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Casa Grande Elementary Board OKs Revised 2024–25 Budget after public hearing
Summary
The Board approved a second budget revision that adds roughly $3.8–4.2 million driven by higher special-education funding, an override correction and supplemental grants; board members were briefed on limits on using one-time carryover funds.
The Casa Grande Elementary School District Governing Board on Thursday approved a revised 2024–25 budget after holding a public hearing and a staff presentation.
The revision adds funds largely tied to a rise in special-education enrollment and state adjustments. Kevin Heggarty, the district's interim chief financial officer, told the board the special-education population "increased dramatically and that did drive $1,600,000 into the budget for the current year." He also reported a correction to the district override that added about $497,000 and supplemental funding for free-and-reduced students of roughly $473,000.
The board's discussion framed the additional dollars as largely one-time or already-committed amounts. Heggarty summarized carryover and capital adjustments, saying the district's carryover was "actually quite a bit larger, 1,200,000.0," and that capital recapture from the prior year amounted to about $368,000. He presented two totals in the hearing: "All told, $3,800,000" and, combining capital adjustments, "about $4,200,000." He cautioned the board to treat carryover as one-time money and avoid committing it to ongoing expenses.
Superintendent Dr. Lecky thanked Heggarty for handling the detailed work and emphasized fiscal caution, saying the additional capacity "gives us, additional budget capacity to absorb any of those changes" that might occur in future years. Board members asked whether some funds are restricted; Heggarty said maintenance-and-operations (M&O) increases could be used for qualified M&O expenditures but capital dollars must be used for capital purposes.
Following the hearing, Board member Susan Martinez moved to approve "the revised number 2 budget for the 2024–25 fiscal year as presented," a motion seconded by Mrs. Sisson. Roll call recorded Aye votes from President Varela, Mrs. Martinez, Mrs. Sisson, Mr. Stabley and Mr. Shute; the motion carried.
Budget documents presented to the board listed the major increases and noted the district's funding is based on average daily membership; Heggarty told the board the district saw a small decrease in regular education counts and a larger increase in special education counts. He said some state supplemental calculations are finalized in January and were not available for prior revisions.
The board closed the public hearing before taking the vote. Dr. Lecky noted Heggarty has served as interim CFO during a transition and praised his work on the revision.
The board did not adopt new recurring commitments during the vote; members repeatedly cautioned staff to prioritize one-time expenditures for the carryover amounts.
Ending: The revision is now adopted. Staff will present final carryover and capital numbers when state and county adjustments are confirmed and will seek board approval for any subsequent commitments that would use these one-time funds.
