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Inside This Week
Kyrene, TU classroom spending increased last school year BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
K
NEWS .................. 3 City Council District 6 race heads to the finish line.
yrene and Tempe Union school districts spent more money in the classroom last school year than in 2020-21 and students out-tested the passing averages for both the state and similarly sized districts in state assessment tests. Data showing the two districts’ spending and student achievement are contained in the annual report on Arizona school districts re-
leased last week by the state Auditor General. Although the percentage of their total budgets for instruction spending last school year fell slightly below that expenditure for 202021, Tempe Union and Kyrene easily made up for that in total classroom spending, the report shows. Overall, Kyrene’s total classroom spending comprised 71.9% of all expenditures in 2021-22 while Tempe Union’s overall classroom spending equaled 68.4%, according to the report. The Auditor General breaks down class-
see SCHOOLS page 17
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
COMMUNITY ..... 24
O
Taste bud alert: The annual Chili Cook-Off is back.
SPORTS ............. 37 Champions!
Louretta Carlson, Dell Taylor and Skip Pollock are putting the last-minute touches on displaying over 1,000 used books that will be on sale for $1 for hardbacks and 50 cents for paperback in the parking lot of the Ahwatukee Recreation Center, 5001 E. Cheyenne Drive, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, March 10, and 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, March 11. The public is invited, Taylor said, adding books in all genres will be offered. (David Minton/AFN Staff Photographer)
ne down and one to go. While one of two apartment complexes planned near Ahwatukee’s eastern border, has cleared its last big government hurdle, another will have to wait until May. With nary a word, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to convert the Four Points by Sheraton Phoenix South Mountain hotel into a hi-rise apartment building and add adjacent buildings for a 184 to 188-unit complex on 7.8 acres at 51st Street and Elliot Road.
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room spending into three categories. The largest involves instruction, which it defines as the cost of “teachers, teachers’ aides, substitute teachers, graders, guest lecturers, instructional supplies and aids, field trips, athletics, co-curricular activities, and tuition.” In this area, the report says Kyrene’s instruction spending of 58.8% of its total budget was below the 2020-21 percentage of 61.9% – reflecting a statewide trend that appeared in
Sheraton project OK’d, 2nd complex stalled
Tomes galore
COMMUNITY ............................ 24 BUSINESS ................................ 30 OPINION .................................. 34 SPORTS ................................... 37 GETOUT ................................... 41 CLASSIFIEDS ........................... 47
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But Phoenix City Council has delayed until May 3 consideration of rezoning request that would allow for a 417-unit complex that would replace a two-building office complex on 50th Street near Thistle Landing Drive between Ray Road and Chandler Boulevard. No reason was given for council’s delay on the project, which already has the unanimous approval of the city Planning Commission and majority approval of the Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee. How soon Scottsdale-
see CALIBER page 21
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