Carefree Truth
Issue #556, April 3, 2017
Dr. Debbie Burdick, the Superintendent of the Cave Creek Unified School District (CCUSD), gave a presentation at the March Council meeting. Dr. Burdick reported that CCUSD has a new logo, "Community inspired, locally prepared". Their focus is on students starting with CCUSD, growing with them and graduating prepared for their future. Their mission is to inspire excellence and their vision is to inspire students to be "lifelong learners" in order to succeed in a global economy.
The Office of the Auditor General for 2015, the latest available figures, showed CCUSD spent 53.3% on classroom dollars, 10.4% on administration, 12.1% on plant operations, 3.7% on food services, 6.5% on transportation, 9.7% on student support and 4.3% on instruction support. In comparison to the state average, CCUSD administrative costs are comparable, plant operational costs are comparable to low, food service costs are low and transportation costs are low to very low. Despite running "lean and mean", during the last audit the Arizona Education Foundation gave all CCSUD schools "A" ratings, with A+ schools of excellence and A+ programs. Based on the test scores of the Arizona Merit Exams given every April, CCUSD is rated the number one school district in Maricopa County for student achievement. Statewide, they are #4 in math and #5 in English.
CCUSD listened to the parents and arranged their schools accordingly, affording students many choices. There are 5 elementary schools (ES) within the system. All teach a World Language, starting in kindergarten or pre-school. Black Mountain ES offers drama, art, dance, music and band, the only ES to include drama and dance. Their world language is Spanish.
At Desert Sun Academy the students wear uniforms and the world language is Spanish. An immersion course in French was recently introduced in which the students learn math and science for half the day in French and half the day in English, Desert Sun was the first public school in Arizona to offer French immersion. Former Desert Sun students who now have children there have been instrumental in creating a huge Science Center with 2 science labs. As well as offering general music, Arizona Music Fest provided guitars and ukuleles for a Strummers Program.
Desert Willow ES is an International School with a Spanish immersion course offered Pre K-6th Grade, the first language immersion ever offered in Arizona. The first group of students to start with the program has just graduated from Cactus Shadows High School. Most have also learned a second and third language, and are very proficient.
Horseshoe Trails ES is developing 21st century thinkers, one student at a time. Chinese is their world language and they offer a Chinese immersion program. It has an A+ equine program with a corral and a tack house on site. The students learn how to ride and how to take care of horses. Horses are trailered in 3 days a week. It is also an Arizona State University iTeach site, where students are taught how to be teachers.
Lone Mountain ES is a S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering and math) school. It features Lego, the sciences, technology labs and a weather station. The world language is Chinese.
Due to the recession, in 2008 the two middle schools were combined. Sonoran Desert Middle School requires that students study one of the three world languages as a core subject, along with the other standard middle school courses. It has 21st century classrooms. An Action Lab provides students with first hand experience on flight simulators, and in medical and veterinarian science fields. Modules take them through areas of interest for potential future careers.
CCUSD's flagship is Cactus Shadows High School (CSHS). As well as world languages, it offers a well known International Baccalaureate Programme. Students graduating with this diploma are accepted at any college of their choice in the world. CSHS also offers Advanced Placement courses for college credits, Dual Enrollment with local partner Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC), which brings courses onto the campus, and Early College, where students spend the afternoons taking courses at PVCC. Many graduating seniors have earned their Associates Degree as well.
CSHS offers career and technical education. Business internships are available through the Carefree/Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce. Some students feel they learn better using computers, so CSHS instituted computer labs featuring eLearning, with certified teachers and aids there to assist them during 4 hour blocks in the morning. All students continue their studies in Spanish, French and Chinese.
Typically, the school district is the largest portion of the property tax bill. CCUSD tax is lower than those of the school districts of Fountain Hills, Scottsdale, Deer Valley, Paradise Valley and Peoria. A combination of high assessments and bad luck with elections keeps the taxes low. But CCUSD is able to do "amazing things" with the help of all their partners who assist the district. These include Music Fest, the Foothills Community Foundation, Kiwanis, the Carefree/Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce and their own school district foundation. PVCC has outfitted some classrooms with career and technical education options. So many groups have stepped up. CCUSD has students who live in Cave Creek, Carefree, Scottsdale, Phoenix, and Rio Verde, as well as in areas of unincorporated County.
Looking at the tax bill, it would appear that extra taxes are being assessed, but those go into the General Fund, not to CCUSD. Because our taxes are so low, we are being taxed additionally to help all the other school districts in Arizona that are State Aided. CCUSD is one of 13 districts that are not state aided and which pay their way. Arizona is a State Equalization state and all taxes are put into the General Fund. Everyone gets the same amount of basic aid per student. This amount has recently dropped. Other districts have compensated for this by means of Capital Overrides, Maintenance and Operations (M&O)Overrides, bonds and Federal dollars.
