Using our funding wisely is a crucial part of our district’s commitment to being a good steward of taxpayer dollars for our community. Every year, we rely on an external, third-party review of our finances by the state auditor’s office as an important check-in point on this commitment. This process involves a team from the auditor’s offices spending a significant amount of time delving into our financial records and reviewing our practices.
I am pleased to share that our district has again earned a clean audit opinion and the Auditor of State Award for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, recognizing our commitment to effective and accountable financial practices for our community. You can find the fiscal year 2023 audited financial report from the state on our website at www.uaschools.org/annualaudits.aspx.
The annual state audit is one way that our stakeholders can learn about the district’s use of taxpayer dollars. Our community can also get a closer look at our fiscal year 2023 financial information in the 2023-2024 Financial Update, which will soon be available on our website at www.uaschools.org/treasurer.aspx. This annual report serves as a companion piece to our Quality Profile, our annual accountability report, by providing a deeper dive into our district’s finances. It details the sources of our funding, how that money is used and other topics that may affect district finances in the future.
In addition, you can find several other financial reports on our Treasurer’s Office webpage — including the monthly financial reports presented at each regular meeting of the Board of Education and the five year forecast, an important check-in point and planning document for our district.
An additional resource that helps us plan for our future is our enrollment projection report, an independent report that looks at everything from real estate trends to birth data to project how many students will be enrolled in our schools during the next 10 years. This report helps us better anticipate the needs of our district in terms of staffing, space and resources.
The most recent enrollment report was completed by Cooperative Strategies and presented to the Board of Education in January. Overall, districtwide K-12 enrollment has increased over the past decade and is projected to continue to grow over the next 10 years — from 6,349 students in 2023-2024 to 6,726 students in 2033-2034. You can view the full report on our website at www.uaschools.org/enrollmentdata.aspx.
With this trend likely to continue over the next several years, the district will continue to closely monitor our enrollment growth to efficiently plan for additional students and the additional people, space and resources students need to support them on their academic journey.
If you have additional questions about our district’s finances, you can contact me at [email protected].