Budget AGD report for all school districts has been posted and is available to download from this School Finance website.  

Please select execution date, 10/27/2023. 

If you have any questions, please contact the Budget Team ([email protected]).

Thank you!

How to Correct Errors in AFRs and School-Level AFRs

Data submitted through the Annual Financial Report (AFR) and School-Level AFR is used to meet various state and federal reporting requirements. School Finance has been made aware of values that appear to have been reported incorrectly by certain districts and charters. It is possible to submit corrections to the AFR and School-Level AFR by following the appropriate process below. Revisions that only affect the Additional Information for NPEFS Reporting (pages 9 & 10 in the AFR) or to the School-Level AFR file may follow the first process defined below.

For information regarding corrections and 915s for FY22 AFR and FY23 Budget files or prior, please view the instructions found on this Hot Topic.

AFR Revisions that do not include changes in actual expenditures or adjustments to state aid:

AFR revisions that do not include changes in actual expenditures or adjustments to state aid are not required to follow the process defined in ARS 15-915, but need approval from the School Finance Budget Team prior to submitting changes. Additionally, revisions to the School-Level AFR are not required to follow the process defined in ARS 15-915. 

Prior to a district or charter submitting a revision, School Finance requires Help Desk ticket from the district or charter requesting to open the submission window. The Help Desk ticket must contain the following items:

Indicate page numbers, columns, rows, current amount reported, corrected amount, and an explanation is required.

• Example: Page 2, Column E, Row 7, change from $58,456 to $56,285, Input wrong amount from records.

After the Budget Team confirms the Help Desk ticket and opens the submission window, districts and charters can submit revised files through Budget System and select School Finance Budget/AFR files accordingly. While the new AFR requires approval and signatures, a new hearing notification is not required.  

Note: Please check the file uploads status after the file submission.

AFR Revisions that include changes in actual expenditures or adjustments to state aid:

AFR revisions that include changes to actual expenditures and/or adjustments to State Aid, require a request pursuant to ARS 15-915 (please see guidelines page 4).  A request letter on district or charter letterhead must include the following:

1. Date
2. LEA Name and CTDS Number
3. Contact name, title, telephone number (including extension if applicable) and the email address of the individual making corrections
4. The fiscal year the change(s) will affect
5. The budget form(s) that will be adjusted (e.g., expenditure budget, AFR)
6. List of the specific changes (e.g., the page number, the cell reference, the current amount reported, the corrected amount, the reason for the changes). NOTE: additional documentation may be required after request is reviewed
7. The letter must be signed by the Business Manager

To begin a Budget/AFR 915, a Help Desk ticket must be submitted using the Budget 15-915 Request Template. Attach the ARS 15-915 request letter, corresponding documentation, and provide the file submission reference numbers. After submitting the request letter and receiving approval for submission from Budget Team, a district or charter can make all necessary revisions and then submit the revised file(s) through Budget System and select School Finance Budget/AFR files accordingly. The School Finance Budget Team will perform a verification on submitted changes; if the Budget Team has any questions about the changes, they will reach out through the submitted Help Desk ticket.

Note: Please check the file uploads status after the file submission.

If you have any questions about correcting Annual Financial Reports (AFRs) or School-Level AFRs, please submit a Help Desk ticket.

BUDG-25 reports for all school districts have been posted to the School Finance website. FY 2024 October BUDG-25 reports have been calculated using the FY 2024 October BSA-55 information.

• 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.

• District BUDG-75 reports are available to download from the School Finance website:
  • First, select a school district and then click “Go!”
  • Next, click “Switch to Budgets” from the top right corner of the menu bar and then click “Reports” from the middle of the menu bar.
  • Finally, select fiscal year 2022 and then click “Go!”. The BUDG-75 report will appear.
  • Please note that School Finance has not yet run FY 2023 BUDG-75 reports.

• 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 October “PDF” button. The October BSA-55 report will appear.

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

Thank you!

For immediate release: October 23, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
 

Newsrooms: Charts with data are attached.

Horne debuts new data analysis at State Board of Education meeting proving English immersion is superior to dual language

Proficiency rates soar with immersion method

PHOENIX – State schools superintendent Tom Horne revealed a new data analysis at today’s State Board of Education meeting that conclusively demonstrates that structured English immersion is far superior for the academic success of students as opposed to dual language.

