Find out how your news organization can use Cronkite News content. We knew this was going to become an issue. In an abrupt reversal, Atlanta's public schools start the year remotely. It requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers. Menu. That depends; county health departments in Arizona can issue quarantine guidance. Arizona schools to close for the rest of the school year due to coronavirus Consequently, this list will no longer be updated unless case rates again force a substantial number of schools to close. "We are hoping it gets through a little faster this year with the governor pushing, because that way, districts are not hanging in this weird limbo, where they dont know if they are going to stay open or not," said Beth Lewis with Save Our Schools Arizona. Arizona public schools once again at risk of massive budget cuts and The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Gallego raises more money than Sinema in Arizona Senate race Due to a high number of new Covid cases, Atlanta Public Schools went remote for the first week of the new year, with a . January 7, 2022. State health officials said there are now 1,157 known coronavirus cases and 20 deaths. This limitation excludes charter schools and only applies to district public schools. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Legislature could and should pass a concurrent resolution before March 1 that will allow districts to exceed the Aggregate Expenditure Limit (AEL). Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Read more at UArizona News. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts. Your IP: Her position is partially funded by Report for America, a national program that supports local journalists. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. PHOENIX The clock is running out for state legislators to override a cap on spending that would prohibit Arizona public school districts from disbursing nearly $1.2 billion thats already been approved by the Legislature and budgeted. No schools were reported several weeks in January and February. "[State Senator Ken Bennett], the chairman of the Education Committee here in the Senate, will have that legislation to override the AEL for this coming year,". Um, no, AZ International Auto Show & New Car Buyer's Guide 2020 Model Year, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Updated by the minute, our Dallas Cowboys NFL Tracker: News and views and moves inside The Star and around the league . The previous survey's results (Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, and Spring 2022) remain available in . Ducey and Hoffman released a joint statement: In alignment with yesterdays updated federal guidance, today we are announcing the extension of school closures through the remainder of the school year. Erin Richards. Not because of COVID-19 this time, but because of a perfect storm of problems with our states school funding system. All rights reserved. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Two-thirds of each house of the legislature would need to vote on a concurrent resolution to approve the excess spending. The aggregate expenditure limitation shall be determined by adjusting the total amount of expenditures of local revenues for all school districts for fiscal year 1979-1980 to reflect the changes in student population in the school districts and the cost of living, and multiplying the result by 1.10. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Since students returned to in-person learning in August, districts have reported more than 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and required thousands of students to quarantine. Eighty-five percent of our budget is salary and benefits. Please choose your school district in Arizona from the list below to view a calendar of your 2022-2023 school holidays. These efforts are crucial, and we recognize that schools are making every effort possible to continue providing instruction during closures. On CoronavirusNOW.com, you'llfind extensive coverage about COVID-19, including breaking news from around the country, exclusive interviews with health officials, and informative content from a variety of public health resources. Prefer to send a check? All rights reserved. Todays announcement is intended to give parents and educators as much certainty as possible so they can plan and make decisions. 2023 Cronkite News. Arizona School Calendar 2023. K-12 closings tracker: Schools are sticking to in-person learning as The economic estimates commission shall determine and publish prior to May 1 of each year the aggregate expenditure limitation for all school districts for the following fiscal year. Two years ago, most of society shut down in the face of a deadly virus we knew little about and couldnt defend against. The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the states only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Is there anyone who wants to put them through that again? Published: Feb. 8, 2022 at 5:11 PM PST. Districts based their budgets on money the Legislature already approved. By: Sheenae Shannon, AEA Communications Director. MAP: Districts operational status across the U.S. 2023. Stay up-to-date on the most recent guidance, resources, and professional development offered by the Arizona Department of Education and our partners. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Arizonas children lost precious years of childhood. We also need to take the next step, to abolish this arbitrary, antiquated policy. The Sunnyside School District says it will lose more than $16 million dollars in funding. Sadly, some legislators are already playing political games, trying to convince themselves and the public that the problem is because of district over-spending. During his State of Education Address on Jan. 31, Horne touched on the spending cap, among other issues such strengthening student discipline, improving test scores, and his opposition to Critical Race Theory, which is a hot-button conservative political issue. Unvaccinated people were 32times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people, according to the new Department of Health Services' analysis of data from November. The spectacular surge of Omicron cases has left thousands of teachers and students sick, and many others quite logically fear . "That would be an incredible disaster. The deadline for a decision is March 1. The restrictions now apply statewide with cases reported in all 15 counties. In central Arizona, the Congress Elementary School District board met Wednesday and reviewed contingency plans. The irony is that this spring, school districts are running into something called the aggregate expenditure limit (AEL) that was created more than40 years ago. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Arizona Association of School Business Officials, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. We need an override by the Legislature, and then we need to fix it for the future.. Do we ask our people to work for free for the last few months of the year? said Hector Encinas, the CFO for Sunnyside Schools. Currently, a total of 877 classrooms in the New York City public school district have closed, their students transitioned to at-home e-learning, due to confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the . Creative Commons. There are solutions already introduced as bills thanks to Representative Jennifer Pawlik and Senator Christine Marsh -- I urge the majority party to act immediately and allow our schools to get on with serving their students and families.. School closures and shifts to remote instruction are quickly becoming less common as COVID case rates drop in many states. A democrat from Chandler has introduced a bill to eliminate the cap all together. You have permission to edit AZCIR material to reflect changes in time, location and editorial style only. While other counties do not have dashboards, some school districts have made their own, such as Kingman Unified School District #20 in Mohave County. