Measures

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Capital monies redirected to operations

51 of 207 districts are at high risk for capital monies redirected to operations

What is this measure telling me, and why is it important?

This measure shows the percentage of intended capital funding

districts have redirected to operational spending rather than capital spending in the current year and on average over the last 5 years. Districts that direct a substantial portion of their intended capital funding to operational spending may be at higher financial risk if they are putting off necessary operational spending cuts or when large capital spending needs arise, especially if they have lower-than-average capital reserves.

Tell me more about capital monies redirected to operations.

Arizona school districts receive revenues from local, State, and federal sources. In general, districts receive local and State revenues based on an equalization formula set by State law. This “equalization formula funding” provides the base funding for districts through locally levied property taxes and State-appropriated monies. That formula includes 2 main components: the revenue control limit (RCL)

, intended to fund districts' operational needs, and district additional assistance (DAA) , intended to fund districts' capital needs. Districts can choose how to allocate each of these components annually between the Maintenance and Operation (M&O) and Unrestricted Capital Outlay (UCO) Funds based on their anticipated needs.

Districts with voter-approved operating or capital overrides have additional resources available to meet their needs. Often, districts with overrides allocate their RCL and DAA resources differently based in part on their ability to use override monies for only the limited voter-approved operating or capital purposes. Accordingly, our analysis includes districts' capital overrides in total intended capital funding when looking at the percentage of that funding that was redirected to operational spending.

How were districts identified as high risk for this measure?

All districts that directed district additional assistance (DAA)

funding of more than 25 percent of their total DAA and capital override amount to their Maintenance and Operation Fund in either the current year or on average over the last 5 years could be considered at higher risk for this measure. However, to recognize such redirection represents less risk for districts with larger capital reserves, we limited the districts considered high risk for this measure to those with a fiscal year 2025 per student capital budget limit reserve less than that year's State-wide average of $1,434 per student.

How was this measure calculated?

District Additional Assistance (DAA) redirected to M&O Fund - Revenue Control Limit (RCL) redirected to UCO Fund	= Capital monies redirected to operations percentage
(Total DAA + capital override)

The 5-year average was calculated by adding the percent of capital monies redirected to operations for each year and dividing by 5.

How many districts have been identified as high risk for this measure in each of the last 5 years?

Report date	Number of districts at high risk
December 2021	43 of 207
December 2022	34 of 207
December 2023	35 of 207
January 2025	47 of 207
January 2026	51 of 207

Data source

District additional assistance and capital override amounts were obtained from the Arizona Department of Education as of November 24, 2025, as follows:

Fiscal year 2026: BUDG25 report for each district, which includes the intended allocations for the current year based on each district's most recent adopted or revised expenditure budget.
Fiscal years 2022 through 2025: BUDG75 reports for each district, which includes the final district allocations for each year.

Districts at high risk for this measure

School district	County	Legislative district(s)	FY 2026 percentage	5-year average percentage
		1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Agua Fria Union High School District	Maricopa County	22, 23, 25, and 29	44.0%	17.8%
Amphitheater Unified School District	Pima County	17, 18, and 20	30.7%	6.1%
Antelope Union High School District 1 of 9 highest-risk districts	Yuma County	23 and 25	0.0%	43.0%
Apache Junction Unified School District	Pinal County	7, 10, and 15	29.4%	38.3%
Baboquivari Unified School District	Pima County	23	100.0%	100.0%
Benson Unified School District	Cochise County	19	30.9%	7.5%
Bicentennial Union High School District	La Paz County	30	0.0%	26.2%
Bisbee Unified School District	Cochise County	19 and 21	67.4%	13.5%
Blue Ridge Unified School District	Navajo County	6 and 7	100.0%	60.0%
Canon Elementary School District	Yavapai County	1	0.0%	54.7%
Cave Creek Unified School District	Maricopa County	3	55.4%	76.1%
Chinle Unified School District	Apache County	6	95.2%	94.1%
Chino Valley Unified School District	Yavapai County	1	69.2%	32.5%
Colorado River Union High School District	Mohave County	30	42.0%	50.3%
Continental Elementary School District	Pima County	19 and 21	42.2%	16.1%
Coolidge Unified School District	Pinal County	16	62.5%	21.0%
Cottonwood-Oak Creek Elementary School District	Yavapai County	1	30.6%	35.1%
Douglas Unified School District	Cochise County	19	0.0%	34.9%
Eloy Elementary School District	Pinal County	16	100.0%	20.0%
Florence Unified School District	Pinal County	7, 15, 16, and 17	0.0%	32.6%
Glendale Elementary School District	Maricopa County	24	42.6%	8.5%
Glendale Union High School District	Maricopa County	2, 5, 24, 26, and 27	56.4%	50.3%
Hackberry Elementary School District	Mohave County	6 and 30	100.0%	40.0%
Hayden-Winkelman Unified School District 1 of 9 highest-risk districts	Gila County	7	50.8%	14.8%
J.O. Combs Unified School District	Pinal County	15	54.9%	44.2%

Measures

Capital monies redirected to operations

51 of 207 districts are at high risk for capital monies redirected to operations

Districts at high risk for this measure

Additional school district resources

Arizona Auditor General

Measures

​ Capital monies redirected to operations

51 of 207 districts are at high risk for ​ ​ capital monies redirected to operations

Districts at high risk for this measure

Additional school district resources

Arizona Auditor General

Capital monies redirected to operations

51 of 207 districts are at high risk for capital monies redirected to operations