HB2800 - 561R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-189.05, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-189.05. Charter school budgets; posting of teacher salary information; annual report

A. The budget for each charter school shall contain the following information:

1. The average salary of all teachers employed by the charter school for the current year.

2. The average salary of all teachers employed by the charter school for the previous year.

3. The dollar increase in the average salary of all teachers employed by the charter school for the current year.

4. The percentage increase in the average salary of all teachers employed by the charter school for the current year.

5. The salary schedule for eligible teachers as defined in section 15-248.01 who are employed by the charter school for the current year.

6. A statement identifying the number of eligible teachers as defined in section 15-248.01 who are employed by the charter school for the current year.

B. Each charter school shall prominently post the information required by subsection A of this section on its website home page separately from its budget.

C. On or before November 30 of each year, the department of education shall electronically submit to the joint legislative budget committee and the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting a report that compiles the information required by subsection A of this section for all charter schools statewide. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Title 15, chapter 2, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-248.01, to read:

START_STATUTE15-248.01. Teachers; base salary increases; pay teachers first fund; annual estimate; definitions

A. Regardless of whether a SCHOOL district or charter school receives monies from the fund established by subsection E of this section, each school district and charter school in this state shall revise its salary schedule or schedules to increase the base salary of all eligible teachers who are or will be employed by a school operated by the school district or charter school as follows:

1. In fiscal year 2023-2024, $5,000 above the base salary of fiscal year 2022-2023.

2. In fiscal year 2024-2025, $10,000 above the base salary of fiscal year 2022-2023.

B. The base salary increases required under subsection A of this section must be the same amount for each eligible teacher without regard to teacher experience levels or teaching assignments.

C. Notwithstanding sections 15-502 and 15-544, a school district or charter school may not reduce the base salary of eligible teachers who are or will be employed by the school district or charter school below the base salary schedule reported to the department in fiscal year 2024-2025. This subsection does not restrict a school district's or charter school's authority to adjust an individual teacher's salary in a manner that is consistent with the applicable base salary schedule, including an adjustment for any change in employment status.

D. A school district or charter school is eligible to receive monies from the pay teachers first fund established by this section if the school district or charter school complies with the requirements prescribed in section 15-747. Monies distributed from this fund must be used for the salary increases for eligible teachers required by subsection A of this section. Monies in the fund may be used for up to fifty percent of associated employee-related expense cost increases.

E. The pay teachers first fund is established consisting of legislative appropriations. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated and exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to lapsing of appropriations. The department shall administer the fund and establish procedures for determining WHETHER school districts and charter schools are eligible to receive monies from the fund. The department shall allocate monies from the fund to each eligible school district or charter school as follows:

1. In fiscal year 2023-2024, $5,000 per eligible teacher as reported pursuant to sections 15-189.05 and 15-903 to fund the increases made under subsection A of this section in fiscal year 2023-2024.

2. Beginning in fiscal year 2024-2025 and each fiscal year thereafter, $10,000 per eligible teacher as reported pursuant to sections 15-189.05 and 15-903 to fund the increases made under subsection A of this section in fiscal year 2024-2025.

F. On or before May 30 of each year, the department shall furnish to the joint legislative budget committee an estimate of the amount required to fund the Pay Teachers First fund allocations prescribed by subsection E of this section for the following fiscal year.

G. The department shall add the amount allocated to each school district and charter school pursuant to subsection E of this section to the base support level that would otherwise be computed for the school district or charter school for each fiscal year pursuant to section 15-943 or 15-943.02.

H. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Classroom teaching" includes any nonadministrative activities that provide instruction to students or that support student academic achievement as prescribed by the school district governing board or charter school governing body.

2. "eligible teacher":

(a) means a person who meets all of the following:

(i) Is employed by a charter school or a school operated by a school district in this state.

(ii) Devotes more than fifty percent of the person's time to classroom teaching.

(iii) Is employed for a full school day, or its equivalent, or for a full class load, or its equivalent, as determined by the department.

(b) Includes current teachers and teachers who begin work for the school district or charter school after the effective date of this section.

