Chestnut: How MUSD is spending your money

On Nov. 28, InMaricopa.com published an article entitled “Unknown Enemy Defeats Another Bid for MUSD Override.” In the article, Jeff Kramarczyk, president of the Maricopa Education Foundation, stated: “It would be healthy for the community to have the conversation on why people are opposed to it.” As a result of this article a number of comments were posted online. Many of the comments were very constructive and the Governing Board and I will take them into consideration.

Some of the constructive comments encouraged the district to pursue savings through energy conservation. We are working on that. In 2012 the Governing Board approved a contract to improve energy efficiency at Maricopa High School and Maricopa Wells Middle School. That system was installed in 2012-13. Currently, the district is reviewing proposals from three different vendors to improve energy efficiency at the other seven schools.

Some of the comments were based on misinformation. There were comments stating that MUSD was not improving. In 2012 the MUSD letter grade from the Arizona Department of Education was C, based on the AIMS state test. In 2013 the MUSD letter grade increased to B. AIMS testing in 2014 resulted in a district-wide grade of B for the second consecutive year.  In addition, this was the second consecutive year of an increase in the districtwide AIMS composite score (combined AIMS scores for all grade levels). In 2012 the composite score was 118, in 2013 the score increased to 120, and in 2014 the score was 127. The first goal of the district’s strategic plan is to “improve student learning and become an A-rated school district.” We are not yet an A district but we are improving. We must earn a composite score of 140 to be an A district and that goal is attainable.

There were comments stating that MUSD had not done sufficient “belt tightening.” In 2012-13 the district cut 53 staff positions (29 support staff, 21 teachers, three administrators) compared to the previous year. Total cuts were $1,996,000. In 2013-14, 23 staff positions were eliminated (16 teachers, six classified staff, and one administrator). Total cuts were $1,128,000. This school year MUSD received additional funding for district-sponsored charter schools which allowed us to restore some positions. This year we added 13 teachers and 10 support staff. Despite these additions, compared to 2011-12 we currently have 25 fewer support staff, 24 fewer teachers, and four fewer administrators. Most of the positions we added were because we returned to free, all-day kindergarten. The improvement of our letter grade from C to B freed up some grant funds that could be not be used for kindergarten when we were a C district.