Registration for the 2024–2025 Special Education New Director Symposium (SENDS) is closing soon, so please be sure to register if you are beginning your first or second year as a special education director.

The purpose of this professional learning opportunity is to prepare new special education directors for the practical operation of a special education system. Topics covered in SENDS include compliance and legal requirements, fiscal issues, assessment, general supervision, and ADE supports and resources. New special education directors serving Arizona public education agencies (PEAs) in their first or second year of being a special education director (including any previous positions) in the fall of 2024 are eligible to attend SENDS.

The $150 registration fee for SENDS includes:

• Registration for the in-person kick-off session on Day 1 (September 4, 2024) of the IDEA Conference* (with an option to pay to attend Days 2 and/or 3 of the conference).
• Four virtual follow-up sessions scheduled throughout the 2024–25 school year  (November 7, December 5, January 16, and February 13 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.).
• A one-year membership to the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and CEC’s Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) special interest division.

Registration is open until July 19, 2024.

*Information regarding travel reimbursement from eligible PEAs will be provided once registration is completed.

Register for the Special Education New Director Symposium (SENDS) training!

If you have questions about SENDS, please email the ESS Recruitment and Retention Inbox.

The Defining the Instructional Calendar Chapter has been updated and posted on the School Finance webpage under the School Finance Guidelines & Manuals section. This chapter was revised to remove duplicate guidance referred to in the Reporting Student Membership chapter and remove outdated guidance.

If you have questions, create a HelpDesk ticket for the School Finance Analyst Team.

ADE/ESS is excited to announce keynote speakers for Arizona’s 2024 IDEA Conference: Expect, Engage, Achieve. This year’s conference will be held from September 4–6, 2024, at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix. Please see the conference flyer to learn about Valerie C. Williams, Erik Carter, Perry Zirkel, and Pamela Schuller. Additional national speakers and exciting conference events will be shared soon.

Register for the 2024 IDEA Conference in the Arizona Professional Learning and Development System (APLD). The conference registration fee for professionals is $575 per person and can be paid by credit card, check, or purchase order. Please visit the IDEA Conference Registration web page to learn more about registration options, lodging, and frequently asked questions.

ESS appreciates this opportunity to learn with each of you and looks forward to this year’s conference. Stay informed by visiting the IDEA Conference website for updates, including announcements about premier speakers and conference schedules. Questions can be emailed to the IDEA Conference inbox.

The chapter for Reporting Student Membership, formally part of the School Finance Manual, has been updated and posted on the School Finance webpage under the School Finance Guidelines & Manuals section. This chapter provides detailed guidance on how to report student membership and special enrollments to AzEDS as well as how to calculate a student's reported full-time equivalency (FTE).

This chapter is posted under the accordion named Reporting Student Membership.

If you have questions, you can create a HelpDesk ticket for the School Finance Analyst Team.

Charter Estimated Counts files are due on 07/01/24. This requirement does not apply to districts as it is specifically for Charter schools.

School Finance does NOT pay based on the prior year's ADM in AzEDS for Charters.

If your charter school prefers to be paid on Actual ADM for FY25, Payment 1, then you must meet the following criteria:

• Verify the ADM20, EL20, and SPED20 AzEDS Reports for FY25 so that Payment 1 is correct.
• Upload and certify your FY25 AzEDS Instructional Calendar by 06/15/24.
• Student data in FY25 is free of integrity errors as of 06/15/24.

If your charter did not have data in AzEDS on FY25 - Data Capture date of 06/15/24, you must submit a Charter Estimated Counts file by 07/01/24 to receive a payment.

• Successful file submissions show “Processed” status.

School Finance does NOT pay based on the prior year's (FY24) ADM in AzEDS for Charters.

Any questions you have after reviewing the recorded training session and manual should be submitted via HelpDesk.

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

Edit summarySpecial Education Data Dashboard: Review and Certification Process

The Special Education Data Dashboard (SEDD) is open and accessible for your review. The SEDD application displays student data reported to the Arizona Education Data Standards (AzEDS), fitting the module requirements below. Any necessary updates should be made in your Student Information System (SIS) promptly to sync to AzEDS and will reflect in SEDD the following day.

