EDUCATION
Sequoia Pathway Academy abruptly stopped bus service to CAVIT, a trade school in Coolidge, leaving
students like 12th-grader Lianna Nott a harder path to graduation.
Our dedicated administration and highly- qualified teachers provide excellent education in Maricopa, Arizona. Our teachers and students enjoy: • Full-day kindergarten • Small class sizes • Quality programs • Spanish, PE, and culinary classes
AST SEPTEMBER, SEQUOIA Pathway Academy and its parent organization, Edkey, were 43 days away from bankruptcy. They were The beaten pathway An embattled charter school has a money problem. Now, it has become the students’ problem BY DAVID IVERSEN AND ELIAS WEISS L
As the Mobile Elementary District Superintendent, I’m proud of the great people and the excellent education we provide.We work hard to offer the guidance and support our children need to succeed.
Symptom of a bigger issue Edkey is a Mesa-based 501(c)(3) that operates 26 public charter schools across Arizona. Edkey started in 1996 and was an early player in Arizona’s burgeoning charter school system. In the last decade, as more and more charter schools have come online, Edkey’s competition grew. Since 2019, this charter school system’s financial struggles have been well documented. Most recently, the organization implemented a hiring freeze, laid off or terminated employees and failed to meet key financial obligations, including payroll. In a Nov. 20 email, Edkey’s executive director of human resources, Laurie Ainge, told more than 900 employees “Edkey was unable to upload payroll in sufficient time,” according to an employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity. InMaricopa has reviewed an original copy of the email. “There was intentional misrepresentation to staff regarding the ‘disruption’ in payroll when, in fact, the organization was facing significant financial challenges,” the employee claimed. Edkey implemented the hiring freeze as it fired and laid off several employees, according to two people with knowledge of the Edkey
students to drop out or transfer. Nott’s parents stepped in to drive her daily, despite the strain on their schedules and wallets. “It’s hard for my mom and dad,” she said. “My dad works overnight shifts, and my mom works until 11 p.m., then has to wake up at 5 a.m. to take me to school.” Nott’s class started with about 25 students. Some transferred. Others dropped out. Today, Nott said, only she and three of her classmates are scheduled to graduate. And as she watched her peers vaporize, so did top EdKey officials, who were fired over the holidays. “Everyone is pretty frustrated,” said Nott. The parent Edkey is a nonprofit charter school system operating 17 schools across Arizona. The corporation cited the national bus driver shortage as the primary reason for discontinuing service. “Like schools across the country, Edkey is experiencing this challenge,” said Dr. Yovhane Metcalfe, Edkey’s chief academic officer. The bussing issue may only scratch the surface of broader financial troubles that have plagued the once-cash-rich charter operator in recent years. Now, it has reached a fever point, said several current and former employees, parents and students.
Teri Romero-Dominguez M.Ed. DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR
dangerously close to not being able to keep the lights on above their 5,600 Arizona charter school students. Few know these troubles better than Lianna Nott, a senior at the school who lives in Smith Farms. She is set to graduate in May with both a high school diploma and a cosmetology license, thanks to a dual-enrollment program with the Central Arizona Valley Institute of Technology, better known as CAVIT. Nott is one of several students from Sequoia Pathway who took advantage of the hourlong bus ride from Maricopa to CAVIT’s Coolidge campus, a program designed to give high school seniors a jumpstart in the licensed trades. But Nott’s path to graduation was disrupted when the Sequoia Pathway-provided bus service abruptly stopped in January, at the start of her final semester. No explanation was offered, only that it was outside Sequoia Pathway’s control. “I didn’t get any warning,” Nott said in an interview at the CAVIT parking lot. “No one knew what to do.” The sudden transportation halt forced some
Bus service in the city of Maricopa and Hidden Valley
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InMaricopa.com | February 2025
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