Combs board approves pay changes, demographic study and several routine items
Summary
At its Dec. 9 meeting the J O Combs Unified School District board approved a demographic study contract, applied Arizona's $0.45 COLA to hourly staff effective Dec. 25, updated salary schedules, and approved several routine operational items including course guides and a preventative maintenance statement.
The J O Combs Unified School District governing board approved multiple operational and budget-related items during its Dec. 9 meeting, including a contract for a 10-year demographic study, application of Arizona’s cost-of-living minimum wage increase to hourly staff, and revisions to salary schedules that reflect the change.
The board voted 4 to 0 to contract Applied Economics for $13,135 to produce a demographic study and 4 to 0 to apply the state-mandated $0.45 increase in the minimum wage (moving $14.70 to $15.15). Administration said the wage increase is projected to cost the district about $143,000 annually and $71,500 for the remainder of the current fiscal year; trustees approved implementing the pay change effective Dec. 25, 2025 to align pay periods.
Following the minimum-wage approval, trustees voted to update affected salary schedules for 2025-26; administration explained this year’s approach is a straight $0.45 increase at salary steps rather than a percentage across the board. The board approved the updated schedules 4 to 0.
Other adopted items included:
- A $13,135 contract with Applied Economics to conduct a demographic forecast for the next 10 years, funded as a one-time payment from rooftop fees; board noted the consultant is expected to present results in February or March. Board members requested that newly incorporated San Tan Valley be included in the analysis where possible and asked about inclusion of charter projects that are on record.
- Approval of the district’s preventative maintenance statement, which documents state-monitored minimum inspections and work across district facilities, carried 4 to 0.
- Approval of course guide changes for the 2026-27 school year, including two new middle-school courses (coding and another middle-school offering) and some high-school updates such as graphic design; motion carried 4 to 0.
The board also approved the consent agenda (which included a corrected Combs Middle School trip cost) and multiple minutes items. A board member flagged an erroneous trip cost on the agenda; administration corrected the amount from $45,000 to $5,497.98 and confirmed funding would be predominantly from Title funding ($5,000) with the remainder from the CMS budget. That consent-agenda motion passed 4 to 0.
Speakers and attributions in this article come directly from the meeting transcript and motions recorded on the public record. Several votes were noted in the transcript as unanimous; where the transcript recorded ambiguous tallies for earlier minutes approvals, those tallies are noted in the meeting timeline rather than restated here.
