Arizona withholds 3% of Window Rock school funding as Navajo districts face mounting financial scrutiny
WINDOW ROCK
The Arizona State Board of Education voted Dec. 8 to withhold 3% of state funding from the Window Rock Unified School District, the sharpest sanction issued against any Navajo Nation-area school district in a year of growing state financial scrutiny.
Window Rock and Globe unified, a non-tribal district in Gila County, were the only districts to face the funding cut at the December meeting. The board acted despite a written appeal from Window Rock Superintendent William Daniel Horsley asking for a stay of sanctions.
The vote followed a referral from the Arizona Auditor General, which found Window Rock had not made adequate progress correcting financial control deficiencies first cited in July 2024.
The action came as the auditor general’s office identified more Arizona districts at financial risk than at any point in the program’s recent history. The January 2026 School District Financial Risk Analysis identified nine of 207 districts at the highest financial risk and nine more approaching that category, up from two highest-risk districts and seven approaching one year earlier.
To read the full article, please see the May 21, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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