The board's unanimous approval of the plan from the bargaining committee means 90% of the initial payment will go towards employee salaries, with the remaining 10% going to the district's capital account. do. The second payment will be split evenly between a one-time payment to district employees and funds provided to FUSD schools and departments that will be used to purchase capital equipment for employees.

A total of 1,333 district employees will receive this scholarship, with both payments totaling an average of $666.88 after taxes for each employee. Your first payment will average $428.71 after tax.

“This is really to address the cost of living increases that are going on here in the city of Flagstaff,” Human Resources Director Dawn Anderson said. “…” [We’re] We strive to support our employees in a variety of ways so that that money goes directly back to them. ”

Several FUSD educators, many of them members of the Flagstaff Education Association, provided public comment at Tuesday's board meeting and supported the commission's proposal to use the funds for employee scholarships.

They explained the impact of Flagstaff's high cost of living. Some said they were afraid to join those who have had to leave the city because of high prices.

“The disparity between the cost of living and wages makes it hard to keep your head above water,” said Autumn Lavis, an art teacher at Demiguel Elementary School, whose rent was $2,300 a month. “Being homeless has cost me one medical bill and one car repair. That's why it's so important that this scholarship gets into the hands of educators and staff. , I will be able to continue living here and serving the students of Flagstaff that I love.”

She added, “I think it's important to take care of buildings and provide classroom materials, but we also need to fill those classrooms with educators who are valued and valued.” I did.

FUSD's average teacher salary has been lower than the statewide average in every fiscal year since 2017, although both have increased during that time, according to the Arizona State Comptroller's FY2023 district spending analysis. Masu.

FUSD's average teacher salary in 2023 was $55,727 (compared to $54,651 the year before), compared with Arizona's average teacher salary of $62,934 in the same year.

Flagstaff's area median income limit (AMI) in 2023 was $73,600 for a one-person household, according to the city's website. The city's 10-year housing plan adopted in February 2022 found that 45% of Flagstaff households are housing cost burdened, meaning they spend more than a third of their income on rent. . Both the average rent and median home sales price have increased in Flagstaff in recent years.

In comments to the school board, teachers at schools in the district explained the impact of such costs, especially housing costs, along with salaries.

After leaving the “difficult living conditions” of his previous apartment, Chris Makowsky, a physical education teacher at Knolles Elementary School, lived in his co-teacher's spare bedroom for several months to save up enough money to live somewhere else. He said he had to move to . I live with several roommates.

Ray Sabrian, a science teacher at Summit High School, talked about trying to save money while spending 60 to 70 percent of his income to rent a studio apartment in Flagstaff.

Morgan June, another physical education teacher who works at Mount Elden Middle School, said she took a pay cut from her education job in the Valley to work at FUSD. After accepting her offer, she began looking for her housing in Flagstaff, but she thought she would have to turn down her job due to cost and lack of options.

She said she was “lucky” to find a place to live and then outlined her expenses. More than half of her monthly salary goes to rent and utilities, and although she lives “frugally,” she still uses her savings to buy groceries, and some of the things she wants to do are He says he can't buy it.

“This is a difficult place to live and we're going to lose some good people,” she said.

Anna Brown, a first-grade teacher in the Knolls who has worked in the district for 22 years after attending FUSD schools as a child, lives “paycheck to paycheck” as a single parent and also lives in an apartment with a roommate. He said he is doing so.

FHS teacher Alexandria Maurer said she is struggling to feed her four children. She says, “Because everything goes to housing.” And it all goes towards their tuition and the cost of the iPad and all the activities they want to participate in. ” said the teacher in her home state of Oregon, where she earned her master's degree. Earn more with just a bachelor's degree.

Tracy Barber, a math teacher from Sinagua, also spoke of the challenges of meeting her family's needs and providing materials to her students since moving to Flagstaff because of her daughter's medical condition.

“For myself and my classroom, I know that I will often spend money on things my students need, even if it means detriment to my own family,” she said. “…If our goal is to retain teachers and we want to provide a sustainable working environment for our employees, we must do everything we can.”

