Printable VersionFor the first time, Lake Havasu Unified School District officials are launching nine public meetings held at each of their campuses to address the “State of Schools,” which will include gathering what parents think about the district asking for another budget override in a future election.
The first meeting starts at 7 p.m. tonight at Jamaica Elementary School, at 3437 S. Jamaica Blvd.
Students, parents and voting community members are invited to hear an hour-long presentation followed by a question-and-answer session.
All of Jamaica’s teachers will be in their classrooms to provide babysitting during the event, which will include popcorn and a movie, according to Jamaica Principal Paula Levensailor. Levensailor said teachers’ participation was not mandatory.
“All teachers were asked to help unless they worked, had class or some other commitment” tonight, Levensailor stated in an e-mail to Today’s News-Herald. “They’ve made it fun and are looking forward to it.”
Levensailor also stated in the e-mail that each student who brings one parent will be able to replace one grade in one subject with a 100 percent. She further stated if Jamaica parents are unable to attend tonight’s meeting, they can attend another meeting and still receive the academic credit for their student.
The other eight schools in the district are still deciding what activities and academic incentives — if any — will be in place for the upcoming meetings.
District Superintendent Gail Malay will talk about why quality schools are needed along with the district’s academic successes, how schools are funded, explain why there is a budget crisis, why the budget overrides are needed, what “may happen” if further funding is lost, and how parents feel about the district asking for another budget override in a future election, according to Levensailor’s e-mail.
The LHUSD governing board has until June to decide if they want to place override questions on the November ballot.
Slightly more than 22 percent of the county’s registered voters casted their ballots in the last election. The district was roughly 200 votes away from passing each of their two budget override questions. They expect a higher voter turnout for the upcoming gubernatorial election.
Arizona state law allows school districts to ask voters for approval to exceed the main portion of its budget by up to 15 percent for seven years. The excess is then collected from additional, secondary property taxes. Voters approved the seven-year overrides in 2005, but voted down their renewal in November 2009.
All of the district’s schools raised their academic performance labels doled out by the state since the overrides passed five years ago.
LHUSD expects to lose $1.7 million in funding this fall due to the loss of the overrides and state funding attached to a declining student enrollment. The district is closing one of its two middle schools to meet their dwindling budget.
A December 2008 Arizona auditor general report stated that the percentage of dollars being used in LHUSD classrooms were higher than the state average or other districts of comparable size.
But that same report also stated that the district’s administration costs were higher because of printing and binding costs and transportation costs were higher due to inefficient routes; both measures have since been corrected, according to a December 2009 follow-up report.
You may contact the reporter at jleatherman@havasunews.com
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