Fortunately, CCUSD has only about 10% of students who are below the poverty level, but this makes the district ineligible for many grants. It is difficult to educate students on approximately $4,000 per year per student. By comparison, eastern seaboard states get approximately $20,000 per student. Arizona is consistently the 49th or 50th lowest state in funding, but is consistently in the midrange for achievement. As a parent and now as the Superintendent, Dr. Burdick is angry that other districts receive our tax money despite their access to overrides and bonds.
Bill HB2001, was put forth by District 15 Representative Heather Carter. It would allow CCUSD to recoup and to keep some of the tax dollars in the school district. It has gone through the Appropriations, the Ways & Means and the Rules Committees, and they are hoping to get it in the budget. This would provide some relief to the district, which now only gets to keep about $3,000 per student. This bill would not raise taxes; it would come from taxes already being paid.
Audience member Joe DeVito asked how school district taxes are determined. Dr. Burdick explained that the tax rate is determined by the number of students in the district and the per student funding needed. Additional taxes are assessed for overrides, bonds and JTEDS, which are for career and technical education.
Audience member Arthur Gimson asked if that money would be taken away from other school districts should HB2001 pass. Dr. Burdick replied that it would not, that approximately $3,000,000, "a small amount in the general scheme of things", would be taken from the General Fund. Mr. Gimson wondered who opposed the Bill. Dr. Burdick explained that historically the Legislature has not favored cutting other budgetary items to increase money given to school districts. "Everyone is fighting for the same piece of the pie." Mayor Peterson asked that further questions from the audience be held until Dr. Burdick finished her presentation.
The election history has been dismal. In May of 2007 an M&O override passed. In August of 2007, the State of Arizona forced the Christopher Verde Unified School District, which had no buses, schools or students, to join the CCUSD. In November of 2007 both a bond and a capital override failed. In November of 2008 and 2009 overrides for K-3 failed. In November of 2011 and 2015 M&O overrides failed. In November of 2014 voters approved re-purposing $10,000,000 of a previously approved $30,000,000 bond. The community doesn't want to pay higher taxes, but the State found a way to tax them anyhow because the taxes were so low.
Still, Dr. Burdick is grateful to the community for passing the bond re-purposing in 2014 that allowed CCUSD to put new roofs on schools, fix air conditioning units, paint the outsides of buildings so rain did not leak in during monsoons, and many other things that have meant so much to the students. Black Mountain Elementary School added a secure entrance, and the Cactus Shadow Fine Arts Center got a 25th year renovation. CSHS now has a defined entrance and a new field house, as well as a girl's softball field as good as the boys', and enough tennis courts to hold home matches.
CCUSD is the largest employer in the area, with 270 teachers including substitute teachers, and 373 classified staff members. The focus is on community values, providing horses, arts, working internships, and Team Falcon which many businesses have embraced. Special Education students can stay in school until age 21. Team Falcon teaches them skills through internships and helps them find jobs they can do successfully to earn a living. Leading by example, some Team Falcon students and graduates work within the school district.
Dr. Burdick's mantra is "CCUSD provides a private school education at a public school cost". She thanked the Council for giving her the opportunity to make this presentation.
Vice Mayor John Crane asked about the CCUSD's budget. Dr. Burdick said it is approximately $32,000,000 for operations. Approximately $400,000 is earmarked for capital improvements, which has fallen 88% since 2008.
This includes fixing all the buildings and buying technology leases, which cost more than that. About $1,000,000 comes from Federal grant money. The Vice Mayor said the lesson to be taken away is that the CCUSD budget is only 5-6 times bigger than the Town's, yet it is so important to the community, educating our children. It's such a big plant and most of us know very little about it. He thanked Dr. Burdick for helping the Council to better understand how it works. Dr. Burdick invited anyone to call her office to set up a tour of grades K-12. She said the Cactus Shadows students "will blow you away".
Councilman Jim Van Allen asked if the CCUSD has started teaching cursive writing in all grades. Dr. Burdick replied that they never stopped teaching it. Schools must meet State standards and can exceed them, but CCUSD goes way above.
Mayor Peterson asked Dr. Burdick if tax credits were good or bad for CCUSD. She clarified that there are two kinds of tax credits. Married people can give up to $400 per person in public tax credits. These credits are used to fund after school activities, clubs and field trips. ESAs are tax credits that benefit private schools. Around $5,000 per student per year is made available towards tuition for parochial and private schools. That money is taken away from public schools and Dr. Burdick did not like those tax credits.
Councilman Mike Farrar thanked Dr. Burdick and congratulated CCUSD for doing so much with so little, commenting that it is a great achievement to be ranked the #1 school district in the County. Dr. Burdick replied that it is the students and the teachers who are responsible for that, and said she would pass his accolades along. She again thanked the Council.
https://vimeo.com/207996899
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.
