by Matthew Holloway | May 16, 2026 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Congressman Eli Crane (R-AZ02) welcomed a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announcement Tuesday that multiple Arizona health care providers, tribal entities, and state agencies are receiving federal funding through grants released by the agency.
The grants were awarded to the Arizona Department of Emergency & Military Affairs, the Arizona Department of Health Services, Dignity Community Care, Dignity Health, the Havasupai Tribe, HonorHealth, and Valleywise Health.
More than $5.5 million of the funding is designated for the Havasupai Tribe to repair damage caused by flash flooding in 2024. The project includes replacing four damaged bridges with structures designed to withstand major flood events, including 100-year flood events. The funding will also support fencing and erosion-control systems intended to protect ancestral burial grounds and culturally significant tribal sites.
In a statement released by his office, Crane said, “On behalf of rural Arizonans, I’m grateful to President Trump, Secretary Mullin, Associate Administrator Phillips, and agency personnel for delivering this reimbursement. This funding will strengthen health care across our state, as well as provide meaningful assistance for the Havasupai Tribe.”
“I also appreciate the work of Chairman Garbarino and Arizona’s congressional delegation,” he added, specifically highlighting the efforts of Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ05), whom he said, “demonstrated considerable leadership behind the scenes to resolve these long overdue needs.”
“We will continue to partner with the Trump administration to deliver wins for all Arizonans,” Crane said.
The Havasupai Tribe, located within Arizona’s Second Congressional District, was among the entities identified in the release. Crane’s district includes a significant number of tribal communities throughout northern and eastern Arizona.
The announcement follows a series of recent federal and congressional discussions surrounding rural infrastructure, tribal services, and health care access in Arizona communities. Last week, Crane participated in a Federal Partners Forum in Prescott focused on rural Arizona infrastructure and coordination between federal, state, and local agencies.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | Dec 10, 2024 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
None of Arizona’s schools have fully implemented and tested their emergency plans, nor did they fully meet the state’s minimum standards.
The Arizona Auditor General published a new report on Monday finding that no schools throughout the state met Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) Minimum Standards. Those standards were developed jointly by the Arizona Departments of Education (ADE) and Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA). The auditor general determined that some of the standards were “too vague, may be impractical, or lack a clear purpose,” therefore hindering adequate adherence.
In its report, the auditor general found that most schools had fewer than half of EOP Minimum Standards, and some charter schools didn’t have any EOPs.
“Most schools we visited had not provided emergency procedures training to all staff, including substitute teachers; had not conducted all required safety drills; and had not posted certain safety reference materials, which could affect their preparedness to respond to emergencies,” read the auditor general’s report summary.
The auditor general determined that all schools needed increased outreach, guidance, and training on emergency planning.
Schools don’t have the entire burden of change on them, however. The auditor general also determined that ADE and DEMA had greater responsibilities ahead of them to ensure improved EOP Minimum Standards compliance: ensuring charters know their responsibilities to develop EOPs, analyzing staffing and resources needed to initiate compliance monitoring processes, communicating the monitoring plan and authority resource needs to the governor and legislature, evaluating what additional guidance is needed for school compliance and providing necessary assistance, and completing a comprehensive standards review with stakeholder involvement and working with stakeholders to clarify emergency response agencies’ roles in EOP development.
While ADE agreed to the changes recommended by the auditor general, DEMA did not.
In its response, DEMA said it didn’t have the opportunity to review the entire unredacted auditor general’s report, nor did it have an opportunity to review any of the EOPs the auditor general reviewed to reach its conclusion. The auditor general issued a response clarifying that the confidential draft report provided to DEMA only redacted those references concerning other entities unrelated to DEMA and its responsibilities, and that three other entities were given similarly-redacted reports.
DEMA further asserted that state law didn’t authorize its agency to develop EOPs for every district or charter; rather, DEMA said that the State Board of Education and ADE bore statutory responsibility for supervising and regulating public school conduct.
