MUSD’s charter school funding in jeopardy

Maricopa Unified School District has spent the past several months getting ready for the conversion of six of its schools to district-sponsored charter schools next year – a plan now in jeopardy because of a provision in Senate Bill 1485.

The moratorium on additional funding for district-sponsored charter schools in SB 1485 passed the state Senate last week, said Sabrina Vazquez, lobbyist for the Arizona School Administrators Association. The broad budget appropriations bill is now in the House and a vote could come as soon as Tuesday.

House members currently are working on proposing an amendment to the bill that might provide an opportunity to budget additional funding for district-sponsored charter schools, Vazquez said.

The moratorium, if it becomes law, would apply to any charter school not operating by July 2013.

Superintendent Steve Chestnut said the district is expecting an additional $3.6 million in funding because it is converting six of its schools to charters.

The budget bill’s moratorium, which would apply retroactively, would affect MUSD’s plans.

“We’d be disappointed if this (moratorium) happens – a good compromise would be to make the cutoff date July 1, 2014,” Chestnut said.

If the moratorium goes through, Chestnut said the district would continue with the academic focus plans in the charter schools created this year to start with the 2014-15 school year. However, without the money, the district would not be able to hire the 10 to 13 additional teachers it wanted to help bolster the academic focus plans and help reduce class size.

“The academic focus plans aren’t staff dependent and we will continue to emphasize math, English and science, as we do now, but (without the money) we will still have the large class sizes that effect those classes.”

Chestnut said the district will not have to make budget cuts if the charter money does not come through.

The district-sponsored charter schools are Butterfield, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Maricopa and Saddleback elementary schools and Maricopa Wells Middle School.

Last fall each school formed a committee of teachers and parents to decide the academic focus plan for each school. The committees met on a monthly basis to come up with recommendations to put before the district’s governing board for approval. The board approved the focus plans late February.

***ADVERTISEMENT***The district has been holding periodic meetings to consider ways to spend the once-expected $3.6 million. That process is well underway, although next year’s budget has not been approved.

Calls to District 11 legislators – Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson and Reps. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa and Adam Kwasman, R-Oro Valley – were not immediately returned.