Liberty Elementary board approves proposed FY 2025–26 budget, schedules adoption vote

The Liberty Elementary School District Governing Board voted 5yes, 0no on June 16 to approve the districtproposed FY 202526 2026 annual expenditure budget, a step school leaders said is required by state law before the July adoption deadline.

The board approved the proposed budget after a staff presentation by Crystal Mosier and Rebecca Williams that outlined revenue and expenditure assumptions, updated student counts and the changes from the May revision. "A budget proposal has to come before the board sometime prior to July 5," Mosier said, noting the district must upload the proposal to the Arizona Department of Education and publish it on the district website before the adoption hearing.

Why it matters: The proposed budget sets the district's spending ceiling for the coming fiscal year and determines how administrators will allocate limited resources, including maintenance and operations (M&O), capital projects, and carryforward reserves. Board members and staff used the presentation to flag several one-time and timing-dependent items that could change the adopted numbers at the December revision.

Key details

- The proposal uses a per-student base support level of $5,113 and the district's current average daily membership figure used for planning. Staff emphasized they did not add speculative student growth to FY26 projections and will capture changes in December and May budget revisions.

- Mosier and Williams told the board some expected state funds were not included in the proposed budget because the legislature had not finalized those sources: one-time DAA (district additional assistance), free-and-reduced-price-lunch supplemental funding and what staff called "Prop 123" money. If those revenues arrive, they would be considered at later budget revisions.

- Staff reported a projected carryforward of roughly $500,000 in the proposed budget and said the district will continue to transfer some capital dollars into M&O to cover immediate needs. That transfer and the size of carryforward prompted board discussion about whether the district should preserve more capital reserves or rely on DAA transfers.

Bo…