Following nearly 5,000 west Phoenix students being at risk of seeing their school district close amid financial turmoil, lawmakers at the state Capitol are attempting to exert their influence over school boards across the state.

One of the main priorities for Republicans is House Bill 2610. The GOP proposal from Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, is a direct response to the Isaac School District’s placement into receivership after overspending its budget by more than $28 million and falsifying financial records.

HB2610 originally proposed requiring the superintendent and school board members of any district to be removed from their positions if their district is placed into receivership, but it has been amended to remove the required resignation of school board members.

After House Republicans called for an investigation into the matter, House Speaker Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, said in a press release, “The falsification of financial records and the mismanagement of public funds are a betrayal of trust and must be investigated immediately. The people of Arizona deserve to know how this happened, and those responsible must be held accountable.”

Sen. Flavio Bravo, D-Phoenix, represents the district where Isaac is located. He said while he’s concerned about how leadership at the district allowed its financial crisis, he voted against the measure because he said he’s skeptical the bill would prevent similar behavior at other school districts from happening.

Democrats, too, have called on the school board’s leadership to resign, but would rather see the issue be handled by Attorney General Kris Mayes’ ongoing investigation of the district.

“House Bill 2610 is absolutely overbroad,” said House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos, D-Laveen. “The only reason that we are aware of this problem is because of the transparency requirements that public schools have that the ESA program does not have.”

There is a bill that some Democrats support intended to prevent a situation like Isaac’s from happening again, but the measure has been halted in the House after lawmakers became aware of a potential conflict of interest from the bill’s sponsor with an amendment to the bill.

House Bill 2883 from Rep. Lydia Hernandez, D-Phoenix, would establish biennial training requirements for school board members related to school finance.

That measure failed on the House floor on March 10 after drawing up controversy with an amendment that would allow immediate family members to serve on the same school board if they live in the same household and the younger family member is under 20 years old.

Hernandez and her daughter are members of the Cartwright School District and are being sued for serving on the board together.

Several Republicans and nearly all Democrats voted against Hernandez’s bill, defeating it 21-35. Rep. Junelle Cavero, D-Phoenix, said she supported the training requirements of the bill but could not support the measure with the amendment.

The House has since removed the amendment language from the bill, but it has not yet received another floor vote.

Another school board measure from Sen. Carine Werner, R-Scottsdale, would make school district governing board elections partisan, listing candidates’ political party affiliation on the ballot.

“The voters deserve transparency to know which party the candidate aligns with,” Werner said.

Werner’s measure, Senate Bill 1441, is waiting for a vote on the House floor, and has faced opposition from Democrats.

House Assistant Minority Leader Nancy Gutierrez, D-Tucson, said she doesn’t believe school board members should be viewed in a partisan light.

“Adding this on is just asking for more political fodder, not less,” Gutierrez said.

Gress said he’s been subject to partisan attacks when he was a candidate for the Madison Elementary School District in 2020, and he feels school board races have become increasingly organized and partisan.

“(The state is) putting this facade of nonpartisanship on these school board positions, and that’s what it is – a façade,” Gress said. “These are big political positions that both parties would like to have influence on, and they do,”