(c) Does not include an administrator or a person who has been designated in either of the two lowest performance classifications after an evaluation conducted pursuant to section 15-189.06 or 15-537. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 15-747, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-747. School transparency; online portal; required information; comprehensive database; third-party contractor

A. Beginning in fiscal year 2021-2022, The department of administration education shall develop and maintain a transparent and easily accessible school financial online transparency portal that:

1. Is electronically searchable by the PUBLIC at no cost.

2. Includes the following school level data for charter schools, school districts and individual schools operated by a school district and school districts:

1. (a) The detailed total revenues generated by weighted student count.

2. (b) The total allocated federal, state and local revenues.

3. (c) The allocation of classroom site fund monies.

4. (d) The amounts allocated for teacher pay and benefits, classroom supplies, student support and other expenditures.

5. (e) A comparison of the funding information for each school in relation to the funding information for other schools in the same local education agency school district or other charter schools.

(f) the number of full-time equivalent positions at each individual school, disaggregated by the type of position.

(g) the average salary and salary range for each type of position reported pursuant to subdivision (f) of this paragraph at each individual school.

(h) Links to eAch school district's and charter school's proposed, adopted and revised budgets for at least the current fiscal year, the two fiscal years IMMEDIATELY preceding the current fiscal year and the upcoming fiscal year.

(i) The amount allocated for each current and prospective capital project or facility expense and all funding sources for each project or expense.

6. (j) Any other information that is necessary for a transparent comparison between schools with respect to their revenues, expenditures, student demographics or academic achievement.

3. Contains a comprehensive database of receipts and expenditures by each school district and each individual school operated by a school district.

B. The comprehensive database prescribed in subsection A, paragraph 3 of this section must Allow users to:

1. Search and aggregate payments by individual school, category of expenses and school district.

2. Search and aggregate payments to individual vendors, including the total amount of funding awarded to individual vendors by each individual school, each school district or all school districts in this state.

3. Download information yielded by a search of the database.

4. Access electronic versions of contracts that relate to expenditures.

C. The comprehensive database prescribed in subsection A, paragraph 3 of this section shall include each entry into the school districts' general ledger, including receipts of revenues, expenditures and disbursements. The expenditure data prescribed in this subsection shall list:

1. The manner of payment, including check, warrant or credit, debit or other purchase card.

2. The funding source from which the expenditure is appropriated.

3. A standardized descriptive title of the type and purpose of the transaction.

4. The date and amount of each payment.

5. The individual school or school district making the payment.

6. The name of the person or entity receiving the payment, including to the extent practicable a parent entity of the recipient if the recipient is owned by another entity.

7. The primary location of performance under the contract, including the county, city or town and legislative district.

D. The comprehensive database prescribed in subsection A, paragraph 3 of this section may not include:

1. Payees' addresses or telephone numbers, but the department may allow public access to the database information identifying the county in which the payee is located.

2. Work product in anticipation of litigation or information subject to attorney-client privilege.

3. Any other information that is designated by law as confidential or preapproved as confidential by the department pursuant to rule. The department and any officer or employee of the department:

(a) May rely on a determination made by a school district regarding confidentiality of information relating to the school district's expenditures.

(b) Are immune from civil liability for posting confidential information under this section if the posting is in reliance on the school district's determination relating to confidentiality.

B. E. The department of education and the state board for charter schools shall provide and assist with any necessary data or financial information the department of administration education or the contractor selected pursuant to subsection C H of this section requests to comply with and implement subsection A of this section. The auditor general may provide assistance related to this section.

F. Each charter school and school district shall cooperate with the department of education as necessary to implement and administer this section. Each charter school and school district shall provide to the department any additional data in a manner and schedule prescribed by the department that is required to be included in the online transparency portal. The online transparency portal shall be updated within thirty days after the end of each fiscal year and may be updated as new data becomes available. The data shall be retained in the online portal for at least ten full fiscal years.

G. Notwithstanding subsection F of this section, a school district that qualifies for the small school weights prescribed in section 15-943, paragraph 1 is not required to provide additional data pursuant to this section.

C. H. The department of administration education shall contract with a third party to develop the online transparency portal prescribed in subsection A of this section. The third party selected by the department must meet all of the following:

1. Have experience in building education finance platforms to show school financial information in a transparent and easily understandable format.

