BUDG-75 reports for all school districts have been posted to the School Finance website. FY 2023 BUDG-75 reports have been calculated using the FY 2023 BSA55 SRC information.  As a reminder, districts automatically receive a budget balance carryforward adjustment for any under-budgeted RCL in M&O due to the FY 2023 statewide recalculation.

• District BUDG-75 reports are available to download from the School Finance Website:
  • • First, select the start fiscal year of 2023.
    • Next, select the optional execution date of 11/20/2023 and/or hit “Apply.”
    • Next, use the filter icon above “Ed Org ID” or “Ed Org Name” to filter for your district.
    • Finally, click on the highlighted Budget-75 file under the “Report File Name” column.

• District BSA 55 reports are available to download from the School Finance website:
  • First, select 2023 as the fiscal year.
  • Next, select your school district and then click “View Reports.”
  • Next, scroll down the page to the “School District Reports” section.
  • Finally, click the FY23 SRC “PDF” button under the BSA-55 Report section. The FY 2023 BSA55 SRC report will appear.

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

Thank you!

For immediate release: November 20, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
 

Department of Education announces student contest celebrating good character in citizenship

Part of Six Pillars of Character program

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne has announced a drawing, painting and poster contest celebrating Citizenship, which is one of the Six Pillars of Character, in the Character Counts program offered in many Arizona schools.

Horne said, “I am a strong proponent of the Six Pillars of Character which are, Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. I am very pleased to announce this contest promoting Citizenship, which emphasizes volunteering, cooperation, being informed and voting, knowing and obeying laws, choosing to protect the safety and rights of others and doing your share to make your home and community better.”

He added, “I believe every school in Arizona should be using the Six Pillars of Character program to help students understand these basic characteristics that, when followed, result in students having overall strong character and classrooms that have students who respect others. This is foundational for a healthy society.”

The contest has two levels, one for students in grades Kindergarten through 8 who can create a drawing, painting or poster that conveys the trait of Citizenship. The second level is for high school students to create a poster that supports character values on social media using the good Citizenship pillar. The competition is open to students enrolled in district, charter, private, and home schools. The deadline for submissions is December 31, 2023.

The winners will be recognized at the Character Education Celebration Event to be held in January in Phoenix.

For more information and to apply: azed.gov/character-education Go to the “2023 Character Education Contest” Tab.

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Please see the following important information from our ADE/Assessment partners:

Newsrooms: There is a correction to this release. The email is [email protected]. The previous release contained a typo.

For immediate release: November 14, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
 

Horne announces Department of Education's Arts Supply Grant

Money available for “consumables” such as sheet music, paint, theatre props and more

PHOENIX - State schools Superintendent Tom Horne has announced a $10 million grant for public schools to purchase art supplies through the Arts Consumable Grant. These funds will provide successful district and charter school applicants with $1,000 per full time arts teacher to purchase arts consumables such as paints, brushes, sheet music, dance props, theatrical costumes, and much more. These materials will not only enhance the learning environment but also inspire students to explore their artistic talents and discover new passions.

Horne said, “I am a passionate supporter of arts education; it is an essential part of any successful school. There are studies that show learning how to play stringed instruments helps students do better in math, so there are both aesthetic and academic benefits to arts education. I am pleased to encourage schools to apply for these funds to support arts education throughout Arizona.”

All district and charter schools throughout Arizona are eligible to apply for this grant opportunity. The deadline for submissions is December 31, 2023.

For more information: [email protected]

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For immediate release: November 9, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
 

Horne warns schools to avoid antisemitic and anti-American UNICEF and Amnesty International materials

Organizations’ materials used at a recent Arizona high school student club event, making Jewish students feel unsafe

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has denounced antisemitic and anti-American materials provided by UNICEF and Amnesty International at a high school club event that made Jewish students feel unsafe.

