WASHINGTON, Ariz. — The Washington Elementary School District Governing Board on Dec. 11 approved Expenditure Budget Revision No. 1 for fiscal year 2025–26 after a public hearing in which district finance staff said falling enrollment had reduced state funding.

"You can see that, due to this, that we are down approximately $3,400,000 in our revenue control limit," said Mister O'Brien, assistant superintendent of business services, during the board's public hearing. He said the district is also down about 771 average daily membership (ADM) students and that those changes drive the revision.

The revision adjusts the district's maintenance-and-operations and capital projections. O'Brien told the board the overall general budget decreased about 1.4 percent but cautioned that the $3.4 million reduction is the critical number the district will need to address when preparing next year's budget. He also noted the capital budget projection increased by about $323,000 after the district updated actuals and added interest earnings.

Board members received the presentation during a statutory December budget hearing required by Arizona law. After staff questions and no public comment, the board approved the revision by voice vote. The motion to approve the budget "as presented" passed with board members Kyle Clayton, Lindsey Peterson and Jenny Abbot Verdi voting in favor.

The board's approval updates the district's FY25–26 appropriations and sends the revision to district bookkeeping and reporting processes required by the Arizona Department of Education and the state auditor. Staff said grant and other categorical funding typically are revised in later cycles (for example, the January and May revisions), so some program-level changes may appear in follow-up amendments.

Mister O'Brien closed his remarks by urging the board to consider the enrollment trend as the district prepares for the next fiscal year and the January 100th-day ADM reporting.

What happens next: district staff will finalize the revisions for accounting and submit them per state timelines; the board will receive further updates as enrollment and state parameters change.