Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPackets - Council Packets (1894)Town Council Meeting Regular Session October 2, 2024 Town Council Meeting Announcements Upcoming meetings Meetings are subject to change. Check the Town website for meeting status. Historic Preservation Commission –CANCELED October 7 Water Utility Commission Regular Session October 14 at 5:00 p.m. Hopi Conference Room Budget and Finance Commission October 15 at 4:00 p.m. Council Chambers Town Council Regular Session October 16 at 6:00 p.m. Council Chambers 4 Town Council Meeting Regular Session October 2, 2024 6 Mayor and Council Reports Town Council Meeting Regular Session October 2, 2024 Oro Valley Town Council Meeting Amphitheater Public Schools Update Superintendent Todd A. Jaeger, J.D. October 2, 2024 Amphitheater District at-a-Glance •Current Student Enrollment: 11,233 •21 schools, half of which serve the Oro Valley Community •Nearly 2,000 full and part-time employees •Total Operating Budget: $116,572,642 •Federal and State Projects: $18,896,442 •Gifted Enrollment Total: 2,189 students Amphitheater District at-a-Glance •Free and Reduced Lunch Percentage: 37% •English Language Learners Count: 849 students •SPED Percentage: 19% •Strong Academic Growth Trend: •2017: Two “A” (Excelling) schools in the District •Last school year: 8 “A” schools •This year: we anticipate eleven “A” schools (more than half our schools) and several “Highly Performing” schools. •Two inner-city schools less than one point or two from “A”s. Our Programs at-a-Glance •Fully Accredited by Cognia (formerly Northwest Accredit) •All-Day Kindergarten •20 Career and Technical Education Programs •Rigorous Advanced Placement®Courses •Dual Enrollment Opportunities •International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (CDO) •Cambridge Academy Diploma Program (AHS) •STEM programming throughout our District; Maker Spaces •Exceptional Education – Special Education and REACH (Gifted) •Robust Interscholastics – frequently in state championships •Music, Art, and Physical Education – all grade levels; full certification •More than one computer device for every district student Thank you for our SRO’s! •OFC. Mark Kaser-Ironwood Ridge High School •OFC. Ron Beauchamp-Innovation Academy •OFC. Monique Dudley-Painted Sky Elementary •OFC. Brittany O’Crotty and Sgt. Ken Durbin- Canyon del Oro High School •OFC. Trey Brown-Wilson K-8 •OFC. Andrea Keena-Copper Creek The Amphitheater Override and Bond; November 5th Election Prop 412: $84,000,000 School Improvement Bonds Prop 413: 13.5 % Maintenance and Operations Budget Override Continuation The purpose of this presentation •Provide brief background on school funding in Arizona •Explain the November 5 Override and Bond propositions. •NOTE: District staff cannot use district resources to influence the outcome of any election, including their own override elections. Therefore, district employees cannot advocate for the overrides, nor can they allow district resources to be used to do so. But they can provide information. That’s what this presentation will do. Some Background… •Maintenance and Operations: vast majority of our budget; funds allocated under strict state formulas to pay for general operational expenses such as payroll, utilities, fuel, consumable materials, supplies, and certain equipment. •Capital: funds allocated under strict and limited state formulas to fund such things as building improvements, durable assets and equipment, textbooks, and vehicles. •Bonds: voter approved, long-term financing mechanism for certain capital items, chiefly buildings and equipment that have long-term, useful lives. Three basic school fund categories Limitations on Spending •Regardless of a school district’s tax base or its level of need, each school district is limited by state formulas to the amount it can spend. •Except for bonds, state formulas generally tie spending to the number of enrolled students. Challenges We Face •Budget cuts and recovery​ •Arizona school funding is set by the state, not local districts​ •State funding failed to even keep pace with inflation for decades​ •The Great Recession amplified the effects of historical funding shortfalls.​ •Example: 90% of school district capital budgets were cut by the state legislature for nearly 15 years, dramatically impacting our ability to maintain and improve our facilities and grounds​ •Recent restoration of capital funds has set us on a course of working to "catch up"​ •Recruitment of staff​ is impeded by state funding reputation Funding Perspective Top 5 States in Total Education Funding per student Bottom 5 States in Total Education Funding per student (National average per student: $16,131). Of the $10,670 per student in Arizona, only approximately $7,800 comes from the state. The rest comes from other sources, including local taxpayers through budget overrides and school bonds. Source: "Making the Grade, 2023", Education Law Center Funding Perspective •Source: Source: "Making the Grade, 2023", Education Law Center Funding Perspective •Source: Source: "Making the Grade, 2023", Education Law Center What cuts to public schools? •Many people do not realize how substantially public school budgets have been cut over many years. It began in 2009 and grew from there. In Amphi alone, state cuts over an eleven-year period totaled nearly $120 Million. How do Arizona schools cope with these realities? •Unlike many other states, Arizona school districts cannot simply increase local taxes if their costs or needs increase. •However, local voters can approve bonds and budget overrides that authorize their district to exceed the state’s strict formulas. •November’s election presents two different questions to the Amphi voters: Prop 412: Whether to allow the District to issue and sell general obligation bonds in the principal amount of not to exceed $84,000,000 to provide various school improvements. Prop 413: whether to permit the District to adopt a budget that includes provides additional funds which exceed those specified by statute by 13.5% to continue existing educational programs for seven years. Two Separate Questions The Amphitheater District has a 2024/2025 constitutional bonding debt limit of approximately $833,461,867. The District is seeking a bond authorization that is well below that: only $84,000,000. Prop 412: Proposition to Issue School Bonds of Approximately $84,000,000 Due to the continued lack of funding from the state, the Amphitheater District Governing Board has called for this special bond election to provide funding for: •School facility maintenance •School renovations •Student transportation vehicles (school buses) •Instructional technology •Campus security improvements The Rationale for a Bond Issue •Restore or replace roofing and other exterior buildings components to maintain a secure