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Fountain Hills board approves conservative FY2025–26 proposed budget after presentation on enrollment decline
Summary
The Fountain Hills Unified School board approved the district’s proposed FY2025–26 budget after hearing a presentation that emphasized declining enrollment, a $300,000 insurance refund and a plan to keep a conservative outlook until final state numbers arrive.
The Fountain Hills Unified School Governing Board on Wednesday approved a proposed fiscal 2025–26 budget the district described as conservative, citing declining enrollment and several unresolved state funding variables.
District presenter Chris said the proposal is “exactly what it says — the numbers we have at the moment,” and that the plan does not count potential late state aid. He told trustees the district will post the proposed budget for 10 days and adopt a final budget on June 18, with a separate transparency revision likely in September once final figures are known.
The presentation highlighted shrinking enrollment and a tighter maintenance-and-operations (M&O) outlook; the board later summarized cuts of about $1.3 million across the budget. Chris said an insurance refund of about $300,000 increased the M&O budget limit and was added to operations rather than moved to savings. He also noted the district is moving some positions back into M&O and trimming subcontracted services.
Trustees asked staff for a site-level operating-cost breakdown for each school and for the detailed tax-rate calculation form; the presenter said he would provide both. Several board members praised the conservative approach: “I’d rather have that,” one member said, referring to leaving amounts at zero until confirmed.
The board approved the proposed FY2025–26 budget by unanimous vote. Staff and board members said the budget remains subject to future revision when state decisions on aid and property valuation are finalized.
