In fiscal year 2023, Fountain Hills Unified School District (FHUSD) spent 45.4% of its budget on classroom instruction, the lowest in district history according to the Arizona Auditor General.
Classroom instruction spending increased $474 per student from fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023, but nonclassroom spending increased by $1,074 per student. Administration made up the largest portion of nonclassroom spending, accounting for 15.5% of the budget.
“We have too many administrators, that’s what I talked about at the [March 6] board meeting,” FHUSD Superintendent Dr. Cain Jagodzinski said. “We can’t live like that anymore. We have to make budget cuts. We need to spend more money in the classrooms, and the only way to do that is you’ve got to cut administration.”
