Will Arizona schools see budget increases? Voters will decide in 2024 election
ARIZONA PRIMARY ELECTION 2024
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This November, voters in Maricopa County will be asked to approve school district bond and override requests, vote for school board members and select a county school superintendent.
As the campaign season progresses, The Arizona Republic's K-12 education team will be gathering its reporting on these education-related elections and updating this page. These elections impact the financial resources available to school districts and determine who is setting school district policy.
As in 2022, The Republic will be sending a questionnaire to school board candidates about their policy positions. All responses to that questionnaire will be available from this page.
Readers can also stay up to date on education-related election news by subscribing to The Republic's Educating Arizona newsletter at https://profile.azcentral.com/newsletters/educating-arizona/.
You can reach The Republic's K-12 education reporters, Maddie Parrish and Nick Sullivan, at [email protected] and [email protected]. Share education news, send accountability tips and keep the discussion going on The Arizona Republic's education Facebook page.
School boards
In Maricopa County, 175 seats on 58 school district governing boards are up for election in November. They're unpaid, nonpartisan roles. Candidates have until July 8 to collect and file the required number of signatures to get on the ballot.
School board members have a range of responsibilities including setting district policy, approving and monitoring the district budget, hiring the superintendent, approving curriculum materials and managing school property, including closing and opening schools.
Bonds and budget overrides
Several school districts plan to ask voters in November to approve requests for bonds or budget overrides. Districts have until July 8 to deliver a signed resolution calling for a bond or override election to the Maricopa County school superintendent.
Bonds and budget overrides are common ways for school districts to seek additional funding beyond their state-allocated budgets. They're paid for by property owners in the district through secondary property taxes based on limited property values of residences.
A bond is a form of debt that school districts take on. If approved by voters, they're sold to investors who are repaid with interest. Bond funds are used for capital expenses such as building renovations and improvements, new construction, safety and security enhancements and purchasing school buses and technology.
Maintenance and operations budget overrides allow school districts to increase their budgets by up to 15% for operational expenses such as staff and teacher salaries and student programs. Budget overrides last up to seven years, though they begin to phase out in the sixth year.
Maricopa County school superintendent
The Maricopa County school superintendent oversees school board and bond and override elections, maintains home-school and private school records and appoints new members to school board vacancies.
The superintendent also oversees the Maricopa County Regional School District, which serves students awaiting court hearings in county detention and students at Hope High School, an accommodation school for students who left traditional school settings.
Steve Watson, a Republican, has served as Maricopa County school superintendent since 2016. He’s running for a third term in November.
The 2024 candidates: Three people — two Republicans and one Democrat — are challenging incumbent Republican Steve Watson for the job of Maricopa County school superintendent. One of the debates among them is how school district governing board members should be appointed.
Audits become campaign issue: A third-party audit found more than a dozen financial practice deficiencies at the accommodation school district run by Maricopa County School Superintendent Steve Watson, including more than $200,000 of improperly mingled funds and an unlawful land sale worth millions. Watson, in turn, pointed to a recent audit of the East Valley Institute of Technology, for which his Republican challenger Shelli Boggs and Democratic candidate Laura Metcalfe are school board members. The Arizona Auditor General found the school did not follow requirements or best practices when spending $85.9 million on improving career and technical education programs at satellite schools, thus "increasing its risk for errors, fraud, and data loss."
In their words: We asked the candidates about school board appointments, managing tax dollars and more. Here's what they had to say.
See all 2024 Arizona primary races
A recap of everything: When is Arizona's primary? Election day is July 30. Here is a voter guide to help you learn about all the candidates.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona school elections 2024: What's at stake in Maricopa County
