Chandler Unified staff recommends renewing 15% maintenance and operations override; board discussion includes timing and public outreach details

At the June 11 meeting, district staff recommended that the Chandler Unified School District governing board adopt a resolution ordering the matters necessary to hold a 15% maintenance and operations (M&O) budget override election in 2025, saying the continuation would maintain funding for safety personnel and initiatives, competitive class sizes, teacher pay and specialized programming.

Staff said the district is currently operating under a 15% M&O override and that, under state law, the last fiscal year of full funding for the existing override will be fiscal year 2026-27. Staff presented the proposed continuation as a replacement of the current override, not as an additional, stacked override; they described the continuation as a seven-year authorization (typical practice) with full funding for the first five years and declining funding thereafter if not renewed again later.

Staff cited an approximate current annual amount associated with the override of $45,745,513 and explained why the district has kept the amount near that figure: enrollment declines have been offset by increases in the base support level, producing only marginal change in the override dollar figure. Staff also said the district typically times override elections on a four-year cycle to preserve funding if a renewal attempt fails and to retain the option of returning to voters the following election cycle.

Staff discussed public outreach and advisory input: the citizens bond-and-override committee, the superintendent's advisory group, parent groups and a business advisory committee reviewed the proposal in meetings that staff said were attended by community members; staff provided counts from recent meetings (for example, staff said 26 people attended a January meeting and 29 attended a February meeting) and said committees reported consensus support for continuation. Staff emphasized that the district solicited input from parents, staff and local business leaders and that detailed materials on the override are available for review.

No formal board vote on the resolution was recorded in the meeting transcript. The transcript contains some inconsistent references to precise election timing (at points staff referenced November 4, 2025 as the election date and at other points mentioned a February timeline for required steps); staff repeatedly directed the board to the district's formal materials for finalized schedule and ballot language.

Provenance: The override recommendation and discussion appear in the meeting transcript during the agenda item presenting maintenance-and-operations and bond matters (transcript excerpts cited below).