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Its time to work together for the good of our children, families, communityand the future of this great state. Over the years, lawmakers have voted to override it which hasnt happened yet this year. According to Education Forward Arizona, the Legislature last overrode the gap in 2007 and 2008. However, he says he is hopeful that a decision will be made relatively soon. Close your doors for even a day and you will pay. A spending limit set 40 years ago doesnt work today. This is a lie. Gov. She said, for example, the Washington Elementary School District would lose over $25 million, Miami Unified School District would lose nearly $2 million, and Deer Valley Unified School District would lose more than $36 million. Look at our options. Doug Ducey has put Arizonas public schools on notice. The 10,000 pupils in the Lansing Public School District are stuck in virtual mode until at least next week. Public schools in Atlanta, Georgia also marked August 4, 2021 as the first day of the 2021-2022 academic year. Duceys wrong to use the pandemic as an excuse to expand school vouchers. 2023-2024 calendars are being added as they become available. Classes in Chicago Public Schools were canceled for the second day Thursday, the result of an impasse over the teachers union's desire to return to remote . Since students returned to in-person learning in August, districts have reported more than 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and required thousands of students to quarantine. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, Independent, nonprofit investigative journalism for Arizona. School Disruptions Omicron Upends Return to School in U.S. - New York Times But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Unless school leaders inform you that the school is closed or cannot provide a place, then you still have a legal duty to send your children to school unless they are unwell. According to Bridge Michigan, over 6% of the state's K-12 students missed at least one day of in-person classes this week due to COVID-related shutdowns. Work immediately to pass a clean concurrent resolution, without caveats, that allows school districts to exceed the Aggregate Expenditure Limit. Read more at UArizona News. 2023 Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. Maricopa County tracks schools with active and resolved outbreaks in a dashboard, but does not differentiate by school or district. Though some counties and school districts are monitoring outbreaks at the local level, there is no centralized tracking system. Theres no new taxes, no new money involved in any of that, and its really difficult for anyone to understand because its a complex topic, she said. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. One of the political issues at play is Proposition 208, which put a 3.5% tax increase on people with incomes over $250,000 for single tax filers or $500,000 for married filers. And Arizonas death rate remains one of highest in the nation, thanks in part to a governor who has used his emergency powers to actually prevent cities and school districtsfrom trying to protect public health. This tracker links to some school districts in the county that have their own dashboards, where they further break down case numbers by school. With your help, AZCIR has set out to provide a more comprehensive, regularly updated picture of where students and staff are contracting COVID-19 across Arizonaand how schools are responding. We all have to reduce our budgets by April 1 if they dont approve the budget, so at that point, we cant over expand our budget, she said. "When this was set in 1980, we didn't have Chrome tablets or whiteboards or any of the stuff that we have now that teaches our kids," State Sen. Fann said at the time. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe. 185.6.9.159 Tell your senators and representatives to stop using this latest crisis as a political football to score points against each other. Mental health breakdowns soared while academic achievement plummeted. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. And if schools close because they are not authorized to spend money already sitting in their bank accounts, the blame will lie with you not our public schools, Hoffman wrote to lawmakers in her address. We will continue to work with families, public health experts and school leaders to ensure our kids can stay in the classroom and parents have a choice always.. Interactive Coronavirus case data and map, Coronavirus in Arizona: Latest case numbers, Coronavirus: Symptoms, testing and how to prepare amid growing COVID-19 outbreak, How coronavirus differs from flu: Symptoms to watch for, Is it the flu, a cold or COVID-19? This is their way of saying no to 208 even though the voters passed it overwhelmingly, she said. For more than a decade the Legislatures failure to invest properly in our schools has resulted in such a severe teacher shortage that more than20% of our students dont have a permanent, qualified teacher in their classroom. During the 2021-2022 school year, public schools were staring at 16% across-the-board cuts, and looking at layoffs and school closings, according to education advocates. K-12 districts with mask mandates include: Higher education institutions with mask requirements include: Other districts have implemented partial mandates that apply only on school buses, on tribal land or when students and staff cannot implement social distancing. including Savanna Elementary School District in California and the Chandler Unified School District in Arizona. While Duceys threat should play well for him politically especially with those always looking for an angle to expand the states school voucher program I wasnt aware that there was any groundswell of support for closing Arizonas schools. Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic, Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District, Maricopa County Community College District, You must credit us: For bylines, use Author Name, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. At the top of the text of the story, include a line that reads: "This story was originally published by the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting." But in 2018, the Legislature extended Proposition 301, without exempting it. They may get sick but for them it is, thank God, more like getting the flu than getting a death sentence. "If its not addressed in a permanent manner, we are going to be pretty much sealing our feet from now on be at the bottom of the nation in funding," said David Lujan, a former state lawmaker. 5 Glendale elementary schools could close - The Arizona Republic So that cash will just sit there, we believe.. All stories must run in their entirety unless otherwise noted or agreed upon after discussion with AZCIR. Cheney believes the Legislature is trying to prevent Prop 208, an income tax rate surcharge on high-earners, from going into effect by not lifting the spending cap limit. The aggregate expenditures of local revenues for all school districts shall not exceed the limitation prescribed in this section.
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