PHOENIX - State superintendent of schools Tom Horne today stated that he would report to the federal government that although Scottsdale signed a statement that they would not have DEI in their classes, they adopted a DEI oriented textbook, despite parental objections. If the current injunction against President Trump‘s executive order regarding DEI is lifted, and the federal government indicates that funds to the Scottsdale school District should be removed, Horne said he would enforce that order.

Horne was joined at the news conference this morning by Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan, who also expressed serious concerns about the curriculum at Scottsdale Unified School District complaining that is anti-law enforcement.

“At a time when law enforcement agencies are expanding their focus on community outreach and de-escalation of conflicts, it is counterproductive for schools to push a misguided and inaccurate narrative that will make students fearful or suspicious of their local law enforcement officers,” said Sheriff Sheridan. “The men and women who wear the uniform in Arizona, are among the bravest and most noble public servants in this great state. Many are first responders, who put their lives on the line each day to keep our youth and our communities safe.”

Also present to voice their concerns about the curriculum, were Jim Hill, the president of the Maricopa County Colleges Police Association and a concerned parent whose children attend school in the Scottsdale district. 

Horne gave a substantial list of examples from textbooks (see below) adopted by the woke majority of the Scottsdale school board. He also identified propaganda techniques found throughout the books, such as presenting a one-sided biased point of view about an incident that “many people are saying,” without articulating other, and often more popular points of view. In other cases, the information presented is misleading or simply inaccurate.

Horne concluded, “I commend the parents who bought these issues to our attention. We must all work together to ensure that school textbooks and curriculums are based on sound academics and historical facts, and not on unbalanced political propaganda.”

###

Some examples provided by Supt. Horne:

US History Interactive – Savvas Learning Company

At page 1033: “ many people, including Black Lives Matter activists argued that these separate events as Well, as well as the death of many Black people in earlier years was the result of deeply embedded racism.” Nothing was said about what other people may be saying. Other people do not believe that racism is deeply embedded in the United States.

On the same page referring to the 2020 riots: protest marches were generally peaceful“ Horne pointed out that “we’ve all seen the video on television of a reporter saying that surrounded by burning buildings and attacks on police cars.”

At page 1025, referring to the incident at Ferguson: “one witness claimed that before being shot, Brown had raised his hands and said “don’t shoot!“ Horne pointed out:

“To his everlasting credit, Eric Holder, the first African American United States Attorney General in history, conducted an objective investigation, and concluded that officer Wilson shot Ferguson in self-defense. Limiting the discussion to what one witness said was extremely misleading.“

At page 1026: “a basic tenet of democracy is that power should belong to the people. But what can people try if they feel they’re not being heard or if they live under an authoritarian system? Civil resistance, encompasses a broad range of lawful and nonviolent action aimed at returning power to the people. Use this video as a brief introduction.“

Horne pointed out: “the United States is a Democratic Republic. We do not have a monarch. Officials are elected by a vote of the people. This gives everyone the opportunity, if they disagree with what the government is doing, to campaign for the election of someone else. That is the solution to disagree with government policy. Students are being encouraged by the video to engage in civil resistance to a democratically elected government. The suggestion in this quotation that the United States is an authority system is a woke lie.“

From Page 167: “renovations and improvements conforming to middle-class preferences has driven up the demand for housing and the cost of living in these neighborhoods, making it difficult for less affluent more vulnerable LGBTQUI plus populations to live there”. 

Horne replied: I will not comment on what QUIA plus means, but the suggestion that LGBT people are financially oppressed is extremely misleading. Many LGBT People are quite prosperous. The median income for men in same-sex marriages is $149,900. The median income for men in opposite sex married couples is $124,900.

• From a human geography book also used by the Scottsdale USD: APHUG 5: Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Bednarz et al., Cengage, 2022

Republican lawmakers in some states have packed African-American voters into a single district or small number of districts there by creating majority Republican districts in the rest of the state.”

Horne responded: this was a civil rights project of the Democratic Party. The goal was to assure minority representation in Congress. The Republican Party had nothing to do with it.”

The School Finance Budget System is now available for fiscal year 2026 budget file submissions. Please navigate to ADEConnect Applications and click on “School Finance Budget System” to begin submitting your fiscal year 2026 budget files.

If you experience issues accessing the page or uploading files, please clear your browser’s cookies and cache before contacting the School Finance Budget Team at [email protected].

Please review the documents for submission and publication instructions: 

• FY 2026 School District Annual Expenditure Budget Submission and Publication Instructions 
• FY 2026 Charter School Annual Budget Forms Submission and Publication Information 

Thank you!

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT    

Special Education Data Updates Webinar: Wednesday, June 18, 2025  

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next live Special Education Data Updates webinar on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include:    

• Reminders  

• Trending topics  

• Top Three Integrity Errors 

• Q&A     

Please register by clicking this link. Registration is required to attend. If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.  

The United States Department of Education and the Office of Special Education Programs require that public education agencies (PEAs) submit discipline data to state education agencies for federal reporting into EDFacts. The Arizona Department of Education will now require expulsions involving students without disabilities to be reported in the discipline domain of Arizona Education Data Standards (AzEDS) beginning fiscal year (FY) 2026.

