News
Results of Cochise County Superintendent's Rountable
The County School Superintendent’s Office began collecting data on the educational concerns in Cochise County during the summer of 2022. After collecting a year of data, the Superintendent’s Roundtable was held with 64 attendees to discuss the five top educational concerns in the county. The roundtable participants were a collaborative group comprised of community members, elected officials, post-secondary institutions, and preK – 12 educational leaders across the county. A solid geographical and professional cross-section of county participants allowed diverse problem-solving and action items. The data collection discussed in this report is the product of the roundtable convening. A survey was conducted in Cochise County for 12 months, there were 425 responses collected and the survey participants were asked to select their top 5 educational concerns.
The goal of the roundtable was to identify the top 5 educational concerns and give opportunity for the breakout groups to discuss each concern in a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis format. A SWOT is used in situations requiring strategic planning to reach an objective. The five education concerns discussed were:
- Teacher Retention
- Behavioral Health Support & Resources
- School Culture & Climate
- College Career & Readiness
- Discipline
The conversations that took place at the 2023 roundtable brought forth great problem-solving ideas and many action items to keep in the forefront of our minds as we navigate through the 2023-2024 school year. The Cochise County Superintendent’s office will continue to support and collaborate with our educators, focusing on literacy, school safety, and the behavioral health needs of our unified school districts, charter, and private schools.
Tackling the educational concerns of Cochise County is a collaborative effort involving the community, businesses, school districts, and other organizations. The success of our students depends on our efforts to create forward momentum, inspire the opportunity for growth, and bring about the changes that help our students and families achieve financial independence while living to their potential.
If you are interested in attending our next Roundtable in 2024, please get in touch with Cynthia Meyers at cmeyers@cochise.az.gov or Dr. Jacqui Clay at jclay@cochise.az.gov
Results
Type 03 County Aid
A new law passed by the state Legislature in 2022 is unintentionally affecting the taxes for five Cochise County School Districts: Naco, Double Adobe, Palominas, McNeal, and Pomerene.
Cochise County School Superintendent, Dr. Jacqui Clay wants property owners in these districts to know that they will see an additional tax, listed as “Type 03” on their school district property taxes when tax bills start getting mailed this September.
The Legislature was trying to reform how school districts with high schools are reimbursed by elementary-only school districts when students in the elementary districts start attending high school. Unfortunately, based on the state’s complicated method of funding public schools through property taxes, this law is causing tax increases in some school districts across the entire state.
State Senate President Warren Petersen and state Speaker of the House Ben Toma in an Aug. 1 letter to the state’s Property Tax Oversight Commission, wrote that a tax increase was not the intent of HB 2124 during the 2022 legislative session.
“Nothing in the legislative record suggests lawmakers or the Governor sought for the law change to create a meaningful property tax increase in rural Arizona or to relieve the State’s general fund of its financial burdens,” the two wrote in the letter.
Petersen and Toma also wrote in their letter that they intend to have the Legislature improve this law during the next regular legislative session.
If you have any questions, please call (520) 803-3380.