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Casa Grande district details $48 million bond plan and reports on override and bond spending
Summary
Superintendent Adam Lecky described a proposed $48 million bond to address aging school facilities, technology and buses; CFO Tim McCain presented the district's 2024-25 override and bond expenditures, including specific amounts and recent uses of bond funds.
Dr. Adam Lecky, superintendent of the Casa Grande Elementary School District, told the governing board the district will place a $48,000,000 bond on the ballot to address facility needs, including a significant renovation at Choi Elementary School, traffic-flow improvements at Palo Verde Elementary and investments in student technology and bus replacements. "This bond is a $48,000,000 bond really designed to address our facility needs," Lecky said.
The board heard an annual public report on the district's maintenance-and-operations (M&O) override and bond expenditures required under Arizona law. Tim McCain, the district's chief financial officer, said Proposition 476 (the M&O override extension approved in November 2023) generated $4,853,001 in fiscal 2025 and provides $5,084,694 in budget capacity for fiscal 2026. "This is required of us by ARS 1981 and 1991," McCain said, referring to state reporting requirements.
McCain described how the district is allocating funds. The M&O budget for the year was presented as $64,373,162, with roughly 80% of that budget going to salaries and benefits; the district reported that $4,049,446 of override funds were used for salaries and benefits in the year. McCain said $12,067,080 of the M&O budget is allocated for special education, and about $953,152 of override funds supported special-education costs. He told the board the district's average daily membership for the year was about 6,165 students.
On bond spending, McCain reviewed the status of the 2016 bond program (total authorized then: $44,660,000) and said the district had $0 remaining in bond authorization as of June 30, 2025. He reported $549,869 in bond-related expenditures in fiscal 2024-25; the presentation showed that money paid for parking-lot repairs, bathroom renovations, new turf at athletic fields and gym-floor replacement or refurbishment.
Board members asked clarifying questions about transportation and cost drivers. McCain said transportation costs rose by $300,000 year over year for reasons that can include fuel, increased repair costs and salary changes.
The board was told the bond would fund site-level projects at multiple campuses; Lecky specifically cited Choi Elementary9s need for significant renovation (the superintendent said portions of the interior were temporarily held by angle iron). Lecky also said Palo Verde is included for traffic-flow improvements to improve drop-off/pick-up safety and bus circulation.
The district's next regular meeting was announced for Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. at the David Snyder Leadership Center.
Ending: The presentation combined the superintendent's overview of the proposed bond and a formal annual financial presentation by the CFO. The board did not take a bond-placement vote during the meeting; Lecky framed the $48 million figure as the amount the district intends to put before voters, and McCain provided the statutory report of how override and prior bond funds were spent.
