Pinal Today

The Maricopa Unified School District's Governing Board adopted a $101.6 million budget that includes last-minute increases, including an increase to pay that officials said is necessary to recruit teachers.

The budget increases were made possible by the Arizona Legislature, which boosted education funding by $625 million prior the budget’s approval. The additional funding will allow MUSD to enhance previously approved raises for teachers by an extra 1%.

“This will position the district much closer to the state average in teacher salaries and allow us to be more competitive in a strong labor market,” Jacob Harmon, finance director of MUSD, said in a story by InMaricopa.

Other district officials praised the state for taking the steps to further enhance teachers' salaries.

“The (additional) 1% raise fulfills the governing board’s promise to place more dollars in the classroom and invest in the retention of quality teachers,” MUSD Superintendent Dr. Tracey Lopeman said in the InMaricopa story. "Stability in the classroom is the foundation for success.”

The extra, last-minute boost by 1% was unusual, Harmon said.

“Typically, once we propose a budget and advertise a public hearing, statute does not allow a district to pass a budget higher than what was on our proposal,” he said. “Since the legislature passed the budget so late this year with significant increases to K-12 funding, they wrote in the language to allow districts to adopt budgets higher than the proposal.”