Please read the attached memo for details and contact ESS Data Management if you have any questions.

The Charter Estimated Counts application opens for data submission on 05/31/2025. The deadline to submit Charter Estimated Counts is 07/01/2025. Charter Estimated Counts cannot be revised after 07/01/2025. This requirement does not apply to districts, it is specifically for Charter schools.

The first two payments of FY 2026 are based on Charter Estimated Counts. School Finance does NOT pay Charter Schools based on prior year AzEDS ADM. Beginning with Payment 3, payments will be based on FY 2026 AzEDS actual Average Daily Membership (ADM) data only.

To view the full Charter Estimated Counts memo, click here.

FY 2026 Monthly Payment and AzEDS Processing Schedule

 The FY 2026 API is available from 06/01/2025 to 07/15/2026. Instructional calendars and student data transactions may begin on 06/01/2025. 

The user interface for submitting Charter Estimated Counts is available in ADEConnect. School Finance has a corresponding user guide with step-by-step instructions. Please refer to the Charter Estimated Counts user guide for details on submitting data.

For questions regarding Charter Estimated Counts, please submit a request via the Help Desk ticketing system. If you do not have a HelpDesk account or need information on how to submit a HelpDesk request, visit the Help Desk Quick Guide: /finance/helpdesk-quick-guide

Data Management Alert 

New Integrity Rule: -40102 

Effective April 28, 2025, a new integrity error has been implemented for SPED data validations in AzEDS. This new integrity error is part of an ongoing effort to ensure clean data during the fiscal year and to avoid corrections of data after the close of the fiscal year. 

Code: -40102  

Message: For each day, a SPED need is reported, an LRE must be reported.  

This rule ensures that a Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) code is reported any time a SPED need has been reported. Missing LREs can cause issues with the ADE systems, funding, and federal reporting. If an LRE has been reported, verify the LRE entry and exit dates are reported on in-session days of the associated calendar. 

The SPED Integrity Error Tool for this rule is linked below: 

SPED Integrity Rules Reference

One sheet SPED Integrity Error Tools for all SPED integrity rules can be found and are linked in the SPED Integrity Rules Reference located on the AzEDS SPED Reporting page. 

If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox. 

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT  

FY25 SEDD Training Video Now Available 

Note: This message was sent to all users registered for ESS Data Management alerts. 

The FY25 training for the Special Education Data Dashboard application was held on Thursday, May 8, 2025. If you were unable to attend, you can still view the recorded webinar. For your convenience, you can access the webinar on Vimeo, on our SEDD webpage, or the homepage of the SEDD application. 

Office Hours 

To help ensure successful completion of your data review, entry, and certification, ESS Data Management is offering PEA’s the opportunity to meet 1-on-1 with an ESS Data Management Specialist via Microsoft Teams. Feel free to register for an appointment by visiting our Bookings page. Be sure to watch the SEDD training video prior to signing up for an appointment. 

Important Dates 

• May 7, 2025: SEDD opened 

• Validate that users have the correct access to the application 

• Begin reviewing/entering data 

• July 15, 2025: Student data is due 

• All student data in AzEDS must be corrected in PEA’s SIS 

• Preschool Transition and SWOD data entry 

• July 23, 2025: Data Certification opens 

• LEA Signer must complete electronically 

• August 6, 2025, by 5:00 p.m. 

• Late submissions may hold IDEA funds and impact PEA determinations. 

Should you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox. 

Urges schools with similar rules to follow suit

PHOENIX – The Mesa Unified School District’s decision to reverse policy and allow graduating seniors, that have earned the right, to wear military regalia at their graduation ceremony is earning the praise of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne.

Earlier today, Horne urged the Mesa district to change their policy, and the district is in the process of doing that while allowing the Class of 2025 to wear military regalia.

Horne said, “I want to praise the Mesa school district for reversing this policy and urge any district or charter in the state who has such a restriction to do the same thing. Students who have worked very hard to prepare for service in the U.S. armed forces should be honored for their dedication and commitment to protecting the freedoms that often come at a very high cost. Allowing them to wear officially recognized military stoles is appropriate and should be a universal practice for Arizona schools.”

Says students should be honored for service

PHOENIX - High school graduates who want to wear military regalia as part of their graduation ceremonies should be allowed to do so, says state schools chief Tom Horne.

Horne is responding to reports that the Mesa Unified School District has a policy barring graduates from displaying military service stoles. A Mesa High School student, Daniela Rascon-Rivas, has drawn attention to the issue since she is being prohibited from wearing the added regalia. 

Horne said, "This country owes its existence to the bravery of people willing to fight for our freedoms. Miss Rascon-Rivas has done a tremendous amount of extra work to prepare for service in the Arizona National Guard, which she will join after she graduates. This goes above and beyond the efforts required to graduate high school and deserves praise and recognition. I respectfully urge the Mesa district and all schools throughout the state to join students and their families in recognizing their hard work to prepare for military service."

He added, "This is clearly not a matter of students trying to show off or distract from the importance of the ceremony. Graduation is one of the most meaningful events in a young person’s life and schools should acknowledge when students show the initiative to excel and serve our nation."