“Industry practice is to develop generalized planning standards which set a minimum threshold that allow each school district the flexibility to tailor their EOP to their unique circumstances or particular needs,” said DEMA. “As the primary agency responsible for enforcing standards with school districts, DEMA contends that it is ADE’s responsibility to inform districts of statutory requirements to adopt EOPs meeting the minimum standards. DEMA understands that ADE has full-time school safety and preparedness planners that can support this purpose and has an opportunity to communicate any additional resource needs to further effect this recommendation through their Audit response process.”
The auditor general’s response also addressed these refusals from DEMA, noting that it hadn’t required DEMA to develop school EOPs but rather evaluate whether additional outreach, guidance, and training would help schools better plan for safety emergencies.
The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools also refused some of the auditor general’s recommendations. The charter board said that it agreed with the auditor general and the state on the importance of EOPs, but that it lacks the “resources or subject matter expertise” for monitoring and enforcing compliance with minimum EOP standards.
“The Charter Board believes it is appropriate for a state-centralized review process to be established to monitor whether EOPs meet the required minimum standards. This process would ensure that both charter and district schools are held to the same standards of review and oversight,” said the board. “Furthermore, it would assign the responsibility of evaluating whether EOPs substantively meet the Minimum Standards to the appropriate agency—one with the necessary resources and expertise to effectively monitor compliance.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Nov 16, 2024 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
Arizona schools will be receiving a supply of overdose kits to address the increased impact of drugs on students.
The Arizona Department of Emergency & Military Affairs (DEMA) began delivering over 16,000 Narcan anti-overdose kits to schools on Wednesday. The Arizona Department of Education (AZED) oversaw the initial deliveries across all 15 counties.
In a press release, Superintendent Tom Horne said these kits were a lifesaving preventative to the increased presence of illicit substances in the state.
“Lives will be saved because these kits will be in schools throughout Arizona,” said Horne. “The STOP-IT Task Force has done incredible work to address the Fentanyl crisis among school-aged children and this is a major step to protecting the lives of students and raising awareness of this terrible scourge.”
The Narcan kit deliveries are part of AZED’s Overdose Preparedness & Intelligence Taskforce (STOP-IT), a new task force established this year to address the growing opioid epidemic. The idea for placing kits in schools came out of a meeting back in May.
The Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) provided the Narcan kits at no cost to the state, and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) will provide training.
The kits come with flyers on training resources, information on county health agency partners, an announcement of an upcoming comprehensive STOP-IT Toolkit release, and a QR code taking the user to real-time training on Naloxone Resources from AHCCCS.
STOP-IT co-chairs are Holly Geyer from the Mayo Clinic and Mike Kurtenbach with AZED, leading over 60 representatives across various government agencies, schools, healthcare entities, law enforcement, and other organizations.
Geyer credited the initiative’s success to the collaborative strengths of Arizona agencies in Thursday’s press release.
“The STOP-IT naloxone distribution initiative could not have materialized without the unprecedented collaboration between the Department of Education, the Department of Health, AHCCCS and the National Guard,” said Geyer. “The representatives appointed through these agencies proved themselves strategic problem solvers who prioritized the mission and produced outcomes that far exceeded the taskforce’s original targets. Because of their resolve, we are proud to offer schools more than just naloxone. We can offer confidence in the safety of our school campuses and parental peace of mind.”
DEMA director Kerry Muehlenbeck said that their team’s logistical support for tackling drug overdose incidents ensured a better approach to their ultimate goal of reducing drug demand.
“Through this multi-agency initiative, we build stronger communities and support wellness in our future generations,” said Muehlenbeck.
Schools signed up for Narcan kits through the AZED’s online form, with the permission of their district or charter approval first. Further information about the kit distribution and application was submitted in a memo sent to schools across the state last month.
Per AZED, these overdose kits will be continually replenished to ensure schools’ continued ability to handle opioid emergencies.
Arizona reported over 1,900 opioid-related deaths and over 4,000 overdoses last year. 26 of those opioid-related deaths were among minors (those under the age of 17).
So far this year, AZDHS has recorded over 3,200 non-fatal opioid overdoses and over 1,000 confirmed opioid deaths. The total deaths among minors for this year amount to less than 10.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
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