Gilbert Public Schools ups final 2025-26 budget amid lower student turnover

By Tom Blodgett
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Gilbert Public Schools approved its final revision to the fiscal year 2025-26 budget Tuesday night, increasing its maintenance and operations budget capacity and unrestricted capital budget capacity after student enrollment losses came in lower than anticipated.

District officials said the revised budget reflects stronger-than-expected average daily membership, or ADM, a key enrollment-based figure in Arizona’s school funding formula.

When the district adopted its original fiscal year 2025-26 budget, officials projected a loss of about 1,300 students. Instead, the district lost 768 students.

"So we gained 532 from the adopted numbers, which is a huge celebration for us," Finance Director Jackie Mattinen said. "We’re really happy to report that.”

The district’s weighted student count — another major factor in state funding calculations — also increased by 1,033 students compared with the adopted budget projections.

The revised budget increased the district’s maintenance and operations budget limit from about $282.8 million in the adopted budget to roughly $290.4 million, an increase of about $7.6 million or 2.69%.

District officials said several factors contributed to the increase, including higher weighted student counts, updated Proposition 123 funding estimates and the removal of a planned transfer from capital funds into the maintenance and operations budget.

“You can see that we have a $4.97 million difference from adopted to revise number three,” Mattinen said. “Part of the $3 million was because we removed the transfer from capital to M&O and the $1.97 remaining is from the weighted student count.”

The district’s unrestricted capital budget capacity also rose significantly, climbing from about $45 million in the adopted budget to nearly $63.9 million in the revised budget, an increase of about $18.9 million or 42%.

District officials attributed much of that increase to budget balance carryforward funds, more district additional assistance from the state and stronger-than-expected interest earnings.

“The budget balance carryforward again adjusted based on what we anticipate to be final spend and interest earned, which is also a huge celebration as we can spend this,” Mattinen said while discussing the district’s approximately $1.74 million in projected interest earnings.

The district’s revised unrestricted capital budget also includes about $750,000 in one-time state aid district additional assistance funding.

Board members offered little discussion before unanimously approving the revision.

The approval marks the district’s final major budget adjustment for the 2025-26 fiscal year as officials continue preparing for development of the next fiscal year budget.

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Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert

tblodgett@iniusa.org

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).