2. Be incorporated for at least five years.

3. Have an exclusive focus on K-12 education finance technology.

4. Have at least five years of experience building cloud-hosted education finance software.

5. Have experience integrating with the uniform system of financial records. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Section 15-903, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-903. Budget format; prohibited expenditures; annual report

A. The superintendent of public instruction in conjunction with the auditor general shall prepare and prescribe a budget format to be utilized used by all school districts.

B. The budget format shall be designed to allow all school districts to plan and provide in detail for the use of using available funds monies. The budget format shall contain distinct sections for, but need not be limited to, maintenance and operation, debt service, special projects, capital outlay, adjacent ways and classroom site fund. The maintenance and operation section shall include, but need not be limited to, separate subsections for regular education programs, special education programs and operational expenditures for pupil transportation. Each subsection shall clearly distinguish classroom instruction expenditures. The special education program subsection shall include a subtotal for the disability classifications as defined in section 15-761 and programs for gifted, vocational and technical education, remedial education and bilingual students. The total expenditures for each of these programs shall be included on the budget form. The pupil transportation subsection shall include all operational expenditures relating to the transportation of transporting pupils, including all operational expenditures within a contract if the school district contracts for pupil transportation.

C. The capital outlay section of the budget shall include a subsection for unrestricted capital outlay. The unrestricted capital outlay subsection shall include budgeted expenditures for acquisitions by purchase, lease-purchase or lease of capital items as defined in the uniform system of financial records and shall include:

1. Land, buildings and improvements to land and buildings, including labor and related employee benefits costs and material costs if work is performed by school district employees.

2. Furniture, furnishings, athletic equipment and other equipment, including computer software.

3. Pupil and nonpupil transportation vehicles and equipment, including all capital expenditures within a contract if the school district contracts for pupil transportation.

4. Textbooks and related printed subject matter materials adopted by the governing board.

5. Instructional aids.

6. Library books.

7. Payment of principal and interest on bonds.

8. School district administration emergency needs that are directly related to pupils.

D. The budget format shall contain distinct subsections for the following:

1. Special programs to improve academic achievement of pupils in kindergarten programs and grades one through three as provided in section 15-482.

2. School plant funds.

3. Capital outlay budget increases as provided in section 15-481.

4. Property taxation, including the following:

(a) The primary tax rates for the school district for the current year and the budget year.

(b) The secondary tax rates for maintenance and operation, K-3 and capital overrides for the school district for the current year and the budget year.

(d) The secondary tax rates for class B bonds for the school district for the current year and the budget year.

5. A description of any corrections or adjustments made to the budget pursuant to section 15-915.

E. The budget format shall also contain:

1. A statement identifying proposed pupil-teacher ratios and pupil-staff ratios relating to the provision of special education services for the budget year.

2. A statement identifying the number of full-time equivalent certified employees.

3. A statement identifying the number of eligible teachers as defined in section 15-248.01 who are employed by the school district for the current year.

3. 4. The prominent display of the average salary of all teachers employed by the school district for the current year. The school district shall also prominently post this information on its website home page separately from its budget.

4. 5. The prominent display of the average salary of all teachers employed by the school district for the previous year. The school district shall also prominently post this information on its website home page separately from its budget.

5. 6. The prominent display of the dollar increase in the average salary of all teachers employed by the school district for the current year. The school district shall also prominently post this information on its website home page separately from its budget.

6. 7. The prominent display of the percentage increase in the average salary of all teachers employed by the school district for the current year. The school district shall also prominently post this information on its website home page separately from its budget.

8. The salary schedule or schedules for eligible teachers as defined in section 15-248.01 who are employed by the school district for the current year.

F. The special projects section shall include budgeted expenditures for state special projects, including special adult projects, career education, deficiencies correction fund projects and new school facilities fund projects, such federal special projects as ESEA title programs, vocational education and title IV Indian education, and other special projects.

G. A school district shall not make expenditures for campaign literature associated with school district or charter school officials. If the superintendent of public instruction determines that a school district has violated this subsection, the superintendent of public instruction may withhold any portion of the school district's apportionment of state aid.

H. The budget format shall include an electronic format that shall be submitted for each proposed, adopted and revised budget.

