The Winslow Unified School District Governing Board met last week to discuss, amongst other things, the budget for the next fiscal year. This was the first meeting with the district’s new superintendent, Amber Martinez. This conversation was hard to nail down as the state has not passed its annual budget, making it difficult to predict revenue accurately. “These numbers are basically a guess – the best we can do with the information we’re given,” said WUSD Business Manager Casey Hancock.
The district is proposing a total budget limit of $28.2 million for fiscal year 2026. This includes $19.1 million for Maintenance and Operation (M&O), $6.4 million for the Unrestricted Capital Outlay (UCO) fund and $2.7 million for federal projects. Compared to the previous fiscal year, both the M&O and UCO funds are seeing increases, while federal funding is projected to decrease slightly.
The M&O fund, which covers daily operating expenses such as instruction, administration and student support services, is increasing from $17.2 million last year to $18.4 million this year.
Instructional spending under regular education is rising from $6.2 million to just shy of $7 million.
General administration spending is increasing from $304,575 to $372,575.
Special education spending is going from approximately $2.4 million to just over $2.5 million, with the instruction portion of that budget rising from just over $1.9 million to just over $2 million.
The Unrestricted Capital Outlay fund, which pays for expenses such as buses, technology, instructional aids and facilities, is increasing from $5.2 million last year to $6.4 million this year. The district has budgeted $900,000 for vehicles, $400,000 for technology hardware and software and $1.5 million for instructional aids.
The Classroom Site Fund, which supports teacher compensation and related instructional costs, is decreasing from $5 million last year to $4.7 million this year. The average teacher salary remains unchanged at $58,151.
Federal project funding is expected to decline from around $6.7 million to a little more than $6.3 million. This includes reductions in Title I and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) allocations. State project funding remains unchanged at $560,774.
The district has also budgeted $3 million from the Building Renewal Grant fund – a state capital funding stream used for school facility repairs and upgrades. This fund had no budgeted amount in the prior fiscal year.
Enrollment projections show a slight increase, with average daily membership expected to rise from 1,714.68 to 1,750.69 students. Tax rates remain the same as the prior year, with a primary rate of 3.2820% and a secondary rate of 2.5739%.
The district’s spending plan is based on estimates, and adjustments may be required once the state budget is finalized, and actual funding levels are known.
The board was also supposed to receive a presentation regarding a $500,000 federal grant that was just received for expanding after school and summer learning programs. Leanne Bowley, the district federal programs director, could not make the meeting so the presentation was moved to the next meeting.
The next board meeting was also changed from July 9 to July 10 to resolve schedule issues.
The board also discussed the heating and cooling system in the high school gym which has been out of commission for three to four years. Hancock told the board that they had not yet secured a structural engineer to come and approve the roof to hold the new units. However, he also said that the units are smaller than the ones currently on the roof so it should be no issue getting approved. “This has to be our main priority because we can’t go another year with no heat and no cooling in that gym. It’s horrible now for those kids in there lifting weights,” Board President Debbie Martinez said in response. Martinez also said that the school lost out on an opportunity to host a football camp over the summer which would have brought in money but the camp couldn’t deal with the gym’s heat.
The board also had a second reading and adoption of policy advisories from the state school board association to clarify, combine past policies and make sure policies stay aligned with state law. Policy advisory 866 clarified administrative goals, while 867 changed language to reflect that boards may employ a superintendent. Policy868 reorganized the superintendent’s qualifications and duties and Policy 869 moved a policy from one part of the handbook to another. Policy 870 revised the superintendent evaluation process and introduced two evaluation tool options. Policy 871 deleted a redundant policy on staff relations, merging its content into other policies. Policy 872 updated school-based management to reflect current statutes and removed a small-district version. Policy 873 removed an unrelated legal reference. Policy 874 clarified consultant expectations. Policy 875 improved the annual report policy and removed outdated energy savings language.
Policy advisories 876- 906 were approved with a full listing available at the district office.
In other business, the board:
* Approved the following new hires: Tres Cake, alternative education teacher, upon certification; Stacey Jefferson, academic advisor, upon certification; Kasye Reynolds, paraprofessional; Lillian James, paraprofessional; and Alshina Nez, paraprofessional.
* Approved the following resignations: Riley Fallaha, high needs paraprofessional and Chantel Taylor, paraprofessional.
* Approved transferring Michelle Simmons from Career Tech to social studies teacher and Jordan Sawyer from English teacher to career tech teacher.
* Approved the following extra duty pay for paraprofessionals to be paid during school registration for Carmen James, Trinity Knox and Zach Young.
