Chandler Unified board adopts 2024–25 budget revision after enrollment shortfall
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Summary
The Chandler Unified School District governing board unanimously adopted Revision No. 2 to the 2024–25 annual expenditure budget May 7, adjusting revenue and line items after an enrollment decline and other grant updates.
The Chandler Unified School District governing board voted unanimously May 7 to adopt the district's 2024'25 annual expenditure budget revision No. 2, reflecting a drop in average daily membership (ADM) and final updates to state and federal grant allocations.
The revision adjusts maintenance-and-operations revenue and multiple restricted funds after officials reported the district's funded ADM had fallen to 39,984 in the current fiscal year, a decline of about 1,118 students compared with prior projections. District staff said that change, combined with adjustments to statutory "weights" used in state funding, reduced the district's base support level and produced net line-item and grant revisions across funds.
Business officer Mrs. Barry presented the revision as the statutory update the board may take before the May 15 deadline. She told the board the final ADM count is 39,984 and that the enrollment change produced a funding reduction reflected in the revision. The staff report showed a net decrease tied to ADM and weights of roughly $1.11 million to the district's base support calculations, while the state issued one-time supplement allocations (described by staff as previously negotiated district assistance supplements) totaling about $1.80 million. After those and other changes, the district's overall annual expenditure budget increased by about $2.35 million to approximately $638.7 million.
Board members pressed staff on two items during discussion. Board member Mr. Roars asked specifically about a reported drop in the gifted-student weight; Mrs. Barry said it "is just . . . related to a reporting issue" and staff are working with state reporting so the district can recapture appropriate funding once ADE records reflect the full gifted count. Board member Mr. Heap asked about the small additional ADM reduction (28 students) reflected in the final revision; staff said exit and enrollment data can be incomplete because families pursue a variety of pathways (homeschool, private school, ESAs, charter, or moves out of the area) and that state privacy rules limit the district's ability to trace all student moves.
The revision also included final carryover and allocation updates for federal and state grants. Staff reported decreases to several Title allocations (Title I and Title II among them), modest increases in other federal grant lines, and a notable update to the College Credit Exam/CCEIP portfolio that staff said increased to about $2.1 million for the district given this year's AP/college-credit activity. Other adjustments involved instructional-improvement allocations, transportation and utility cost updates, and a finalized entry for litigation recovery receipts.
Action: Board member Mr. Roars moved to adopt the 2024'25 district annual expenditure budget revision No. 2; Mrs. Mendoza seconded. The motion passed unanimously by voice vote. Staff said the revision will be reflected in the district's public financial reports and that further corrections tied to state reporting (for example the gifted-student weight) will be handled in subsequent budget filings if ADE updates the reported counts.
The board's approval fulfills statutory requirements under Arizona law to revise a district budget after updated ADM and revenue allocations are available, and staff said the revision positions administrators to finalize line-item coding and year-end closing while remaining compliant with state grant rules and audit expectations.