I. On or before November 30 of each year, the department of education shall electronically submit to the joint legislative budget committee and the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting a report that compiles the information required by subsection E, paragraphs 3 through 6 8 of this section for all school districts statewide. END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Title 41, chapter 56, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 41-5706, to read:

START_STATUTE41-5706. School districts; facilities master plans; requirements

A. Beginning July 1, 2025, each school district governing board shall develop and adopt a long-term facilities master plan that includes the following components for the twenty-year period following the year in which the plan is adopted:

1. A professional assessment analyzing the academic facility conditions, including building conditions, site features, maintenance issues, functionality and utilities.

2. Projected capital facility improvements, renovations, repairs and replacements, including the priority level that the school district governing board assigns to each project.

3. The routine preventive maintenance guidelines developed by the school district pursuant to section 41-5702 and preventive maintenance plan required by section 41-5731.

4. The capital plan and enrollment projections developed pursuant to section 41-5741, as updated in the year in which the long-term facilities master plan is adopted or updated.

5. Options for addressing any identified deficiency, including each deficiency that is identified by the assessment conducted pursuant to paragraph 1 of this subsection.

B. At least once every five years, Each school district governing board shall:

1. Update the long-term facilities master plan adopted pursuant to subsection A of this section.

2. Beginning July 1, 2025, Develop and adopt a short-term facilities master plan for the succeeding five years that includes each component prescribed in subsection A of this section.

C. Notwithstanding any other law, a school district must submit the long-term facilities master plan and the current short-term facilities master plan to the division before the school district may receive monies from the building renewal grant fund established by section 41-5731 or from the new school facilities fund established by section 41-5741. END_STATUTE

Sec. 6. Public schools; notification requirement; report

A. Notwithstanding sections 15-189.05 and 15-903, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, in fiscal year 2023-2024, the budgets submitted by school districts and charter schools shall include both:

1. The salary schedule or schedules for eligible teachers as defined in section 15-248.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act, for the current fiscal year without the teacher salary increases provided by this act.

2. The revised salary schedule or schedules for eligible teachers as defined in section 15-248.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act, for the current fiscal year with the teacher salary increases provided by this act.

B. In fiscal year 2023-2024, school districts and charter schools must include in the total compensation statements required under sections 15-189 and 15-341, Arizona Revised Statutes, a statement notifying eligible teachers that the legislature provided them a $5,000 base salary increase.

C. In fiscal year 2024-2025, school districts and charter schools must include in the total compensation statements required under sections 15-189 and 15-341, Arizona Revised Statutes, a statement notifying eligible teachers that the legislature provided them an additional $5,000 year-over-year base salary increase, for a combined total of $10,000 base salary increases since fiscal year 2022-2023.

Sec. 7. Appropriations; pay teachers first fund; division of school facilities; department of education; state board for charter schools; exemption; intent

A. The following amounts are appropriated from the state general fund in the following fiscal years to the pay teachers first fund established by section 15-248.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act:

1. In fiscal year 2023-2024, $400,000,000.

2. In fiscal year 2024-2025, $700,000,000.

B. The sum of $2,000,000 and 14 FTE positions are appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2023-2024 to the division of school facilities within the department of administration for inspecting school facilities and reviewing the long-term facilities master plans and short-term facilities master plans required by section 41-5706, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.

C. The following sums are appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2023-2024 to the department of education:

1. $5,000,000 to develop and maintain the online transparency portal prescribed by section 15-747, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act.

2. $10,000,000 to hire a third-party contractor to audit the administrative and operational efficiency of school districts in this state. The department of education shall post the audit reports on the online transparency portal prescribed by section 15-747, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act.

D. The sum of $2,000,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2023-2024 to the state board for charter schools to conduct financial reviews and inspections of charter schools.

E. The appropriations made in subsection A of this section are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190, Arizona Revised Statutes, relating to lapsing of appropriations.

F. The legislature intends that the appropriation made in subsection A, paragraph 2 of this section be considered ongoing funding in future years.

Sec. 8. Conditional enactment

This act does not become effective unless House Bill 2533, fifty-sixth legislature, first regular session, relating to classroom instruction, becomes law.