Horne has also communicated to all district superintendents throughout Arizona urging them to “keep amnesty international and UNICEF, and their literature, off of your campuses. They generate antisemitism among impressionable young people.”

The Department of Education was recently contacted by several community members who had learned of antisemitic and anti-American materials being presented a lunchtime student club sponsored by those organizations last Thursday at Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale.

Horne stated, “The materials presented to these students were profoundly antisemitic in particular and anti-American in general, in nature. Some of the material states that ‘Palestinians have been subject to killings, torture, rape, abuse, and more for over 75 years.’ This is a ‘blood libel’ similar to the blood libels used in the Middle Ages to get people to go out and kill random Jewish people.”

He added, “In none of this propaganda is there any reference to what happened on October 7. The fact that 1400 civilians were murdered does not begin to describe to horror of what Hamas did. They went house to house in the neighborhoods, machine gunning entire families, and sometimes killing fathers in front of their children and children in front of their fathers. They copied the Nazi technique of setting fire to houses so that people would burn to death, or if they came out of the fire house, killed them upon their exit. The actions of Hamas are a repetition of what happened during World War II. Yet the materials make no mention of October 7.”

Horne concluded, “Jewish students reported feeling unsafe because of the antisemitism among other students generated by these presentations. We all belong to a minority group of one kind or another. If Jewish people – and Americans in general -- can be targeted by UNICEF and Amnesty International, who is next?”

The full text of Horne’s email and copies of the materials presented at the meeting are attached.

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Data capture for the December 21st payment is 11/15/23 at 5 pm.

Reminder: Payment 6 will be based on data captured that is passing integrity and generating ADM in AzEDS. Actual data in AzEDS will be used to calculate ADM for Payment 6.

Please ensure data is reconciled and free of integrity errors prior to the data capture date. Review the following reports in AzEDS: 

• INTEG15 – ensure data is free and clear of membership ADM Integrity errors 
• STUD10 – validate all students are listed in AzEDS 
• ADM15 – ensure all students expected to generate funding are indicated as fundable 
• ADM20, SPED20, and EL20 – ensure ADM amounts for each ADM type  

Important Note: FY24 Calendars need to be submitted, approved, and certified for ADM and funding to be generated. 

Please submit a School Finance HelpDesk ticket if data assistance is needed.

School Finance has adjusted the Budg-25 Letter to include FRPL and Gifted adjustments in the general budget limit. Please review the newly published letters on this website and use the execution date of 11/2/2023 to filter for the updated letters.

Please note that the values on this Budg-25 Letter will be different than the values on the October Budg-25 Report. We will be running the November Budg-25 Report with the updated values.

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

Thank you!

Session: Introduction to AzEDS Data

Date: November 15, 2023, at 10:00 am

This training session offers an overview of the process of collecting student data and the reports generated during this phase. We highly recommend this training for newly appointed student data coordinators, registrars, and those at the schools responsible for reconciling student data.

Register for this session

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

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT       

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, November 15 

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, November 15, from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):   

• Reminders 

• Trending topics 

• Top 3 Integrity Errors 

• Q&A    

Registration is required to attend: Register for Special Education Data Updates webinar. If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.

In accordance with A.R.S. §15-905(E), the FY 2024 BUDG-25 Budget Verification Letters are now published. Letters are based on the most recent BUDG-25 Budget Verification reports, which have been calculated using the October BSA 55 information. These letters contain the official notification if a FY 2024 December revision is required as of the date of the letter.

• District BUDG-25 Budget Verification Letters are available to download from the School Finance website.

• District BSA 55-1 reports are available to download from the School Finance website.

The budget verification letters are addressed to the district's governing board in care of the district superintendent. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the district to inform the district's governing board members accordingly. 

Reminder: the district's budgeted FY 2024 K3 Reading amount is added to the district's BSL and RCL until the district is approved for the K3 Reading support level weight by the State Board, or December 15th, whichever occurs first.

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

Thank you!