Thousands of students are returning to school this week with many more to come in the next few. With a new school year comes many expectations and goals. There are a lot of hopes and dreams as students and staff walk into school buildings.
School leaders like Mesa Public Schools Superintendent Andi Fourlis are working to make those come true.
“I felt like we were just preparing for graduation and now we’re welcoming our children back into our schools on August 1,” Fourlis said in a sit-down interview with ABC15.
This year, the district will be implementing what’s called a ‘Graduation Plus’ model. Three of its high schools will be moving toward a block schedule.
“Giving kids more opportunities within their schedules to pursue their interests,” she continued. “We're building pathways and academies at all of our high schools, so that students have an understanding of what their interests are so they're able to plan their academic pathway into college and or career.”
The district and board have several goals: to increase graduation rates and increase proficiency in growth in English language arts and math.
The state has not yet released the data for state assessment results after students tested during the spring.
Funding has also been a big issue for Arizona schools. Pandemic-era funding provided by the federal government, known as ESSER dollars, will be going away in September. Schools, depending on their size, received millions of dollars to help get through the pandemic. The money helped schools with getting their students back on track which could include hiring and retaining staff, paying for building upgrades, curriculum and more.
Several districts, including Mesa Public Schools and the Deer Valley Unified School District, saw bond measures fail this last November election. Bonds allow districts dollars to pay for new buildings or renovations among others.
“This next election will determine, really, our future,” said Curtis Finch, the superintendent for the Deer Valley Unified School District.
Finch’s district also had its override fail in November. Override measures help pay for operational expenses like teacher salaries and student programs.
While both the bond and override failed in Deer Valley, he said that has not yet had an impact on the district.
“If it doesn't pass in November, then we'll have to cut $11 million right away in the first cycle, and then it will be $11 million the following year, and $11 million the following year,” he said.
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Enrollment also factors into funding, and it’s been a juxtaposition depending on which districts are being looked at.
In Mesa Public Schools, Fourlis said they’ve budgeted for 1,000 fewer students this upcoming school year. The district has continuously seen enrollment decline due to the declining birth rate, increase in choices for schools such as private, charter and universal Empowerment Scholarship Accounts as well as housing choices and affordability.
Meanwhile, the Deer Valley Unified School District is seeing exponential growth as the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plant is being built. Finch said they now have an additional several hundred students because of TSMC.
“We're obviously going to be exploding up north. And so that bond and override, it will be critical for our expansion into the future,” he said, adding that the politicization of school boards and education in general has had effects on their schools and the future of their funding.
Bond dollars also helped Mesa Public Schools with their safety and security, which is top of mind for districts and families. Mesa has put in weapons detectors and vape detectors at its high schools toward the end of last school year. The district is working toward adding more weapons detectors to its middle schools in the new school year.
While there are physical measures that could be taken for student and staff safety, school leaders add that children’s mental health also plays an important part in safety.
“You can have the best walls, the best cameras, the best fences, but that's not your best security system. It's your students, it's your staff. It's the people that are in the system,” Finch added, saying that students and staff should feel comfortable enough to speak up if there are any issues that arise.
Another hurdle districts face is a shortage of certified teachers to classified staff that help support the schools.
Both Mesa and Deer Valley superintendents tell ABC15 that hiring and retaining staff for this school year is better, but it’s still a challenge. Districts have been looking for unique opportunities to try and hire and retain staff including offering stipends for hard-to-fill positions and starting their own programs to help train staff and work with them to get degrees to be certified for teaching or higher positions.
As another school year approaches and students and staff start stepping into schools, despite all the challenges, some districts have told ABC15 they feel they’re moving more toward normal after pandemic disruptions.
“We have overcome much of the negative impact of COVID,” Fourlis said, adding that there is still work to be done together as a community to improve students’ education.