1. Student Exit Data: Review
   • This module displays exit data for Special Education (SPED) students based on specific exit codes, age range, and dates as outlined in the SPED Exit Flow Chart. It is expected that each PEA reviews this data to ensure compliance with federal SPED guidelines.
2. Preschool Transition Data: Data Entry
   • Public School Districts with Boundaries are required to enter data for students transitioning from the Arizona Early Intervention Program (AZEIP) to Part B. If not applicable, this module will be inactive.
3. Students Without Disabilities: Data Entry
   • This module captures data on students without disabilities with an expulsion (W3) exit code. Each PEA is expected to indicate if such students received educational services during expulsion. This module will be inactive if not applicable.
4. Discipline Data: Review
   • This module displays discipline incidents for SPED students that resulted in a removal from their educational environment. PEAs should review to ensure accurate reporting using the Discipline Data Technical Assistance Manual.

All modules must be monitored and reviewed by July 15, at which time the data in SEDD will become locked and un-editable.

SEDD will reopen on July 22 for the Certification, accessible only to users with the ESS SEDD: Signer role. During Certification, PEAs are required to certify their data within the SEDD application. Certification must be completed by August 5, 2024. Certification is required of all PEAs, including those with no qualifying data within the modules.  

Resources available to assist PEAs include:

• TA Manual: Special Education Data Dashboard
• SPED Exit Flow Chart: Which Students Are Included?
• Discipline Data Guidance Manual
• AzEDS SPED Reporting Resources
• FY 2024 SEDD Webinar
• FY2024 SEDD Presentation

For personalized technical assistance, PEAs are encouraged to attend SEDD Office Hours after reviewing the available trainings. Sign-up is available on the ESS Data Management Team web page. For further inquiries, please contact the ESS Data Management Inbox or call 602-542-3962.

Thank you for your attention to these requirements. We look forward to your active participation in ensuring accurate data reporting in SEDD.

The FY2023 Over-Expenditures have been included in the Unrestricted Capital (UNR) and Maintenance and Operations (M&O) funds. FY24 FRPL Add-On ADM has also been included in the base support level calculation (BSL).

The following forms are available:

• District BUDG-25 reports are available to download from this School Finance website. For further instructions on how to navigate the website, please view this Hot Topic.
  • Select the “Start Fiscal Year” as 2024
     

• District FY23 BUDG-75 reports are available to download from the School Finance website:
  • Select the “Start Fiscal Year” as 2023
  • Optionally, select the “Execution Date” as 11/21/2023
  • Click “Apply.”
  • If a 915 was submitted, please download the latest BUDG75 report without using the execution date drop-down.
     

• District BSA-55 reports are available to download from the School Finance website:
  • First, select a school district and then click “View Reports.”
  • Next, scroll down the page to the “School District Reports” section.
  • Finally, click the June “PDF” button. The June BSA-55 report will appear.

Please contact the Budget Team ([email protected]) if you have any questions.

Thank you!

For immediate release: June 18, 2024
Contact: [email protected]
 

Horne effort to reduce red tape for teachers succeeds with lawmakers

Budget moves completes reform initiated by Horne in 2023

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne says the newly-passed state budget includes a change that he has long sought: the elimination of the Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) program, which many educators consider an unnecessary bureaucratic requirement and a waste of classroom time.

Horne said, “One of my 16 initiatives to raise academic results is to reduce paperwork for teachers. Last year, I had the department reduce the administrative burden of the KEA assessment by more than 80 percent. If I had the legal authority to eliminate it, I would have. Over time, the KEA had ballooned into an endless morass of paperwork that meant teachers had to spend too much time on bureaucratic requirements versus time with students. Now the legislature has taken the welcome step of entirely removing the legal requirement for the KEA, which frees up more time for teachers to spend on classroom instruction.”

There is positive reaction from educators in the field.

Dysart Unified School District Superintendent John Croteau said, “Superintendent Horne reviewed our feedback on the KEA in our Kindergarten classes. The KEA duplicated many of our current practices and took away valuable instructional time. This decision prioritizes student interests by focusing on maximizing valuable classroom time to enhance student learning opportunities.”

