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Santa Cruz Valley Unified Board approves revised FY2025–26 budget, authorizes line-item flexibility under state statute
Summary
The Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District governing board on Aug. 12 approved a revised fiscal year 2025–26 budget that incorporates recent state formula increases and one-time legislative allocations and authorizes limited line-item overspending within maintenance and operations under ARS 15‑905(g).
The Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District Governing Board on Aug. 12 approved a revised fiscal year 2025–26 budget that reflects state funding increases, one-time legislative allocations and updated district estimates.
The board voted, by voice, to adopt the revision after a presentation from district staff. The revision incorporates a 2% increase to base level funding per student and a 2% increase to transportation support rates, adds estimated one-time legislative allocations and updates projections for carryforward and operating fund balances. The board also, in the same motion, authorized district administration to overspend any single functional-area line item within the maintenance and operations portion of the budget without exceeding total budgeted expenditures in accordance with ARS 15‑905(g).
District staff member Brown led the budget briefing and told the board that two formula updates from the legislature had altered the district's per-pupil and transportation funding. Brown said the base level funding increased from $5,013 to $5,113.26 per student (a 2% increase) and the transportation support per route rose from about $243 to about $247 (a 2% increase). She described several one-time legislative allocations the district expected to receive and cautioned those amounts were estimates pending the district's final average daily membership (ADM) count at the 100th day.
Brown gave these estimated one-time allocations for the district: $173,811 from the group B supplement tied to free-and-reduced-price-lunch weighting, a district additional assistance (DAA) supplement of $91,660 and a state-aid supplement of $234,450. Brown said those figures could change once ADM is finalized and the district closes fiscal 2025.
The revision raised the district's maintenance and operations (M&O) operating fund by about $1,000,000 (a reported 2% increase) and increased the district additional assistance by about $60,481 (reported as a 1% increase). Brown said all grants listed in the memo that affected the district had been released and that the grants office was working to finalize and present approved applications in the fall.
Board members commented in support and asked for follow-up briefings. One board member noted the district's overall budget was near $49 million and said investments in facilities and student-facing services were an intentional use of those resources. Staff emphasized that some numbers were still preliminary until ADM is locked in at the 100th day.
Votes at a glance: the board recorded several procedural and substantive voice votes during the meeting. Vote tallies were recorded as voice "ayes" or "nays"; individual roll-call tallies were not read aloud for the listed motions. - Motion to approve the agenda as presented: approved (voice vote; tally not specified). - Motion to convene an executive session to consult with counsel on county treasurer litigation and related matters: approved (voice vote; tally not specified). - Motion to reconvene the regular session: approved (voice vote; tally not specified). - Motion to approve the revised FY2025–26 budget as presented and to authorize the administration, under ARS 15‑905(g), to overspend any single functional-area line item within the maintenance and operations section without exceeding total budget expenditures: approved (voice vote; tally not specified). - Motion to approve the consent agenda as presented: approved (voice vote; tally not specified).
The board meeting packet and the district's formal budget documents (final ADM and detailed line items) were not included in the transcript. Brown repeatedly described the one-time allocations and the formula changes as estimates that will be finalized after the 100th-day ADM count. The board said staff will return with updated numbers when the fiscal-year closing work is complete.
The board did not adopt new district policies at the meeting; staff said policy updates tied to the recent legislative session will be presented at a future meeting.
