Amphitheater | Notion

Amphitheater Unified reported a dip in instructional spending last year, but they did increase how much they spent per student overall. Instructional spending accounted for 51.6% of the fiscal 2023 district budget, down 0.6% from the previous year. But overall classroom spending stood at about 66% and Amphi spent an estimated $15,000 per student, up about $2,500 from the previous year. The district’s spending broke down like this:

Classroom instruction: 51.6%
Plant operations: 14.4%
Administration: 9.4%
Classroom student support: 9%
Transportation: 6%
Classroom instructional support: 5.9%
Food service: 3.7% (April 1) (Tucson Agenda)

Teacher pay at Amphi still lags the statewide average, but they can get a bonus if they teach dual-enrollment courses. The average teacher salary at Amphi last year was about $57,600 in the district’s spending analysis, which was $5,300 lower than the state average. The bonuses will come from the Educator Recruitment and Retention Unit at the Arizona Department of Education, which awarded a one-time incentive bonus of $500,000 to be distributed to Amphi. Each eligible teacher who has qualified to teach a dual-enrollment course, where students earn both high school and college credit, and taught in either Fall 2023 or Spring 2024 will receive a one-time bonus of $1,000 this year. (April 1) (Tucson Agenda)

Over in Oro Valley, the town council heard about the financial troubles of the Amphitheater Unified School District from Superintendent Todd Jaeger. A bit of good news was that the town’s recent $100,000 contribution allowed the district to expand their preschool programs, an area where they receive no state funding, Jaeger said. That state funding, particularly the loss of it, was a key point Jaeger drove home during his presentation.

“We have had tremendous budget cuts in our state, and sometimes we hear that, but we don’t understand the scope of it,” Jaeger said.

The district’s capital budget was cut by 90% over the past decade and it’s been a long time since state funding kept up with inflation, he said. Without that money, the district has a hard time recruiting staff and paying for transportation for students. Those transportation costs are “extraordinarily high” for Amphi schools, Jaeger said, because the district covers 110 square miles and they depend on third-party contractors to meet their bus-driving needs. (April 8) (Tucson Agenda)

Amphi officials are considering putting a bond on the local ballot in November, given the long-running cuts in state funding. They need the money to meet numerous needs, such as covering costs for air conditioning, computers, and school buses, as well as continuing to support the district’s all-day kindergarten program, Jaeger said. District officials also are considering putting a pool in at Ironwood Ridge High School and making “other improvements to our facilities that could potentially benefit the public more broadly,” Jaeger said. (April 8) (Tucson Agenda)

Bonds galore: The Sahuarita Town Council and the governing boards of the Amphitheater Unified School District and Pima Community College are considering bonds, overrides, and tax increases to make ends meet, Tucson Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock reports as he digs through the agendas of various local school boards. (June 11)