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HANGING TOUGH
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Wednesday, April 7, 2021
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Kyrene faces $6M budget hit with little relief in sight BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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riven largely by a projected enrollment decline of about 1,250 students, Kyrene School District will get $6 million less in state revenue in the coming school year that two upcoming rounds of federal pandemic relief won’t come close to covering. That sobering news was delivered to the Governing Board March 30 by district Chief Financial Officer Chris Hermann, who focused solely on the district’s 2021-22 state revenue – leaving until later this spring Kyrene’s plans for addressing the shortfall.
Nevertheless, Hermann indicated that the board faces some tough decisions over the next two months as it crafts a spending plan for next school year with a budget that projects $109.7 million in million in state revenue, less than the $115.7 million in its current year's budget. “This means that we do not have the financial resources to address all of the budget shortfalls that we’ll be facing this year as well as next,” he said. Compounding the impact of enrollment decline is the wide disparity among Arizona’s school districts in the amount of pandemic relief funds that will be coming in two waves.
Celebrating unusual library
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Kyrene is getting the short end of a multimillion-dollar stick, Hermann demonstrated. “These amounts have not been distributed equally or proportionately across all public schools,” he said, adding what Kyrene is likely to receive “will unfortunately not be enough to completely stabilize all of our finances through this pandemic and address all the areas that have created shortfalls in this year as well as next year’s budget. “This includes offsetting the loss in funding that was due to enrollment and funding reductions for distance learning, funding for addi-
see KYRENE page 12
Shrinking revenue slowing highway work in Arizona BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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HEADING OUT
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Music Maker Workshops in Ahwatukee recently marked the six-month anniversary of its unusual twist on the Little Library concept. Joining in were, from left, Shelley Yakubow, Kim Steedman, Madison Archer and Jessica Magee. For the story, see page 25. (Pablo Robles/AFN)
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ore electric and fuel-efficient motor vehicles and a gas tax that hasn’t been changed in 30 years are making it increasingly more difficult for Arizona to provide a highway system that can serve its rapidly rising population. During a briefing last week for the PHX East Valley Partnership, Floyd Roehrich Jr., an executive officer of the Arizona Department of Transportation, said shrinking revenue has cut by a third the state’s annual spending on its highway system. As annual revenue has shrunk from $1.6
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