Chandler Unified adopts 2025–26 proposed expenditure budget and approves $4 million truth‑in‑taxation for road, sidewalk and adjacent‑ways work

The Chandler Unified School District governing board on July 9 approved its proposed 2025–26 adopted expenditure budget and a truth‑in‑taxation notice to raise $4 million to pay for roadway, sidewalk, bus‑lane and related adjacent‑ways improvements, including a safety project at Weinberg Elementary.

During the public hearing, Lana Berry, the district’s chief business officer, described the adopted aggregated expenditure budget — which covers the district’s maintenance and operations, capital and federal programs — as roughly $394 million within a larger district portfolio the administration estimates at about $650 million across all 59 funds. Berry said the budget will be revised in September to reflect late legislative actions.

“We are the second largest school district in the state with over 40,000 students,” Berry told the board during the presentation, describing the scale of buses, facilities and staffing that the budget must support. She said the state’s base support level for districts increased 2 percent under Proposition 301 — bringing about $5.4 million to the district’s maintenance and operations fund — but noted other supplemental allocations approved late by the legislature (including…