Chandler schools reviewing judge’s funding ruling

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

The Chandler Unified School District could use more funding for various purposes.

If a court decision issued this week symbolizes a changing tide in school funding in Arizona, some of those categories could be shored up.

While a spokesperson for CUSD said district leaders have seen the decision but need more time to analyze, it’s clear the decision marks a shift in the pattern in the battle for Arizona school funding — especially on the judiciary front.

Capitol Media Services reported this week on a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge’s Dewain Fox ruling. In a 114-page decision released Wednesday, the judge said many schools lack the resources to do everything from provide adequate equipment to keep buildings in repair.

The judge cited a long list of unmet needs including in some cases buildings that are unsafe because of cracks and other deficiencies.

Chandler Unified, one of the largest districts in the state with 43 campuses and more than 40,000 students, naturally has many facilities to maintain.

Bond funds have been used for many projects, such as the $32-million-plus rebuild of Galveston Elementary School, and air conditioning and other major expenses — especially at older schools — also have been covered by the $290 million bond CUSD voters approved in 2019.

Fox wrote that the state has failed to provide funds for legally required improvements, including keeping students safe from shooters invading schools, Capitol Media Services reported.

He wrote that the Arizona Constitution requires the Legislature to establish and fund a “general and uniform public school system.”

House Speaker Steve Montenegro told Capitol Media Services he’ll take this week’s new ruling to a higher court. That is not surprising, as GOP leaders have argued since the case was first filed in 2017 there is no such constitutional requirement to fund schools.

What Judge Fox wrote is the power to determine whether those policy decisions are constitutional.

“After carefully and thoroughly reviewing the record and considering the parties’ arguments, the court concludes that the current public school capital finance system does not meet the constitutional minimum standards established by the Arizona Supreme Court,” Fox wrote.

The judge also detailed exactly where lawmakers have fallen short, detailing leaking roofs, schools without needed security, not enough computers and even unreliable buses.

Not only has Chandler had to rely on bond funds to purchase new buses and other vehicles, it’s had to ask voters for help rebuilding its oldest schools that cost millions in ongoing repairs and maintenance.

Hartford Sylvia Encinas — CUSD’s oldest elementary school, built in 1957 — was budgeted for a $35 million rebuild as part of last November’s $487 million bond that voters soundly rejected. The district is trying again this Nov. 4, asking for about $271.5 million in bonds, with a now-$40 million budget to rebuild Hartford.

This year’s bond proposal only has $2 million to remodel Andersen Junior High School, which would have received as much as $20 million for such purposes, had the 2024 bond passed.

Danny Adelman, director of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest that filed the original lawsuit, told Capitol Media Services that an appeal isn’t necessary.

“The Legislature and the governor can fix this ... without going through long, expensive appeals,” he said. “They just have to have the will to do that.”
Adelman acknowledges a court cannot order state lawmakers to raise taxes. But there are ways to ensure compliance.

“The Legislature decided it wanted to spend almost $1 billion on vouchers,” Adelman said, state dollars that allow students to attend private or parochial schools or are given to parents for home schooling. “Well, that’s a ‘want-to.’ But there are other things they have to do under the constitution. And adequately funding our public schools is in the ‘have-to’ category.”

The financial situation is not getting better, Fox wrote, with lawmakers failing to fund even current requests for necessary items. And the judge said all the blame can’t be laid entirely at the feet of the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Fox wrote that at the beginning of the last budget year the School Facilities District, which is responsible for funding construction and repairs, estimated that it needed more than $587 million to meet all the identified needs. Yet the Department of Administration, which reports to Gov. Katie Hobbs, requested less than $222 million.

“And the governor’s budget proposal provided for building renewal grant funding of less than $200 million,” the judge wrote.

Fox also wrote that schools have been denied money for a number of security upgrades, including re-keying doors to lock from the inside, installing security fencing around schools, installing features to funnel campus visitors to the office, and placing bulletproof film on large windows.

Fox wrote about disparities between “rich” school districts that have a property tax base large enough to raise money for new buildings, repairs and other items, and those that do not — all of which runs afoul of that requirement for a general and uniform school system.

For example, he wrote, the bonding capacity of Tempe Union High School District is 3.5 times greater than the Yuma Union High School District. That means it costs richer districts less money in tax hikes to raise a dollar than the poorer districts.

Aside from the inability of these poorer districts to fund new schools and repairs when the state does not, Fox said the system has shown problems in other ways.

Fox said the state updated its technology standard in 2023 to say there should be one computer for each student. But he added that no funding was provided to districts to implement the change.

This year’s Chandler bond proposal also includes almost $42 million for student and staff devices.

The office of Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, in a prepared response, said she secured more than $1 billion in the last three years to update and build school facilities and that her office “is reviewing the judge’s ruling and considering paths forward to address longstanding issues in facility funding.”

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.   Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org.

INDEPENDENT NEWSMEDIA

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.