Special election to decide funding for Buckeye Elementary

Buckeye residents will vote on Nov. 5 to determine the reinstatement of Buckeye Elementary School District’s Maintenance and Operations Budget Override. The decision could have widespread effects on BESD’s eight elementary schools and two preschools—impacting the continuation of programs such as free sports and increasing class sizes, according to the district.

An M&O Budget Override is permissible under state law so that school districts may increase their operational budget by an allotted percentage amount. BESD’s last budget override was approved in 2017 at 10%, said the Chief Finance Officer CJ Beckstrom. Overrides last for seven years before they must be taken to voters once again. 

When an override is completed, it is phased down in thirds. In the 2023/2024 school year, $1.3 million was cut from the BESD budget. Another $2.8 million was cut for 2024/2025. School district budgets work differently than most, Beckstrom noted. The budget is determined by a formula which expands and contracts in relation to the number of students enrolled in the district. With Buckeye’s exponential growth, students continue to arrive at BESD. However, the override still contributes a large number to operations.

“Without the override, the district will lose more than $4.2 million annually, leading to significant impacts on various aspects of your child’s education,” reads an informational notice shared by the district to continents.

BESD has been reliant on alternate funding to compensate for the override decreases, mostly sustaining itself through COVID-related funding. All of those money channels, however, have dried up. There have been no significant impacts to salaries, Beckstrom said, and no staff has been let go as the result of these reductions. It has, however, resulted in the need to not refill positions that have been left vacant by staff leaving the district for reasons other than being let go. This impacted the student to teacher radio, increasing the number of students per classroom.

A “yes” vote in the special election would put the override back in place at the 10% rate beginning the 2025/2026 school year. According to the district’s request for arguments regarding the special election, the first year of the reinstated override would contribute nearly $4.5 million to the budget.

According to the district, the M&O would result in an increase of $1.09 on residential property owners’ annual tax rates per $100 of limited assessed valuation. For each $100,000 of assessed value, taxpayers could expect an increased $109 in annual property taxes. Your home’s assessed valuation is determined by the county. Property valuations can be searched for HERE on the Maricopa County Assessor's Office website.

“We want to make sure that we have factual information in the hands of our community members,” said district Superintendent Chad Lanese. “We are not able to try to influence the election one way or another, but we want to arm people with facts.”

M&O IMPACTS

In the informational notice, the district projected what may happen depending on the outcome of the election. If the override does not pass, key budget modifications will be required. Those changes to accommodate budget cuts, according to the district, could include the following:

• One special-area class reduced per school: This includes classes such as physical education or computer learning. 
• Increased class sizes due to teacher reductions: 6-7 teaching positions would be fired at each school, resulting in their students being consolidated into other classrooms.
• Cutting senior staff: One senior staffer would be fired following the budget cuts. According to the district’s notice, this would affect “the quality and oversight of education and programs within the district.”
• Pay-to-play sports: Extracurricular sports are currently offered free of cost to students. With the reductions, the district says it would need to eliminate the program and begin charging parents for sports.

Many school districts charge parents an administrative fee to play sports, said Lanese, adding that BESD has been proud to not require that in an effort to make sports accessible to all students regardless of socioeconomic status.

“What we’ve really heard is a desire to keep that in tact. We’ve always really tried to make sure that it is not an expense for our families because we know how important our extracurriculars and sports are to our families,” he said. “A lot of times, that is the hook that can really get kids connected to their school. … If a family doesn’t have the means, we don’t want that to be an obstacle for families to participate.”

If the override did not pass, the athletics program would not go away, Lanese clarified. However, it’s likely adding fees would become necessary.

Should voters support the M&O Budget Override, in addition to retaining the above elements, the district identified the following benefits in its informational notice:

• Full-day kindergarten: The district would continue to offer the program at all its schools.
• Recruiting additional teachers by offering competitive salaries. According to the district’s notice, “M&O funds help attract, recruit and retain highly qualified teachers, directly impacting student achievement and maintaining educational standards.”

“In this day and age, there is a significant teacher shortage and that creates what we refer to as a buyer’s market for educators,” said Lanese. “They can shop around for a competitive salary pack. If you’re not on the forefront of that, you’re at the risk of not only not attracting new teachers into the system, but not retaining the ones that you have. We want to remain as competitive as possible.”

A robust, competitive school district impacts the local economy, workforce and home valuations, he noted, as well. 

“First, A strong economy is oftentimes directly impacted by a strong education system,” he said. “It’s investing in a growing community. Second, the stronger our education system is, the better equipped our students will be to grow into a career and be successful and contribute back into society to make our community strong and supported.”

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps

The 2024 Annual Data Release from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, an health sciences laboratory hosted at the University of Wisconsin, utilized data from 2021 which supported better educational outcomes for school districts with more funding.

“Increased school spending can improve student outcomes in a variety of ways such as reductions in class size,” reads the study, “and increases in the number of adults per school, amount of instructional time, and teacher’s salaries (resulting in more highly qualified teachers).”

In particular, children from low-income families experienced positive impacts. In all 12 years of their grade-school education, the students were found to complete an additional 0.46 years of education and achieve 9.6% higher earnings. A 6.1% decrease in the annual incidence of adult poverty was also observed.

“Additionally, spending increases have also been associated with higher rates of high school graduation, college enrollment and completion, improved standardized test performance, and increased adult earnings,” reads the study.

Beckstrom referred to studies which linked the quality of school districts with improved property values. InBuckeye reviewed a sample of the available research which seems to suggest that “you get what you pay” for when it comes to the interplay between school district quality and home valuation. 

According to the National Association of REALTORS’ 2023 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report, 30% of home buyers ages 33-42 consider “quality of the district” as their top factor when choosing where to live. One 2003 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggested that home values increase by $20 for every $1 spent in public schools—a trend consistent nationwide. A 2016 New York Times assessment found that a district’s test score improvement of 5% may increase home values by 2.5%. USA TODAY money, markets and personal finance reporter Medora Lee evaluated a Chicco study in April which also supported that homes in higher-quality school districts have higher valuations. According to the study, Arizona’s average home value is approximately $419,000. Homes in the state’s top-rated school district, Chandler Unified School District. No. 80, the average home cost is $449,000.

Voters must register by Oct. 7 with mail-in ballots due by Oct. 29. You can also vote in-person at the polls on Nov. 5.