Issue #556, April 3, 2017
Dr. Debbie Burdick, the Superintendent of the Cave Creek Unified School District (CCUSD), gave a presentation at the March Council meeting. Dr. Burdick reported that CCUSD has a new logo, "Community inspired, locally prepared". Their focus is on students starting with CCUSD, growing with them and graduating prepared for their future. Their mission is to inspire excellence and their vision is to inspire students to be "lifelong learners" in order to succeed in a global economy.
The Office of the Auditor General for 2015, the latest available figures, showed CCUSD spent 53.3% on classroom dollars, 10.4% on administration, 12.1% on plant operations, 3.7% on food services, 6.5% on transportation, 9.7% on student support and 4.3% on instruction support. In comparison to the state average, CCUSD administrative costs are comparable, plant operational costs are comparable to low, food service costs are low and transportation costs are low to very low. Despite running "lean and mean", during the last audit the Arizona Education Foundation gave all CCSUD schools "A" ratings, with A+ schools of excellence and A+ programs. Based on the test scores of the Arizona Merit Exams given every April, CCUSD is rated the number one school district in Maricopa County for student achievement. Statewide, they are #4 in math and #5 in English.
CCUSD listened to the parents and arranged their schools accordingly, affording students many choices. There are 5 elementary schools (ES) within the system. All teach a World Language, starting in kindergarten or pre-school. Black Mountain ES offers drama, art, dance, music and band, the only ES to include drama and dance. Their world language is Spanish.
At Desert Sun Academy the students wear uniforms and the world language is Spanish. An immersion course in French was recently introduced in which the students learn math and science for half the day in French and half the day in English, Desert Sun was the first public school in Arizona to offer French immersion. Former Desert Sun students who now have children there have been instrumental in creating a huge Science Center with 2 science labs. As well as offering general music, Arizona Music Fest provided guitars and ukuleles for a Strummers Program.
Desert Willow ES is an International School with a Spanish immersion course offered Pre K-6th Grade, the first language immersion ever offered in Arizona. The first group of students to start with the program has just graduated from Cactus Shadows High School. Most have also learned a second and third language, and are very proficient.
Horseshoe Trails ES is developing 21st century thinkers, one student at a time. Chinese is their world language and they offer a Chinese immersion program. It has an A+ equine program with a corral and a tack house on site. The students learn how to ride and how to take care of horses. Horses are trailered in 3 days a week. It is also an Arizona State University iTeach site, where students are taught how to be teachers.
Lone Mountain ES is a S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering and math) school. It features Lego, the sciences, technology labs and a weather station. The world language is Chinese.
Due to the recession, in 2008 the two middle schools were combined. Sonoran Desert Middle School requires that students study one of the three world languages as a core subject, along with the other standard middle school courses. It has 21st century classrooms. An Action Lab provides students with first hand experience on flight simulators, and in medical and veterinarian science fields. Modules take them through areas of interest for potential future careers.
CCUSD's flagship is Cactus Shadows High School (CSHS). As well as world languages, it offers a well known International Baccalaureate Programme. Students graduating with this diploma are accepted at any college of their choice in the world. CSHS also offers Advanced Placement courses for college credits, Dual Enrollment with local partner Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC), which brings courses onto the campus, and Early College, where students spend the afternoons taking courses at PVCC. Many graduating seniors have earned their Associates Degree as well.
CSHS offers career and technical education. Business internships are available through the Carefree/Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce. Some students feel they learn better using computers, so CSHS instituted computer labs featuring eLearning, with certified teachers and aids there to assist them during 4 hour blocks in the morning. All students continue their studies in Spanish, French and Chinese.
Typically, the school district is the largest portion of the property tax bill. CCUSD tax is lower than those of the school districts of Fountain Hills, Scottsdale, Deer Valley, Paradise Valley and Peoria. A combination of high assessments and bad luck with elections keeps the taxes low. But CCUSD is able to do "amazing things" with the help of all their partners who assist the district. These include Music Fest, the Foothills Community Foundation, Kiwanis, the Carefree/Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce and their own school district foundation. PVCC has outfitted some classrooms with career and technical education options. So many groups have stepped up. CCUSD has students who live in Cave Creek, Carefree, Scottsdale, Phoenix, and Rio Verde, as well as in areas of unincorporated County.
Looking at the tax bill, it would appear that extra taxes are being assessed, but those go into the General Fund, not to CCUSD. Because our taxes are so low, we are being taxed additionally to help all the other school districts in Arizona that are State Aided. CCUSD is one of 13 districts that are not state aided and which pay their way. Arizona is a State Equalization state and all taxes are put into the General Fund. Everyone gets the same amount of basic aid per student. This amount has recently dropped. Other districts have compensated for this by means of Capital Overrides, Maintenance and Operations (M&O)Overrides, bonds and Federal dollars.
