2023-2024 calendars are being added as they become available. Since students returned to in-person learning in August, districts have reported more than 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and required thousands of students to quarantine. Kids arent dying from COVID-19. Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic, Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District, Maricopa County Community College District, You must credit us: For bylines, use Author Name, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. At the top of the text of the story, include a line that reads: "This story was originally published by the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting." TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - Arizona Superintendent Kathy Hoffman is urging lawmakers to lift the school spending cap as public schools are facing nearly $1.2 billion in budget cuts. Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. PHOENIX (AP) Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema reported raising just over $2.1 million in her first full fundraising quarter since leaving the Democratic Party, a smaller haul than the $3.7 million raised by Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is hoping to win her seat in 2024. Shaena Montanari is an investigative reporter for AZCIR focused on covering health disparities. The Associated Press (AP) contributed to this report. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Madison School . Updates for Fall 2022. Nearly 300 schools in the U.S. will remain closed for in-person classes after the winter break in an effort to address growing concerns over the latest COVID surge of . Due to a high number of new Covid cases, Atlanta Public Schools went remote for the first week of the new year, with a . With this announcement, we are making sure parents and families have options if a school closes its doors, he said. But its downright galling that this governor continues to fight schools that are trying to protect kids and their teachers by requiring masks or testing or other mandates designed to ensure they can remain open. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. With out a fix to the school funding limit, schools will undoubtedly lay off educators, cut programs, and in the worst cases close their doors. If the Legislature doesnt override the limit, schools will only have a couple of months to cut $1.2 billion.. It requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers. In an abrupt reversal, Atlanta's public schools start the year remotely. Katherine Fung 12/23/2021. From how it spreads to where it originated, here's a look at everything you need to know about the deadly contagion. If districts were to spend the money anyway, that money would be pulled out of the next years budget. The school spending cap was enacted as part of a wave of proposed laws the Legislature asked voters to approve to limit taxes and government spending. According to Bridge Michigan, over 6% of the state's K-12 students missed at least one day of in-person classes this week due to COVID-related shutdowns. Cheney believes the Legislature is trying to prevent Prop 208, an income tax rate surcharge on high-earners, from going into effect by not lifting the spending cap limit. The Fifty. Reassign students to Challenger or Don . These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Not because of COVID-19 this time, but because of a perfect storm of problems with our state's school funding system. Virtually no one's pressing to close schools, Hurt students for the unvaccinated? Even so, that will only fix the problem for this spring. In 2000, when voters approved Proposition 301 to fund education for 20 years, they exempted that money from counting toward the expenditure limit. The restrictions now apply statewide with cases reported in all 15 counties. Our number one priority will continue to be health and safety, and we will continue to work closely with public health officials to make the best decisions for kids, families, and our school communities.. Though some counties and school districts are monitoring outbreaks at the local level, there is no centralized tracking system. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. I am tired of legislative leaders playing political games with public schools, educators and students. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Published: Feb. 8, 2022 at 5:11 PM PST. Doug Ducey did not mention the cap in his last months state of the state address. Some districts maintain their own dashboards online. If the state legislature does nothing to lift a constitutionally-mandated spending cap, public schools could be looking at over a billion dollars in spending cuts. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Is there anyone who wants to put them through that again? That puts $638 million of funding a year at risk money that didnt used to count toward the limit but does now. This tracker links to some school districts in the county that have their own dashboards, where they further break down case numbers by school. Doug Ducey has put Arizonas public schools on notice. We will continue to work with families, public health experts and school leaders to ensure our kids can stay in the classroom and parents have a choice always.. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. What Ive heard from some Republicans is theyre waiting to hear about the court case on Prop 208 and the judge in that case says hes not going to expedite his ruling, she said. He has until March 10th.. AZ International Auto Show & New Car Buyer's Guide 2020 Model Year, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Campbell, who was a senior reporter at The State Press, is working for the Phoenix news bureau. Arizona continues to rank dead last in the nation in per-student investment, according to Education Law Centers. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Please choose your school district in Arizona from the list below to view a calendar of your 2022-2023 school holidays. Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Back in 1980, a cap on school funding, also known as an Aggregate Expenditure Limit, was added to the Arizona Constitution. Todays announcement is intended to give parents and educators as much certainty as possible so they can plan and make decisions. It is adjusted each year to take into account inflation and the number of students who are enrolled. Do we ask our people to work for free for the last few months of the year? said Hector Encinas, the CFO for Sunnyside Schools. Lana Berry, the chief financial officer of Chandler Unified School District, said schools have the money, they just need the authorization from the Legislature to spend it. