CUSD starts new year with a new budget

Jul. 19—The Chandler Unified Governing Board has approved a spending plan for the new school year just as students are planning to return for the first day of school Wednesday, June 19.

The board approved the budget at its July 12 meeting, though officials noted that it will undergo some revisions throughout the school year as actual numbers, especially for those impacting state revenue amounts, are determined.

There won't be as many pupils filling the seats as last year.

District Chief Financial Officer Lana Berry is projecting at least 200 fewer students for this coming school year, which means about $1 million less from the state.

"Overall, 200 to 400 students is what we're thinking," Berry said. "We're thinking through that process that there is $982,000 there."

Fewer students mean fewer state dollars, although actual amounts are based on a formula involving "average daily membership," or ADM, and using the 100th day of the school year as a point in time for a headcount.

According to the Arizona Auditor General report, Chandler Unified had an ADM of 41,945 for the recent school year. Its high was 44,501 in the 2019-2020 school year before the pandemic began.

CUSD's enrollment has been in decline since and it could fall behind Tucson Unified to become the third largest district in Arizona this year. Mesa Public Schools is the state's largest district.

The district has started an aggressive marketing campaign to try and convince families within its boundaries, and the ones who live near it, to send their children to CUSD schools in an effort to minimize the drop in attendance.

But besides a projected enrollment decline, spending decisions also will be challenged by the pending end of the cash the federal government handed out to get the nation through the pandemic.

"Our overall total aggregate expenditure limit ... has actually dropped by approximately $9 million," said Berry.

"The majority of that we're going to talk about is related to the federal dollars ... that's going to be where the major reduction of our overall budget capacity is. Our M&O (maintenance and operations) has gone up and so has our capital, but federal programs have gone down."

This year's total aggregate school district budget is $455,022,884. Last year's was $465,951,058.

The good news for district workers is salaries are going up.

CUSD bases its aggregate budget on three separate funds.

The largest is maintenance and operations, which totals $373.9 million, followed by the $43.1 million unrestrictive capital fund at $43.1 million and the final component comprising federal dollars, which total $37.9 million.

Because of the higher salaries, M&O spending is up about $6.2 million while the unrestrictive capital has increased about $1.1 million. However, the federal project money decreased by $18.3 million.

Much of the increase in salaries are coming in the form of stipends, Berry said. The CUSD Governing Board gave classified staff $2,000 each and certified administrative staff $1,000.

For the second-largest district in Arizona that cost a total of just over $7 million, Berry said.

Berry said the largest increases in the capital budget are for technology upgrades. The district has been purchasing laptops and tablets to ensure students can be productive at home.

They've also been upgrading their own technology as needed.

"Our technology budget is $30 million," Berry said. "There's infrastructure related to network drops, WiFi and hubs. If you think you have to replace laptops about ... one in every four years, there's going to be in the 50,000 between staff and students needing replacing every four years. We also have security cameras that are a part of that."

So far, the district has not been forced to lay off any staff because of the drop in attendance and state funds.

Berry said the district prefers to handle the need for fewer teachers by not replacing some retiring employees when a new school year begins. There are 15 fewer teachers across the district this school year than there were a year ago.

In addition to state funds, the district gets some of its money from property taxes.

Most homeowners will be paying more in property tax because the assessed value of their homes will be increasing 5%, the maximum Arizona law allows. The district is lowering its portion of the primary property tax from 3.5274 to 3.4093.

The secondary property tax rate is increasing slightly, from 2.3938 to 2.3945. Those are due to the override and sale of bonds approved by voters.

That's the rate for every $100 of

assessed value to the property. In addition to schools, which get the most of each tax dollar, the county and city also get a slice.