Wickenburg Unified School District

Wickenburg USD’s fiscal year 2008 administrative costs were higher than the comparable districts’ average primarily because it employed more of certain types of positions, such as business office and secretarial positions. In addition, the District improperly included several nondistrict employees in the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS). Based on Internal Revenue Service and ASRS criteria, these individuals were actually employees of the nonprofit foundation that partners with the District to operate the performing arts center located on the District’s high school campus. Wickenburg USD’s transportation program was efficient, and the program cost the District $258,000 less to operate than it received in transportation funding. However, the program did not meet state standards regarding bus preventative maintenance and random drug and alcohol testing. The District’s plant costs per square foot were lower than the comparable districts’ average costs, and the District has undertaken efforts, such as installing cost-efficient thermostats, to help further lower costs. However, the District may have difficulty continuing to operate one of its elementary schools because of extremely low student enrollment. Wickenburg USD currently depends on donations from the builder of the master-planned community where the school is located and funding associated with open enrollment students to help cover the elementary school’s operating costs. The District spent its Proposition 301 monies to increase teacher compensation, but it also inappropriately paid three administrative employees. At 55.5 percent, the District’s classroom dollar percentage was less than 1 percentage point below the comparable districts’ average and 1.6 percentage points below the state average.