For the Record

Due to unforeseen technical difficulties, there were audio issues during the live broadcast of the governing board meeting held on August 20, 2024. As a result, some portions of the audio are missing from the recording. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding. Efforts are being made to prevent such issues in future broadcasts. Additionally governing board meeting minutes will be available for public inspection as required by law.

School district budgets are classified in two “types” of funds, budget-controlled and cash-controlled funds.  Budget-controlled funds are set by a state set formula or legislative appropriations and the amount that a school district may spend is dependent on that formula.  The school district is legally permitted to budget or spend up to the budget limit. Budget-controlled funds include, Maintenance and Operations (M&O), District Additional Assistance (DAA or Unrestricted Capital), Bond, Overrides for both M&O and DAA, Classroom Site Fund and Adjacent Ways. The legislature establishes a formula for the budget which is the amount the district may spend for expenditures in those funds. To receive the cash to fund these accounts, the district must levy the local taxpayers.  The County Treasurer (district bank) requires the district to have available cash in the bank to process warrants (checks).

Rebuttals to Recent Claims 

Claim: SUSD blames declining enrollment on birth rates, instead of dissatisfaction. 

Enrollment Data: Enrollment information was obtained for entry and exit dates. Withdrawal codes were examined. Students who graduated, obtained a GED, were incarcerated, moved out the state or country, or passed away were not included. Students who left to be homeschooled, dropped out, were dropped for excessive unexcused absences, left the district, or left without a record of what new school they were going to were retained for analysis. Note that students moving within the state of Arizona but out of SUSD boundaries are included in this total and could not be filtered out. Therefore, this chart is the upper range of students who have left as a result of parental dissatisfaction. The percentage of enrolled students who left for a reason that could possibly be connected to parental dissatisfaction was calculated for school years 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024.

Fact: The percentage of students leaving SUSD due to parental dissatisfaction has decreased over the past 3 school years.

We would like to address misinformation that has been circulating within our community regarding the alleged turnover of principals within the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD).

First and foremost, it is important to clarify that SUSD takes immense pride in cultivating and nurturing education leaders within our district. We celebrate the achievements of those who choose to spread their wings to take on new roles within our own district, as well as pursue leadership opportunities elsewhere. Some who have dedicated decades of service to our schools choose to retire or resign due to personal or family obligations. This turnover is a natural part of any organization's evolution.

We would like to address misinformation that has been circulating within our community regarding the alleged turnover of principals within the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD).

First and foremost, it is important to clarify that SUSD takes immense pride in cultivating and nurturing education leaders within our district. We celebrate the achievements of those who choose to spread their wings to take on new roles within our own district, as well as pursue leadership opportunities elsewhere. Some who have dedicated decades of service to our schools choose to retire or resign due to personal or family obligations. This turnover is a natural part of any organization's evolution...

The Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board voted 3-0 on December 12th to accept the terms of the settlement reached by both parties. Two members abstained.

Plaintiffs brought a lawsuit against the District in May 2022.  Plaintiffs initiated settlement discussions with the District shortly before Plaintiffs’ depositions were scheduled to commence.  The settlement agreement...

We’d like to address the concern in the community that arose following a joint meeting of two student clubs, UNICEF and Amnesty International.

We want to make it unequivocally clear that Scottsdale Unified School District stands firmly against Antisemitism and Islamophobia both of which are on the rise, especially in the backdrop of the current Israel Hamas...

Our schools host a variety of student-initiated clubs that meet outside of class time, during lunch or after school. These clubs often invite guest speakers as part of their activities.

We value the diversity of our student population and support their right to various opinions, beliefs, and interests as protected in the U.S. Constitution. Consistent with those rights, we do not regulate the viewpoints...

Safety is a top priority for the Scottsdale Unified School District. We are committed to putting your children first. That is true on school campuses, as well as on our school buses.

The expectation is that all students and staff will wear their SUSD-issued ID each day. If a student loses or damages their ID card, they must report to the school office or high school bookstore for a replacement ID.  The Governing Board approved a $5 replacement fee.

All student IDs have a barcode that is used to scan for meals in the cafeteria and to check out books in the library.

This year, each student ID also has Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) capability. RFID is not a global positioning system (GPS) and has no tracking capability on its own. Like the...

Parent choice is not new.  SUSD strongly believes in school choice, and parents have long chosen the school that best meets their students’ needs.  As such, we offer various teaching and learning styles, including Traditional, Dual Language Immersion, International Baccalaureate and STEAM programs. 

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is responsible for tracking the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA), or school voucher, program.  The information provided...

During the fall of 2021, IT and Communications partnered to learn more about messaging options on the market because of growing dissatisfaction with SUSD’s current solution for mass communication. A larger strategy unfolded to determine how various non-centralized tools could be eliminated to improve communication with families, support a broader range of home languages, provide support for staff, and provide messaging data to help staff enhance communication with families.

After reviewing what was available and receiving feedback from users of other communication platforms in use in SUSD, ParentSquare emerged as a tool that could replace several...

The District's public records department publishes all requests for public records with the exception of items that concern requests for student records or that would reveal personally identifiable information regarding students.  The District has withheld publication of two (2) public records requests this past school year. 

The GovQA software allows for the posting of "trending topics" on...