Tuba City Unified School District

In fiscal year 2015, Tuba City USD’s student achievement was lower than the peer districts’, and it operated with much higher per pupil costs in most noninstructional areas. Specifically, the District’s administrative costs were much higher than the peer districts’ average primarily because of higher staffing. In addition, the District needs to strengthen its accounting and computer controls. The District’s plant operations costs per square foot and per pupil were much higher than the peer districts’ averages, and it operated most of its schools at far below their designed capacities. The District’s food service program operated efficiently with a lower cost per meal than the peer districts’, on average. Finally, although the District’s transportation costs per mile and per rider were much higher than the peer districts’ averages, its bus routes were efficient. However, the District lacked adequate documentation to show that its bus drivers met all the State’s certification requirements, it could not demonstrate that its buses received required preventative maintenance in a timely manner, and it did not accurately report its number of riders to the Arizona Department of Education for funding purposes.