Higley Unified board adopts fiscal year 2027 budget, leaves option to revise after ADM is finalized

The Higley Unified School District governing board voted unanimously to adopt the district's fiscal year 2027 expenditure budget after a public hearing and staff presentation.

District budget director Ms. Rushcamp told the board the adopted budget largely follows the proposed plan presented two weeks earlier and emphasized that, under state law, an adopted budget may be decreased but not increased from the proposed amount. She said the budget includes one-time district additional assistance (DAA), supplemental funds (formerly Prop 123) and free-and-reduced one-time funding, and that the board will later decide whether to place those one-time dollars in capital or maintenance and operations (M&O).

The presentation outlined several notable assumptions and constraints. Ms. Rushcamp said the district is budgeting for an estimated weighted average daily membership (ADM) decline of about 555 students (unweighted decline roughly 300 students), which translates to about $2.85 million in lost revenue. She reported a projected budget shortfall of about $7.4 million going into FY2027 and said the district plans to reduce the historical M&O-to-capital transfer for two middle-school leases from roughly $3.55 million to $3.25 million.

Ms. Rushcamp also gave the board projected personnel and capital figures: the district is estimating an average teacher salary of $68,559 for FY2027 (up from $67,043 this year, a $1,516 or roughly 2% increase), and noted certified staff received a 3% increase paid from the classroom site fund (which the presenter said will be $883 per ADM next year). On capital, she said the district currently projects about $6 million in capital carryover but expects several projects (Williams Field cooling towers; carpeting at Chaparral) to roll into the next fiscal year, and estimated a roughly $2 million capital deficit into FY2027.

Board members asked procedural questions about which ADM figures will determine one-time funding allocations and how late bills will be posted to the closing year. Ms. Rushcamp clarified that one-time funds are estimated based on the new school year ADM and that auditors and ADE typically finalize ADM and AFR numbers in the months after June; she also explained that expenses recorded to services delivered by June 30 must be posted to the prior fiscal year (with the district's accounts-payable staff working to close POs before year-end).

The board approved the adopted budget motion and moved on to other business. The board retained the option to revisit and revise the adopted budget in September or December once ADM and carryover amounts are finalized by the state and in the district's AFR.