Finance Director Jackie Mattinen, center, discusses the auditor general's spending report on Gilbert Public Schools as Associate Superintendent Bonnie Betz listens beside her.
Gilbert Public Schools' retiring superintendent is pushing back against a proposed state mandate on classroom spending even as new data shows the district already directs a significant share of its budget to instruction.
Superintendent Shane McCord opened discussion of the district’s latest auditor general spending report by criticizing a proposal at the Arizona Legislature that would require districts to spend at least 60% of their budgets on direct classroom instruction.
“I just think it's ludicrous,” McCord said. “I don't mind the idea of us having a goal. Always 60% every year. Nobody asked us to do that. That's just what our goal's been for many years at Gilbert Public Schools.”
The proposal, Senate Continuous Resolution 1032, which could be referred to voters, would set a hard threshold for instructional spending. McCord and other district leaders said such mandates ignore the complexities of school funding and operations.
“As costs of things go up, as salaries increase for all kinds of different reasons, but yet we're funded at 2% (increases) generally … and inflationary rate is not 2%,” McCord said. “We're lagging far behind … but yet we're expected to make a magic number of 60%.”
He also raised concerns about uneven application of the rule.
“And are the charter schools going to be held to this?” McCord said. “ESA (Empowerment Scholarship Account) is not going to be accountable for this either.”
How Gilbert compares on spending
The discussion came as the district presented its fiscal year 2025 spending report, compiled by the Arizona auditor general.
According to the report, Gilbert Public Schools spent:
57.6% on instruction;
72.1% on total classroom spending, which includes instruction, student support and instructional support;
27.9% on non-classroom areas, including administration, plant operations, transportation and food service.
That places Gilbert above peer districts and the state average in classroom spending. The district’s instructional spending also exceeds peer averages, which hover in the mid-50% range.
Finance officials emphasized that the numbers reflect a longstanding focus on prioritizing the classroom.
“This is really a celebration for our district,” Finance Director Jackie Mattinen told the governing board, noting Gilbert exceeds most neighboring districts in instructional and classroom spending.
Even as the instructional percentage dipped slightly year over year, Mattinen said actual dollars spent on instruction increased.
Breaking down numbers
The auditor general report shows Gilbert’s spending distribution across key areas:
Instruction: 57.6%;
Student support: 9.3%;
Instructional support: 5.2%;
Administration: 8.5%;
Plant operations: 11.1%;
Food service: 3.6%;
Transportation: 4.7%.
Per-student spending also rose modestly, increasing to about $13,312 in fiscal year 2025.
District leaders noted that while percentages are important, they can obscure real-dollar changes.
“Even though our percentage decreased slightly, we did actually spend more year over year,” Mattinen said.
Tension between policy, practice
District officials said the proposed 60% mandate fails to account for differences between districts, including size, student needs and funding levels.
“It’s specific to instruction, 60% specific to instruction, so directly in the classroom,” Associate Superintendent Bonnie Betz said, noting districts may need to adjust staffing structures to comply if it passes.
But McCord warned that such compliance could become more about technical definitions than meaningful investment.
“People that are making up those definitions aren't practitioners of what goes on,” he said. “We can game that system and change a lot of titles. We really could.”
Betz added that Arizona’s relatively low school funding makes hitting strict benchmarks more difficult.
“Arizona is always 49th or 50th in funding,” she said. “The less funding you have, the more difficult it is.”
A broader funding picture
The auditor general report also highlights broader trends affecting the district, including declining enrollment and shifting cost pressures.
Gilbert has seen a roughly 10% drop in student enrollment over five years, a factor that directly impacts funding levels.
At the same time, the district continues to maintain relatively low administrative costs compared with peers, which officials pointed to as evidence of operational efficiency.
Board members said the data reinforces the district’s approach but acknowledged the challenges ahead.
“I do feel like because we are so conservative in our budgeting and our estimates, when we finally get everything settled for that year, we usually come out about right or a little bit ahead,” Board Member Jill Humphreys said.
Looking ahead
As lawmakers consider the proposed ballot referral, GPS officials said they will continue monitoring the situation while maintaining their current spending priorities.
McCord framed the issue as one of local control versus state mandates.
“Shouldn't this be about local people?” he said. “You decide how those dollars are spent, not somebody at the state level.”
Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him on X at @sp_blodgett.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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