MUSD superintendent: continuation of budget override ‘critical’

The superintendent of Maricopa Unified School District said Wednesday that continuation of the 10% maintenance and operation budget override is “critical” to educating the 7,600 students in the district.

“Three things – the investment in technology, keeping class sizes small and funding our intervention and resources for at-risk students – that is literally all of the pie,” she told members of the Governing Board, underlining its importance to the district’s mission. “It’s a very focused allocation.”

Lopeman stressed the override is not a new tax on the citizens of Maricopa, but a continuation of an existing tax approved by voters in 2016. It will not increase taxes above current rates, and the residential growth in the last five years means the amount paid by each homeowner would likely decrease, she added.

Three board members in attendance at their meeting Wednesday night voted unanimously to adopt a statement in support of renewing the override, which will be on the ballot in November. Members Ben Owens and AnnaMarie Knorr were absent.

The override will expire in 2023 without renewal by voters.

In the five years since it passed, it has provided millions of dollars of revenue to implement initiatives to improve the quality of education. In 2018 and 2019, the override allowed the district to hire about 100 additional teachers, reducing class sizes in the district from the mid-30s to the mid-20s.

Lopeman said the lion’s share of the funding from the override, which was nearly $5 million last year, goes toward classroom teachers. According to Jacob Harmon, district business director, loss of the funding would have significant impact – a reduction of up to 30 teachers per year over the next three years.

If the override fails, the funding would be removed over three years at about $1.7 million per year.

If necessary, some of the teacher reduction would come through natural attrition such as retirements or teachers moving to other districts, but the end result would still be fewer teachers. The reductions would be felt across all grade levels from K-12.

In addition, Lopeman said the reduction in the technology budget would be about $500,000 annually. The override allowed the district to ensure every MUSD student had their own laptop, which proved invaluable during the distance learning necessitated by COVID-19.

Harmon said the district must replace about 1,600 computers every year just to maintain the district’s 1:1 student-to-computer ratio, as the computers are on a five-year life cycle.

Lopeman said the results of the override election will not impact construction and plans for the city’s new high school as those costs are in the capital projects budget.