Fortunately, CCUSD has only about 10% of students who are below the poverty level, but this makes the district ineligible for many grants. It is difficult to educate students on approximately $4,000 per year per student. By comparison, eastern seaboard states get approximately $20,000 per student. Arizona is consistently the 49th or 50th lowest state in funding, but is consistently in the midrange for achievement. As a parent and now as the Superintendent, Dr. Burdick is angry that other districts receive our tax money despite their access to overrides and bonds.
Bill HB2001, was put forth by District 15 Representative Heather Carter. It would allow CCUSD to recoup and to keep some of the tax dollars in the school district. It has gone through the Appropriations, the Ways & Means and the Rules Committees, and they are hoping to get it in the budget. This would provide some relief to the district, which now only gets to keep about $3,000 per student. This bill would not raise taxes; it would come from taxes already being paid.
Audience member Joe DeVito asked how school district taxes are determined. Dr. Burdick explained that the tax rate is determined by the number of students in the district and the per student funding needed. Additional taxes are assessed for overrides, bonds and JTEDS, which are for career and technical education.
Audience member Arthur Gimson asked if that money would be taken away from other school districts should HB2001 pass. Dr. Burdick replied that it would not, that approximately $3,000,000, "a small amount in the general scheme of things", would be taken from the General Fund. Mr. Gimson wondered who opposed the Bill. Dr. Burdick explained that historically the Legislature has not favored cutting other budgetary items to increase money given to school districts. "Everyone is fighting for the same piece of the pie." Mayor Peterson asked that further questions from the audience be held until Dr. Burdick finished her presentation.
The election history has been dismal. In May of 2007 an M&O override passed. In August of 2007, the State of Arizona forced the Christopher Verde Unified School District, which had no buses, schools or students, to join the CCUSD. In November of 2007 both a bond and a capital override failed. In November of 2008 and 2009 overrides for K-3 failed. In November of 2011 and 2015 M&O overrides failed. In November of 2014 voters approved re-purposing $10,000,000 of a previously approved $30,000,000 bond. The community doesn't want to pay higher taxes, but the State found a way to tax them anyhow because the taxes were so low.
Still, Dr. Burdick is grateful to the community for passing the bond re-purposing in 2014 that allowed CCUSD to put new roofs on schools, fix air conditioning units, paint the outsides of buildings so rain did not leak in during monsoons, and many other things that have meant so much to the students. Black Mountain Elementary School added a secure entrance, and the Cactus Shadow Fine Arts Center got a 25th year renovation. CSHS now has a defined entrance and a new field house, as well as a girl's softball field as good as the boys', and enough tennis courts to hold home matches.
CCUSD is the largest employer in the area, with 270 teachers including substitute teachers, and 373 classified staff members. The focus is on community values, providing horses, arts, working internships, and Team Falcon which many businesses have embraced. Special Education students can stay in school until age 21. Team Falcon teaches them skills through internships and helps them find jobs they can do successfully to earn a living. Leading by example, some Team Falcon students and graduates work within the school district.
Dr. Burdick's mantra is "CCUSD provides a private school education at a public school cost". She thanked the Council for giving her the opportunity to make this presentation.
Vice Mayor John Crane asked about the CCUSD's budget. Dr. Burdick said it is approximately $32,000,000 for operations. Approximately $400,000 is earmarked for capital improvements, which has fallen 88% since 2008.
This includes fixing all the buildings and buying technology leases, which cost more than that. About $1,000,000 comes from Federal grant money. The Vice Mayor said the lesson to be taken away is that the CCUSD budget is only 5-6 times bigger than the Town's, yet it is so important to the community, educating our children. It's such a big plant and most of us know very little about it. He thanked Dr. Burdick for helping the Council to better understand how it works. Dr. Burdick invited anyone to call her office to set up a tour of grades K-12. She said the Cactus Shadows students "will blow you away".
Councilman Jim Van Allen asked if the CCUSD has started teaching cursive writing in all grades. Dr. Burdick replied that they never stopped teaching it. Schools must meet State standards and can exceed them, but CCUSD goes way above.
Mayor Peterson asked Dr. Burdick if tax credits were good or bad for CCUSD. She clarified that there are two kinds of tax credits. Married people can give up to $400 per person in public tax credits. These credits are used to fund after school activities, clubs and field trips. ESAs are tax credits that benefit private schools. Around $5,000 per student per year is made available towards tuition for parochial and private schools. That money is taken away from public schools and Dr. Burdick did not like those tax credits.
Councilman Mike Farrar thanked Dr. Burdick and congratulated CCUSD for doing so much with so little, commenting that it is a great achievement to be ranked the #1 school district in the County. Dr. Burdick replied that it is the students and the teachers who are responsible for that, and said she would pass his accolades along. She again thanked the Council.
https://vimeo.com/207996899
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.