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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is School Finance’s role within ADE?

School Finance collects student and financial data, performs analysis, apportions funds, and facilitates the completion and submission of districts’ and charters’ budget and expenditure files, as well as the annual financial reports. Additionally, School Finance provides technical assistance and guidance for compliance with state laws through electronic communications, webinars, conferences and meetings with school officials.

For more information go to: http://www.azed.gov/finance/

2. How do I contact School Finance?

School Finance’s webpage is located on the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) website under the left-side navigation heading Finance / IT / Business Services. Our general e-mail address is schoolfinance@azed.gov and our main telephone number is 602-542-5695.

If you represent a District or Charter School, you have an LEA Account Analyst to assist you with issues related to your school data and information. You will find the analyst for your school at: http://www.azed.gov/Administrators/SF/Lists/LEAAccountAnalysts/AllItems.aspx

If you have questions related to school budgets, you may e-mail the budget team directly at SFBudgetTeam@azed.gov.

If you have questions related to school payments, you may e-mail the Payment Team directly at SFPaymentTeam@azed.gov

3. How is funding calculated for schools and how is funding calculated differently for districts and charters?

To understand how school funding is calculated, please read the School Finance Overview Presentation: http://publicportal.ade.az.gov/sites/SF/BusinessInformation/Business%20Rule%20Documents%20and%20Presentations/School%20Finance%20Overview.pdf

Equalization Formula Funding is located here: www.azed.gov/finance/files/2011/12/equalization-formula-funding.pdf

Funding of Districts vs. Charters is located here:  http://www.azed.gov/finance/files/2011/12/funding-of-districts-vs-charters.pdff

4. Where can I find School Finance Reports?

School Finance reports may be found at: http://www.ade.az.gov/schoolfinance/Reports/Default.asp

Student Counts reports for Districts and Charters may be found at:  http://www.ade.az.gov/Districts/

Budget reports for Districts and Charters may be found at:  http://www.ade.az.gov/Districts/

Instructions for researching “Submitted File Status” for Districts and Charters are found through this link. http://www.ade.az.gov/schoolfinance/FAQs/BudgetRptsFiles/InstrsFileStatus.doc

5. Where can I find School Finance Forms?

School Finance has forms to facilitate a variety of requests made by Districts and Charter.  Forms are located at:   http://www.azed.gov/finance/forms

6. How does an LEA (Local Education Agency) make corrections to their school data?

A.R.S. § 15-915 allows for correction of state aid or budget limit errors for prior fiscal year(s).  Schools may submit “915 requests” in order to facilitate these changes.

Instructions for submitting a request to Correct State Aid or Budget Capacity may be found at:  http://www.ade.az.gov/schoolfinance/FAQs/DataChangeReq/915Instrs.pdf

7. How should a school stay informed?

Schools can stay informed by accessing a variety of resources provided on the School Finance portion of the ADE website.  These resources are updated in a timely manner to provide schools with the latest information they will need to meet ADE requirements based on A.R.S. § 15 Statutes.

Current Fiscal Year Memos may be found at:    www.azed.gov/Administrators/SF/NumberedMemos/default.aspx
The Bulletin Board provides important information about the processing of school data and may be found at: www.azed.gov/Administrators/IT/bb/default.aspx

The School Finance Procedures Manual (updated each fiscal year) may be found at:  www.azed.gov/wp-content/uploads/PDF/GE-18.pdf

Business Rules and Presentations is located at: http://publicportal.ade.az.gov/sites/SF/BusinessInformation/Business%20Rule%20Documents%20and%20Presentations/Forms/Business%20Rules%20vs%20Presentations.aspx

8. How can I sign up to receive regular updates from School Finance?

The left corner of the Student Detail Activity Calendar provides an opportunity for anyone to join the School Finance Mailing List.  The calendar may be found at:  http://publicportal.ade.az.gov/sites/SF/Web%20Pages/Student%20Detail%20Activities.aspx

9. Where can I learn more about the Student Accountability Information System (SAIS)?

Information about SAIS may be found at:  www.azed.gov/student-accountability/

SAIS Support may be found at:  www.azed.gov/student-accountability/

For technical SAIS support, contact ADESupport@azed.gov

For questions about how to report your data in SAIS, schools may contact their LEA Account Analyst.   The LEA Account Analyst List may be found at:  http://www.azed.gov/Administrators/SF/Lists/LEAAccountAnalysts/AllItems.aspx

More School Finance FAQ’s
All School Finance Systems

 
Charter Schools
Charter Payment Report Examples will provide board sponsored charter schools with information to guide their understanding of their CHAR55 and CHAR64 reports. The reports are published monthly and posted to each charter’s homepage on the ADE School Finance web site under http://www.ade.az.gov/Districts/. 

Although ADE School Finance does not perform any projections of equalization or monthly payments on behalf of the charter, the charter does have the ability to project their annual equalization and/or monthly payments utilizing the following Excel worksheet links. The budget worksheets will calculate the charter’s projected Equalization Base/Assistance, while the Electronic Charter School Payment schedule will calculate projected current month payment. All worksheets require data input. Please contact School Finance at (602) 542-5695 if you are in need of additional assistance.
Navigating to Budget Reports and Submitted Files
Here are instructions on how to navigate through the School Finance web site to locate District and BUDG25/BUDG75 reports and how to determine the Submitted File Status for both Districts and Charters.