Kyrene School District tied up the last of its loose ends for the coming school year this week by officially adopting its proposed $218 million budget in time for classes starting on July 19.
The district’s governing board held two final public hearings on July 11 along with its regular meeting to discuss the 2023-24 budget and instructional time model. That model was created through House Bill 2862 so school districts could offer remote learning under state instructional guidelines.
No members of the public or any board members provided additional comment on the proposed time model. The adopted model provides asynchronous, but equivalent, learning to students with extended absences of a week or more.
As for the budget, which was initially approved by the board at its June 27 meeting, district Chief Financial Officer Chris Herrmann provided a brief overview of the budget, noting no changes were made to any budget numbers since the last meeting.
He emphasized that while the budget document shows an unbalanced budget in the general fund, the district has additional fund types to support operational expenses during the next school year.
“When you incorporate the classroom site fund, the instructional improvement fund, civic center and community school funds, which make up the remainder of our operational funds here at Kyrene, those total revenue and expenditure amounts are balanced,” Herrmann said.
The district is expected to spend about $239.8 million for the year, with much of that because of one-time expenses and carryforward balances, Herrmann said at a previous meeting.
Expected impacts for 2023-24 entail a delayed $9.3 million bond sale following expenditures made; $2.1 million in special revenue carry-forward balances; $4.3 million in District Additional Assistance override carry-forward balances and $210,000 in debt services carry-forward balances.
The district also is reducing staff funding by $1.5 million this year. Initially that was planned to be $2.9 million, but officials decided to spend $1.4 million to help reduce class sizes in kindergarten through third grade.
With the budget finalized, district financial staff will prepare its fiscal year 2024 annual budget report, which should be submitted to appropriate agencies by Oct. 15.
Like the instructional time model, the budget received no additional questions during its final public hearing. Both items were approved unanimously at the regular board meeting.
Other meeting highlights
As the summer holidays come to a close, the July 11 meeting marked the first scheduled board gathering of the 2023-24 school year.District Superintendent Laura Toenjes and some board members shared comments about summer academics and things underway for the current school year.
In Toenjes’s report, she shared that the district just kicked off its orientation for new educators, with the district bringing over 100 new educators across its schools — 24 being former Kyrene students, according to the superintendent.
“Thank you to each of our educators for choosing Kyrene as your home,” Toenjes said.
On the new educator orientation, Board Member Trine Nelson added that it was interesting to see the mix of new and veteran educators and their resulting discussions about new ideas for district academics.
“I just think that’s a really great way to strengthen our workforce, so I’m excited to kind of kick off this new year,” Nelson said.
Toenjes also included in her report that Kyrene Middle School was recognized at a recent Arizona Diamondbacks game and received the $1,000 Play Ball Fund grant to support its athletes. She also mentioned the district’s new strategic plan, which will take place over the next five years, bringing about a number of district improvements.
Closing the meeting, Board President Kevin Walsh commended district staff for their work in Kyrene’s summer programs. He said that the district’s summer academies and camps had great participation.
“Whether you were a teacher, whether you were in transportation, whether you were in community education, I know that that was a lot of work, but I know it really paid off for our kids,” Walsh said.
Kyrene’s next governing board meeting takes place July 18.
Reporter Caroline Yu can be reached at cyu@iniusa.org. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Caroline Caroline Yu joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2020 as a summer intern covering Scottsdale. As an intern, she continued her coverage of Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Tempe. After graduating in 2022, Caroline became a full-time reporter for Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. She is currently reporting for the Tempe market.
Community: She is a supporter of the environment and tries to get involved with related community events.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications, with a minor in French.
Random Fact: She used to be a ballet dancer for 10 years.
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He emphasized that while the budget document shows an unbalanced budget in the general fund, the district has additional fund types to support operational expenses during the next school year.
“I just think that’s a really great way to strengthen our workforce, so I’m excited to kind of kick off this new year,” Nelson said.
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