions that affect students. It recommends that the ASDB Board require the superintendent to submit a corrective action plan and report progress at each Board meeting. It asks the Legislature to consider requiring every ASDB employee to hold a Level I fingerprint clearance card and to align ASDB's staff evaluation rules with Title 15 of Arizona's education statutes. In its written response, ASDB agreed with five findings and disagreed with four, but said it will implement, or implement in a different manner, all 47 recommendations directed to it. The Auditor General published comments disputing parts of that response. On the Tucson decision, auditors wrote that the public presentations and Board approval ASDB cited all took place after the decision had been announced. Sikich will follow up with ASDB in six months to assess its progress. The Auditor General released a separate sunset review and a forensic audit of ASDB the same day.