In recent weeks, the Arizona legislature and Gov. Doug Ducey have approached a deal on a $11.8 billion budget for the state in the coming year.
Tucked into that budget is an allocation for $50,000 for the Arizona Department of Education for “Mingus Unified Consolidation Costs.”
The proposed funding would cover certain costs related to a potential school district consolidation between Mingus Union High and Cottonwood-Oak Creek school districts, such as changed signs and letterhead or repainted buses.
The funding is not intended to cover any potential funding changes from consolidation. The MUHSD Governing Board has opposed consolidation based on board members’ belief that it would change tax structures and wage schedules in the new district in a way that they expect would cut funding from the school district.
The “$50,000 is a one-time payment,” MUHSD board president Lori Drake wrote in an email. “The restitution to Clarkdale-Jerome [School] could be more than a million. Previously the legislature gave around $1 million to school districts consolidating. You must remember more than $50,000 will be lost in funding to these districts every year. So, does it help? Yes. Does it make consolidation worth it? No.”
Bob DeGeer, a member of the Committee for Better Upper Verde Valley Schools that advocates for school district consolidation, said the funding from the legislature would be “very welcome in helping to offset consolidation transition expenses, not election expenses.”
The budget has not yet been passed by the legislature, so the funding is not yet secured. The budget allocates the funding for Fiscal Year 2020. If consolidation does occur in the future, it will happen after a vote in November of 2020. It is not yet clear if the funding allocation would be automatically postponed until after a future consolidation vote.
Arizona Sen. Sylvia Allen [R-District 6], who has previously submitted consolidation-related legislation to the Arizona legislature, did not respond to request for comment.