Horne stated, “In 2000, the voters overwhelmingly passed an initiative to require structured English immersion, not bilingual education for English Language Learners. When I took office in 2003, my predecessors had not enforced that initiative. I was the first one to do so. We just completed current analysis comparing the five dual language schools with the best scores to the five structured English immersion schools. Both historic and current data demonstrate that structured English immersion is far superior for the academic performance of students as compared to dual language.”

He continued, “Lisa Graham Keegan, who was schools chief from 1995 to 2001 had reported to the legislature that, under bilingual education, only 4 percent of students became proficient in English in one year. After I had an opportunity to implement structured English immersion and teachers were trained in its implementation, the rate of proficiency in one year soared to 31 percent for the three-year average room from 2008 to 2011. “

Horne added, “Chart two in this analysis compares the five top English immersion schools in blue with a five top dual language schools in orange. One compares the top structured English immersion school on the right side with the top dual language school on the right side of the orange bars, the second highest on the right, with the second highest in orange, and so on. Generally speaking, the structured English immersion schools perform approximately three times better than the dual language schools.”

He concluded: “For people whose focus is on the academic performance of students, and who studied the data, it is clear that structured English version is vastly superior to dual language. Those advocating dual language are focused an ideology, rather than what is academically best for students.”

# # #

For immediate release: October 18, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
 

Horne: Creative solution means school safety program can place officers on campuses despite pervasive officer shortage

Program brings in off-duty officers to schools in 11 counties

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne is unveiling a new program that will make it possible for every available campus law enforcement officer position to be filled, despite ongoing shortages of officers in many communities. As a result, more positions in the already-funded School Safety Program will be filled with armed law enforcement officers with no new funding required.

The department has contracted with Off Duty Management (ODM), a company that schedules off-duty officers to serve as campus School Safety Officers at multiple schools in 11 Arizona counties as part of Horne’s goal to make sure students, educators and staff are protected by armed and uniformed officers. The officers may come from participating police agencies outside of their normal service area. For example, a Peoria officer may be assigned a school located in Phoenix.

Horne said, “The problem of finding officers to fill these funded school safety positions has been solved and it is vital that schools have armed officers on campus to prevent a tragedy should a maniac try to shoot up a school. Since taking office in January of this year, I have overseen the funding for 301 officers under the School Safety Program. Today, pending the approval of districts, we can begin to fill those positions and bring as many as 138 School Safety Officers (SSO) to campuses in 11 Arizona counties because of our initiative to work with ODM, a company that specializes in finding off-duty officers and assigning them to campus safety duties.”

He added, “Using ODM means an off-duty officer from one jurisdiction can be assigned to a school that is within the jurisdiction of another law enforcement agency. With this innovation, an officer can be provided to a school even if the community where that school is located has a shortage of its own officers. Cross-jurisdictional sharing of resources makes perfect sense to use this strategy to protect children in schools.”

Among the components of this model are:

• The SSO model will be used in schools that do not have a dedicated School Resource Officer (SRO). The SSO shall perform the same duties as an SRO.
• The SSO shall work with school personnel to conduct site assessments of their respective schools and provide recommendations to reinforce a safe school environment.
• The SSO shall work with school staff and other appropriate personnel to ensure their assigned school has an updated Emergency Response Plan.
• Foster Partnerships with students, school staff, and parents to build meaningful relationships with law enforcement.
• ADE will provide 8 hours of asynchronous training within 60 days of joining the program. Work hours will be established by participating schools and it is expected that SSOs will be on campus for the entirety of their shift.

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DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT

SPED Data Reporting in AzEDS Training

The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team is happy to announce an upcoming training for Special Education (SPED) Data Reporting in AzEDS. This training will review the essential information for public education agencies to successfully report SPED data in AzEDS.

The training will be hosted via a live webinar on Thursday, November 30, 2023, from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Registration is required to attend: Register for SPED Data Reporting in AzEDS webinar.

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

For immediate release: October 12, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
 

Horne announces creation of public-private Arizona Education Economic Commission

Group will address workforce development in critical areas including chip manufacturing, health care, law enforcement, many others

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has joined forces with the private sector and representatives from the governments of Switzerland, Taiwan, and the Navajo Nation to create the Arizona Education Economic Commission, a collaboration between education and industry to encourage the development of workforce and economic opportunities for Arizona’s students.

Developed by the Arizona Department of Education, the Commission is a public-private partnership led by the private sector and includes representation from multiple disciplines including computer and related technologies as typified by the TSMC facility under construction in north Phoenix, manufacturing, health care, law enforcement and fire sciences, mining, aerospace, and other private sector entities central to Arizona’s economy.