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Its frustrating, he said, because every dollar needed for salaries and to fulfill budgets already has been approved by the Legislature. You must link the words "Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting" to the original URL of the story. Oh sure, COVID-19 is spiking yet again with the highly contagious omicron variant. State Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said the amendment was a way to placate Arizonans concerned about high taxes. It is a Constitutional Amendment that was passed by Arizona voters in 1980 which created a spending limitation for school districts based on the aggregate expenditure of all districts. Or more specifically, we will pay … for parents to send their kids to private school. Politicians are holding our school districts hostage to try to get their way on two things that arent related, Secretary Hobbs said. If lawmakers fail to raise the cap, public school districts could lose over a billion dollars in funding. John Brown expects to graduate in May 2023 with a bachelors degree in journalism and a minor in political science. Gov. Another looks to April 2. Or search for your Arizona school district by name or zip: A L. M Z. Agua Fria Union High School District. No schools were reported several weeks in January and February. The money is already in the district bank accounts. However, this wont just affect families with school-age children. Investing in education ensures we have a pipeline of qualified workers and innovators. So that cash will just sit there, we believe.. Schools will not be able to maintain their current day-to-day operations without action, she said. There are solutions already introduced as bills thanks to Representative Jennifer Pawlik and Senator Christine Marsh -- I urge the majority party to act immediately and allow our schools to get on with serving their students and families.. All rights reserved. Brown has previously interned at MSNBC, NBC 5 Chicago and PBS NewsHour West. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. I get the decision out when I get it out., Ducey defends use of school funding in face of feds threat to reclaim it. TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - Arizona public schools face budget cuts of $1.2 billion dollars unless the state Legislature lifts the school spending cap by the end of the month. Public schools in Atlanta, Georgia also marked August 4, 2021 as the first day of the 2021-2022 academic year. Hoffman said without suspending the aggregate expenditure limit, schools are at risk of further budget cuts, which would ultimately result in more bus driver shortages, more teacher layoffs, and the loss of academic and extracurricular programs, if not the complete closure of some schools. Look at our options. Districts based their budgets on money the Legislature already approved. What that means immediately is that educators can lose their jobs starting April 1, programs can be canceled starting April 1, and class sizes can expand starting April 1, Garcia said. The previous survey's results (Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, and Spring 2022) remain available in . Then stop playing politics with our children and follow your own advice. Essigs said some schools, unable to pay teachers and staff members, may have to end the school year early if the limit is not overridden. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Anna Campbell expects to graduate in May 2023 with bachelors degrees in English and journalism and mass communication. /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. including Savanna Elementary School District in California and the Chandler Unified School District in Arizona. Budget documents show that Chandler schools would lose more than $54 million. Arizona's schools may be forced to shut down as early as April 1 this spring. Arizona schools will remain closed through the end of the school year, Governor Doug Ducey and state Schools Chief Kathy Hoffman announced Monday morning. 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"That would mean laying off two-thirds of the teachers," said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne. Hannah must make his decision by March 10, after the deadline for the Legislature to override the spending cap, but Hannah said he could not pinpoint when he would rule., There are no ulterior motives, he told The Republic. You must use our. Not 2020 again? The Education Secretary is encouraging teachers to inform their school leaders in advance whether they intend to take strike action or not, to help schools and families . That might mean cuts to labor forces meaning that our staff and teachers will get cut. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. The aggregate expenditure limit, passed by voters in 1980, is an amendment to the Arizona Constitution that sets a spending limit for school districts based on total spending of all districts. The Legislature could and should pass a concurrent resolution before March 1 that will allow districts to exceed the Aggregate Expenditure Limit (AEL). The aggregate expenditures of local revenues for all school districts shall not exceed the limitation prescribed in this section. A two-thirds majority of the Legislature is needed to override the cap and allow the $1.2 billion to be spent. Unvaccinated people were 32times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people, according to the new Department of Health Services' analysis of data from November. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Copyright 2022 KOLD News 13. Parents are best suited to make decisions about their childs education. Read more at UArizona News. These cuts translate to $25 million for the Washington Elementary district, $43 million for Phoenix Union, and $58 million for Tucson Unified, just to name a few examples. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". In-person learning is vital for the development, well-being and educational needs of K-12 students. The latest Arizona headlines, national news events of the day + sports and weather updates. Um, no, AZ International Auto Show & New Car Buyer's Guide 2020 Model Year, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. By: Sheenae Shannon, AEA Communications Director. Edwards, who graduated from ASU in 2021, has interned with Phoenix New Times, Phoenix Magazine and Crime and Justice News. Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today. A lot of those kids are now back in school, but thats affecting the limit by about $300 million, he said. Classes in Chicago Public Schools were canceled for the second day Thursday, the result of an impasse over the teachers union's desire to return to remote . We changed the rules on schools. Maricopa County tracks schools with active and resolved outbreaks in a dashboard, but does not differentiate by school or district. The spectacular surge of Omicron cases has left thousands of teachers and students sick, and many others quite logically fear . Tell that to parents where COVID cases, test shortages are closing schools. Essigs said the Legislature projected the limit to decrease because of the decline in enrolled students during the 2020-21 school year because of the pandemic, which would lead to a lower spending limit this year, despite students returning to in-person learning. With your help, AZCIR has set out to provide a more comprehensive, regularly updated picture of where students and staff are contracting COVID-19 across Arizonaand how schools are responding. #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } Since students returned to in-person learning in August, districts have reported more than 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and required thousands of students to quarantine. The State Legislature, under the Arizona State Constitution, has the power to authorize expenditures in excess of the limitation for a single fiscal year. Cronkite News, the news division of Arizona PBS, is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Public schools in Atlanta, Georgia also marked August 4, 2021 as the first day of the 2021-2022 academic year. On Aug. 16, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled the ban therefore would not take effect until Sept. 29. School's out for the rest of the school year, as a result of the pandemic. Its time to work together for the good of our children, families, communityand the future of this great state. Pinal County has a dashboard that shows cumulative cases by the area each school district covers, but not cases specifically from schools. Close K-3 school Desert Garden Elementary School off 71st Avenue and Ocotillo Road and repurpose the building into a preschool facility. During his State of Education Address on Jan. 31, Horne touched on the spending cap, among other issues such strengthening student discipline, improving test scores, and his opposition to Critical Race Theory, which is a hot-button conservative political issue. Failing to act will harm students and families, Hoffman told legislators Tuesday in her address. The issue of the funding cap has nothing to do with COVID-19, masks, or vaccines. During the 2021-2022 school year, public schools were staring at 16% across-the-board cuts, and looking at layoffs and school closings, according to education advocates. Judy Schwiebert is a member of the Arizona House, representing District 20 in the West Valley. As of Dec. 6, she reported, there had been 608 breakthrough COVID-19 deaths in fully vaccinated people in Arizona. A governor who actually pays bonuses to school districts that refuse to enact mask mandates using federal funding intended to fight COVID-19, no less. Horne, for his part, says he is in support of lifting the cap and is even considering a repeal. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Arizona Association of School Business Officials, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. 2023 FOX Television Stations, until MON 7:00 PM MST, Western Pima-South Central Pinal-Tohono Oodham Nation, Eastern Pima-Southeastern Pinal-Santa Cruz-Western Cochise, until SUN 5:00 PM MST, Maricopa County, Yuma County, Yuma County, from FRI 11:40 PM MST until TUE 11:30 PM MST, Maricopa County, from MON 9:00 AM MST until MON 11:00 PM MST, Northwest Plateau, Northwest Deserts, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, from SUN 11:59 AM MDT until TUE 12:00 AM MDT, Apache County, until MON 9:00 PM MST, Tucson Metro Area including Tucson/Green Valley/Marana/Vail. She is working for the Phoenix news bureau. Were talking closing schools altogether. There is no other choice but to suspend and repeal the cap.. That has a negative economic impact on all of us. Politics, cell towers and hate speech: Why 3 more superintendents are Florida schools move closer to a 12-month school year. Prefer to send a check? And Arizonas death rate remains one of highest in the nation, thanks in part to a governor who has used his emergency powers to actually prevent cities and school districtsfrom trying to protect public health. Coconino County publishes a COVID-19 school update every Friday that summarizes case rate and percent positivity at district level. We also thank our legislative partners for passing legislation ensuring all educators and staff see no disruption in pay. Maricopa County Department of Public Health, for example, recently began requiring students and staff who came in close contact of a known COVID-19 case to quarantine. Maria Polletta is an investigative reporter for AZCIR focused on covering inequities in education. PHOENIX - Governor Doug Ducey announced Monday that Arizona schools will be closed through the end of the school year amid the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. We need an override by the Legislature, and then we need to fix it for the future.. The latest Arizona headlines, national news events of the day + sports and weather updates. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Which states are hurting the most when it comes to teacher How To Work With Our Editorial Department. 6 Arizona schools awarded the 2022 National Blue Ribbon School honor. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. PHOENIX - Public schools in Arizona are once again at risk of massive budget cuts and layoffs unless lawmakers vote to lift a constitutional spending cap that has been in place for decades. But education advocates fear the Legislature isnt taking the cap seriously enough and that the March 1 deadline to approve the override will pass with no action taken, forcing districts to cut their budgets in the final quarter of the school year. We also need to take the next step, to abolish this arbitrary, antiquated policy. The 10,000 pupils in the Lansing Public School District are stuck in virtual mode until at least next week. When does the states ban on school mask requirements take effect? For 2023, school district officials say they will be forced to cut their budgets for the current school year by more than $1.3 billion. In order to protect yourself from a possible infection, the CDC recommends: LIVE: Interactive Coronavirus case data and map, FULL COVERAGE: fox10phoenix.com/coronavirus, Coronavirus (COVID-19)How it spreads, symptoms, prevention, treatment, FAQhttps://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus, Arizona COVID-19 ResponsePublic resources, FAQ, webinarshttps://www.azdhs.gov/coronavirus. Itll be scheduled, and I think most people expect that itll be passed by enough to make (the overages) no longer an issue.. "When this was set in 1980, we didn't have Chrome tablets or whiteboards or any of the stuff that we have now that teaches our kids," State Sen. Fann said at the time.
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