and weatherproof environment. •Replace failed or deteriorated heating and cooling systems and improve energy efficiency. •Renovate or replace aged electrical infrastructure and lighting. •Replace systems that are required for life and safety features such as fire alarms, access control systems, intrusion alarms, intercom and public address systems. •Replace deteriorated interior building materials and furnishings, such as flooring, ceilings, restroom partitions, and built in furniture. Specific Uses for the Bonds •Renovate or replace plumbing fixtures and wet utility systems. •Provide for security fencing, gates, walkways, patios and shade covers, outdoor athletic courts, bleachers, parking lots, and other site structures. •Renovate or replace special equipment used to meet needs of the disabled and support compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) •Purchase air-conditioned, fuel-efficient school busses and vans to replace vehicles in the fleet that are past their useful life. Specific Uses for the Bonds •Purchase instructional technology equipment for use by students, teachers, and staff and upgrade network infrastructure to enhance the educational environment district wide. •Restore athletic fields, playgrounds, storm water drainage, irrigation and water well systems and other landscaping components. •Safety and security improvements in school facilities, to include technology (e.g., security cameras and access controls). Specific Uses for the Bonds The proposed bonds will not increase the District’s taxes. In November of 2004, a Blue Ribbon Budget Analysis Committee (a representative group of community members) recommended a 10% M&O override for the Amphitheater District to be used for: • Class size reduction • Enhanced Art, Music, & PE classes at Elementary schools • Increased middle & high school electives • Academic Intervention Programs • Enhancements to staff compensation to help maintain competition •Addition of 3 to 4 support staff members to meet growing facilities needs). Amphi’s Override •Budget overrides also have their limits -- both in percent of increase allowed and duration of any authorized increase. •M&O overrides, for example, cannot increase District’s budget by more than 15%. •And, overrides cannot last for more five years before they “phase” out: •Years 1 to 5: Full amount of override. •Year 6: 2/3 of override amount. •Year 7: 1/3 of override amount. •After year 7: Override is fully over; back to regular state budget Budget Override Limitations •Original passage in May 2005. •Renewed in November 2009, November 2014, and November 2019. •The Amphitheater District has continued to honor the original recommendations of our citizens’ committee, and use the funds for the same purposes in each override renewal. •Over the course of the last twenty years, the override funds have helped the District maintain programs and services for students despite extensive state education budget cuts. Voters have approved the renewal of that same override three times. Unless renewed, the current Maintenance and Operations Override and all the programs and services it supports will begin to phase out: •in 2025-26 (down to 2/3 •in 2026-27 (down to 1/3) •and fully expire in 2027-28. Prop 413: The Current Override Renewal Simply put – The override renewal will do the very same things the existing override is doing. What will the override renewal support? •Math and Writing Labs have been added at each middle school, along with Technology, Science and Fine Arts electives. •Middle school enhancements include expanded science courses, MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement), Drama, and Dance. •In high school, course additions have included, among others, the following: International Baccalaureate®, Cambridge Academy®, Studio Art, Computer Science, Engineering, French, Music Theory, Teen Court, and a variety of Advanced Placement course such as, AP Psychology, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics/Mechanics, Biology, AP Statistics and AP Government. Expanded Courses •Tutoring and other intervention programs have been implemented, and will continue to be, which serve students throughout the school year as well as into the summer. •This level of student interventions and support was not possible prior to the override. Intervention Services for Students •Prior to 2005, some elementary grade levels only received 20 minutes a week in Art, Music and Physical Education instruction. •We now provide at least 50 minutes per week per grade level in Art, Music, and PE in all District Elementary Schools – thanks to the override. Increased Elementary Art, Music and P.E. •Class sizes in Amphitheater did increase as a result of state budget cuts that began in 2008. •The existing override tempered those reductions and prevents them from being even higher by providing funding to hire and retain additional teachers. Class Size Reduction •Several school districts in the Tucson area have long benefitted from overrides in order to make their student programs and services, as well as their staff compensation, more competitive. •Therefore, the Amphi override also included a specific component to adjust employee compensation – to make the District more competitive in the recruitment and retention of staff. •Approximately 3.8% of current Amphitheater employee pay currently comes from the existing override. Compensation Support Support of Youngest Learners •The State previously provided full-day funding for Kindergarten. The state cut that funding, reducing Kindergarten to only half a day. •The current Amphitheater budget override replaces the lost state funding and enables the District to provide full-day Kindergarten to its residents. •In addition, the Amphi creates much smaller class sizes in Kindergarten through Third Grade – reducing classes by 5 to 8 students per class. How much will the renewal of the current override increase District taxes? All of the programs described above will be funded by a budget override of $12,193,151 for the entire District. That amount of budget override is already covered by the District’s existing taxes. Like our Bond, renewal of the existing override will not increase District taxes. Questions? Proud to serve Oro Valley Proud to serve the Oro Valley Community Town Council Meeting Regular Session October 2, 2024 Renaming West Lambert Lane Park October 2, 2024 West Lambert Lane Park Located west of La Canada Dr. & north of Lambert Ln. 10 parking spaces (1 accessible) 2 Hiking Trail Loops .25 miles .50 miles 7 Benches Minimal Signage Recommendations Ideas from STEAM Camp Youth Advisory Council (YAC) Parks & Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) Top 3 recommendations from PRAB Golden Peak Trails Panorama Trails Golden Peak Loop Town Council Meeting Regular Session October 2, 2024