Pinal Today

The Casa Grande Elementary School District ended fiscal 2022 with a 3.9% increase in its maintenance and operations budget, District Chief Financial Officer Nicole Wheatcroft said.

According to a story by Pinal Central, Wheatcroft cited a rise in teacher salaries, the return of students to classrooms after the pandemic and increases in sports and fuel costs as reasons for the increase.

“The primary reason for the budget increase was due to $2 million for teacher salaries that we were able to move during the fiscal year to ESSR (U.S. Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) to help carry forward for additional staffing that we are planning on using in future years with that budget capacity,” Wheatcroft said during the public meeting Oct. 11.

The 3.9% increase brings the total budget to $43,297,482, she reported. The board then unanimously approved the financial report and voted to submit it to the Arizona Department of Education and the Pinal County School Superintendent's Office.

In other business, board Superintendent Adam Leckie proclaimed October "International Alpha Delta Kappa Month," in recognition for what the sorority does in its charitable work.

“Recently our local Iota Chapter raised $1,000 last June for Alzheimer’s," Nancy Harrison from the Casa Grande Iota Chapter, told the board. "We continue to support many local charities. Iota already gives yearly scholarships to students who are working hard toward an education degree. In the past two years, we’ve given $5,000 to local university students to help further their goals of becoming teachers."