Challenger Charter School CEO Wendy Miller said, “Superintendent Horne and his department sought feedback directly from kindergarten teachers and families about the time, student privacy, and resources lost to KEA and we appreciate the swift and effective action taken to eliminate this program in the best interests of Arizona kids!”  

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The Auditor General’s Office plans to release updated FY2025 Expenditure Budget forms by Friday June 21st to include legislative updates. These updates include revised Base Support Amount, Charter Additional Assistance, and onetime supplemental fundings for FRPL, District Additional Assistance, and Charter Additional Assistance. The budget forms will include instructions on how to include the supplemental funding amounts.

For school districts that have already finalized and uploaded their proposed Expenditure Budgets to ADE’s Budget System, please note that you may not increase budget limits from your proposed version to your adopted version based on A.R.S. 15-905.E. However, school districts that have already submitted their proposed Expenditure Budgets to ADE’s Budget System may take the following actions:

1. Re-propose your Expenditure Budget using the update forms released by the Auditor General’s Office and adopt that budget at least 10 calendar days after submitting to ADE’s Budget System. To do this, you can upload another proposed version of your Expenditure Budget on Budget System until July 5th.
2. Adopt your Expenditure Budget based on your already submitted proposed Expenditure Budget (subject to A.R.S. 15-905.E) and submit a revised Expenditure Budget by September 15th using the updated budget forms, as stated in A.R.S. 15-905.Q.

For school districts that have not submitted their proposed budget to ADE’s Budget System yet, please use the updated budget forms provided by the Auditor General’s Office.

If you have any questions, please contact the School Finance Budget Team at [email protected].

Base Level Amount 15-901

2.00%/$98.29 total increase

• $5,013.00

Transportation Support Level 15-945

2.08% increase to support per route mile

• 0.5 or fewer: $2.95
• 0.5-1.0: $2.42
• More than 1.0: $2.95

District Additional Assistance (DAA) & Charter Additional Assistance (CAA) 15-185 & 15-961

2.00% increase to CAA

• Grades PSD-8: $2,090.10
• Grades 9-12: $2,435.97

Qualifying Tax Rate 41-1276

Unified School Districts & Common School Districts not within a High School District (Type 03): $3.1860

Common School Districts within High School District & High School Districts: $1.5930

State Aid Rollover 15-973

$800,727,700 of the FY 2025 basic state aid appropriation to school districts is deferred until July 2025. 

This is equal to FY 2024.

Does not apply to charters or school districts with less than 4,000 ADM.

Classroom Site Fund 15-977

$792 per weighted pupil

Prop 123 Additional Funding Laws 2015, 1st Special Session, Chapter 1, Section 6

$75,000,000 (FY21-FY26)

One Time Supplement for CAA & DAA

One-time supplemental funding for Charter Additional Assistance (CAA) and District Additional Assistance (DAA) will be allocated on a proportional basis. The additional amount received by each charter and district will increase budget capacity; districts can use their apportionment in either Maintenance & Operation or Unrestricted Capital Outlay funds.

• CAA statewide amount: $5,858,000.00
• DAA statewide amount: $23,142,000.00

One Time Supplement for FRPL

One-time supplemental funding for Free and Reduced Priced Lunch (FRPL) will be allocated on a pro rata basis using FRPL weighted ADM. The amount apportioned to each charter and district will increase budget capacity; districts can use their apportionment in either Maintenance & Operation or Unrestricted Capital Outlay funds.

• FRPL statewide amount: $37,000,000.00

School Finance Fiscal Operations – Related Statutes

Arizona Department of Corrections 15-1372

Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections 15-1371

Arizona Online Instruction 15-808

Certificates of Educational Convenience   15-825   15-976

Charter Equalization 15-185

Classroom Site Fund 15-977

College Credit by Examination Incentive Program 15-249.06

County Jails   15-913.01

County Juvenile Detention 15-913

County Small School 15-365

Definitions 15-901

Determination of equalization assistance payments from county and state funds 15-971

District Cash Advance of State Aid   15-973

District Equalization 15-943

Early Literacy Grants 15-249.09

Instructional Improvement Fund 15-979

Optional Two Hundred Days of Instruction (5% base level increase) 15-902.04

Result Based Funding

Small School Capital Transportation 15-963

Teacher Experience Index 15-941

Unorganized Territory 15-1001