FUSD Superintendent Michael Penca said during the work session that the one-time money was allocated to schools across Arizona as part of this year's state-enacted education budget. All charter and public school districts throughout Arizona receive funding based on the ADM (Average Daily Membership Fee), which can be used for maintenance and operations and one-time capital needs.

These are one-time funds and cannot be used for raises or other ongoing expenses, Anderson explained.

The proposal, which was presented to the board and approved Tuesday, was developed by the district's compensation committee. Contacts from the Confidential, Certified, Site Management and Ancillary Employees groups all spoke in favor of this proposal.

The group recommended that 90% of the first payment be earmarked as a lump sum to employees.

“We're going to utilize that as a budgetary reserve, which gives us the flexibility to use capital reserves and other things we have,” Penca said. “…there will be greater flexibility in combining these funds with other funds to achieve projects.”

The committee also recommended that the second payment (also $1.2 million, scheduled for May) be split evenly between one-time payments to employees and the purchase of capital equipment for employees.

According to Anderson, the portion of the second installment set aside for capital equipment will be distributed by school facility after proposed use is submitted to the Compensation Committee, similar to FUSD's student-involved budgeting process. It is said that it will be done. These will be allocated to the district's school sites and departments at a rate of $451.30 per eligible employee (a total of $601,585.12 district-wide).

Anderson said the improvements are aimed at addressing the lowest-scoring question on the district's employee surveys over the past five years: “I have the tools I need to do my job.” He said there was.

Penca also said he supported the proposal.

“We also understand the situation our state budget is in. We do not expect to see significant increases when we talk about compensation next year. “We're aware of what it's going to look like for a few years, which is our reality,” he said. “I think there is great value in recognizing the great efforts of our staff every day, and I wish this was a much higher amount than $650, but this is what we have. ”

As part of the work session, Mr. Penca also outlined several needed facility repair and maintenance projects. He said he supports the proposal and is not advocating that the funds be used for these projects, but rather describing the district's capital funding needs in the area. .

“Everyone here wishes they had more money to hand out to their employees and have enough money to deal with when the boiler goes out over the weekend and we have to heat the school. “I think you do,” he said.

He added: “We have the funds to deal with these emergencies, but we also need the funds to not postpone maintenance.” Our broken boilers are beyond their useful life, but we are also a state that is starving schools to cope with funding needs. While these funds will do some repairs, there are many needs that have built up over a decade, and maintenance and replacement of big-ticket items has also been postponed over time. ”

The list discussed Tuesday represents only six of about 40 of the district's list of facility needs, according to the superintendent.

Projects include the restoration of the Mount Elden Middle School pool, which has been out of action for three years ($1.2 million), and the relocation of portable buildings to Puente de Ojo and Noles after the MEMS renovation is completed ($1 million). , which includes replacing the boiler at Coconino High School. school ($950,000), additional snow removal equipment ($450,000 for six units; Penca said FUSD would ideally add 20 more units), and replacement of Demiguel's broken retaining wall. ($375,000) and the addition of a ramada shade structure to Leup Elementary School ($365,000).

The latest project added to the list of needs is boiler replacement. Penka said one of the two boilers that heat CHS broke down around winter break, and a second boiler broke down over the weekend, leaving the school completely without heat until it was restored Tuesday afternoon.

Both boilers are reaching the end of their lifespan, Penka said. The second boiler was repaired this week, but he expected both would need to be replaced with new, high-efficiency boilers and a third would need to be added as a backup.

The Board of Directors held a special meeting on Friday, March 1 to discuss this replacement.

“These are things that happen in districts that have aging facilities and lack capital funds. There's something that suddenly becomes urgent and they have to find the money to do it,” Penca said. Told.

He further added: “We will continue to look for funding to do this. [The] In addition to current bonds, there is also some funding available for facility improvements, future bonds, and grants. We will continue to pursue these. ”

A recording of the meeting is available at: vimeo.com/fusd1the work session starts at approximately 15 minutes.