The core mission of the Commission is to address the shortage of skilled workers in strategic industries and to give students and adults a pathway to valuable careers. Ensuring students have the academic skills needed to perform in the economy is top priority of Superintendent Horne.

Horne stated, “My obsession is to make sure that Arizona’s public school students are academically prepared to succeed in our economy, and the Arizona Education Economic Commission is critical to achieving that goal. It is especially important that as students begin to develop their career aspirations that the education system encourages and nurtures those goals. The advantages for students are tremendous. For example, the starting salary for a high school graduate working at the TSMC operation after an apprenticeship will be $ 70,000.”

He added, “The private sector desperately needs more skilled workers across all industries and creating this Commission with its goal of producing skilled graduates, creating jobs and driving economic growth is essential to meet those needs.”

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Director General Amino C.Y. Chi said, “I extend my deep gratitude to esteemed Arizona State Government and your Commission for cherishing our partnership and friendship. We believe this Commission will bring a lot of benefits to your esteemed state whether in industry or education system and Taiwan Government and my office, the Education Division, will put efforts as much as possible to cooperate with your esteemed state government.”

He added, “As a Founding member for the Arizona Education Economic Commission, you may be aware that Taiwan is very well known for its innovation, technology and vocational education, thus I am confident that our two sides can launch many possibilities to mutually benefit each other in the near future.”

The Honorable Jacques Pitteloud - Swiss Ambassador to the United States said, “Dear friends in Arizona, what a great initiative to create the Arizona Education Economic Commission. Switzerland is honored to serve as a Founding Member to this worthy and ambitious Commission. An exemplary model in Arizona and hopefully an inspiration to many other U.S. states to prepare tomorrows workforce and ensure economic growth with vision. I congratulate you on the creation of the Arizona Education Economic Commission.”

The AEEC will build scalable work-based learning and apprenticeship frameworks that will build on the natural relationship between Career and Technical Education and the private sector. It will utilize a results-based process guided by proven global best practices and driven by an international team of educational leaders and key industry executives. Initiatives from this Commission will help create and keep jobs in both metro regions and greater Arizona.

For more information: azed.gov

# # #

Fall 2023 Foster Care Education Program Trainings

Spring 2024 Foster Care Education Program Trainings

For immediate release: October 11, 2023
Contact: [email protected] (Horne)
[email protected] (Petersen)
[email protected] (Toma)
 

Superintendent Horne, Senate President Petersen and Speaker Toma issue response to Governor’s recent claims about Empowerment Scholarship Account costs

PHOENIX – Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, Senate President Warren Petersen and Speaker Ben Toma have issued the following joint statement in response to Governor Hobbs’ recent claims regarding the costs of the Empowerment Scholarship Account program.

Superintendent Horne stated, “The Governor’s calculation is in error. She is counting the $7,200 paid for each ESA student without offsetting the $13,000 paid per student that would otherwise be spent for that student to attend a public school. The overall numbers bear this out as the expenditures for all public school spending, including the ESA program are $72 million below budget.”

Senate President Petersen said, “Arizona families want choices for their children's education. ESAs are one of many choices the Legislature is prioritizing. The fact is, we budgeted for the 68,000 kids currently enrolled and have responsibly planned for incremental spending increases for this program in the years to come, as we do with a variety of other programs in our overall budget. We're always open to improving our state’s programs, but for the sake of Arizona families who want to choose the best educational settings to meet their children’s needs, ESAs are here to stay.”

He added, “Unfortunately, the immediate crisis negatively impacting our budget is the skyrocketing inflation caused by reckless policies being pushed by Democrats at the federal level. This is crushing Arizonans’ ability to have discretionary income. As a result, many of our citizens are struggling to pay for basic necessities, they’re spending much less, and now our state is limited in the tax revenues we’re able to generate. We will evaluate ways to cut spending to accommodate any budget shortfall, but our school choice program will not be on the chopping block.”

Speaker Toma stated, "Governor Hobbs continues to blast the ESA program as unsustainable and exceeding estimates. Neither are true. We remind the Governor that she leads the entire state of Arizona, and if she seeks changes to the ESA program, she ought to propose serious policies, not tweet vague threats. The State Legislature has yet to see any policy proposals from her office. Arizona will continue to responsibly fund students, not systems."

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Data capture for the November 22nd payment is 10/15/23 at 5 pm.

Reminder: Payment 5 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 5.

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.