We've also conducted facility assessments to determine the most efficient and conf uh effective use of our physical buildings along with our campuses. After weighing all of the available data, it became clear that we must rightsize and be proactive with identifying a strategy for survival. We've shared that we literally have no funds to allocate for the massive maintenance needs of the Tucson campus. Making the move to a leased maintained facility provides that fiscal necessity. The total estimated replacement value for the 56 acre historic Speedway campus is $16 million and it cost us approximately $3 million just to maintain the buildings. We have over a million dollars included in that just to pay for utilities for the staff and students that are spread across the 31 buildings that require security, heating, and cooling. The announcement of the intent to relocate to the Tucson campus and lease the Copper Creek Elementary School may have felt sudden to some.
As we develop this process, goal two has the the majority of our actions. I will mention that um let me look back. Uh I will mention that things like um the instructional coaching, there's no supplemental concentration grant funding there. That is all federal funding. The remaining instructional coaching that is happening is really for our uh teachers who are supporting our uh younger teachers who are still working to clear their credential and that's title two funded and the professional development is also that is almost all either ELOP funded or title one funded. And then on on the next part of goal two, there are the rest of the actions there. I'll also point out that the action 0207 has no general fund dollars. Those are categorical dollars in the ELOP category. The expenditures are not yet at half. That's partially because we pay for summer school out of ELOP.
However, the data driving it has been actually shared for quite some time now. We've also had to be mindful that the AI Theater public schools had not yet finalized nor publicized their plans of their school closures. We pri prioritize securing a viable, safe location for our students before announcing the move to ensure we weren't just presenting a problem, but a proposed solution. That way we can try and divert funds from the brick and mortar directly into instruction support and services for all students. If the relocation is approved starting in the summer of 2026 for $1.3 million a year, we're expected to achieve a 50% reduction in total operating cost, saving roughly 1.5 annually by 2029. We'll then begin the process de of developing plans to sell or lease parcels of the land on the Tucson campus and we'll present that to the board for approval shortly thereafter.
I will also mention that the professional development for EL although there's been no expenditures booked there. We have done the um uh trainings that are required for our English language development staff and we will just uh we're waiting to book those expenditures into the proper category. In fact, there was one today. Finally, goal three. Um everything's on track except for the parent engagement. uh we have been uh able to utilize other funding and or most of what we've done we have um been able to do with very low cost so far on that front for the most part sites are doing that out of their afterchool funds and or title one parent engagement dollars goal four and five are a little different I will point out that HDPA and AVA both of them are high mobility schools and therefore very likely to continue to receive equity multip multiplier dollars.
We're also continuing to assess plans for the Phoenix campus. Our demographic and enrollment studies revealed a clear trend that campus-based enrollment has dropped by approximately 37% since school year 2018. That reflects a substantial reduction in the students attending our physical campuses. Specifically on the Tucson campus, enrollment has dropped from a peak of 375 students in the9s to roughly 115 students currently, leaving the campus at only approximately 25% of its 400 student capacity. Looking at not just the antiquated physical buildings on the Tucson campus, but the residential program, it was determined that the program would no longer be fiscally or operationally viable because of the small number of students. And as a reminder, unlike other schools, per Arizona statute, parents cannot choose to directly enroll their children at an ASDB campus. Instead, the local school district of residents must officially refer the students identified in the 2022 sunset review were concerns that the itinerant services program which supports our students in the homeschool districts may be collecting more revenue than necessary.
It will be contingent upon student enrollment and so their uh dollar amounts may go down if their student enrollment counts are down, but they still have over they will have some carryover funds. They are mostly funding a counselor at each school site, an intervention teacher and intervention activities and then some lots of field trips and other activities for students. And then Phoenix Academy and actually Yuck was in this too, but Yuck um does not qualify. It looks like next year they are almost we think it's about one student to stable. And I don't mean that in in a negative way. They they are 25% mobility which puts them they need to be greater than 25% to qualify for the next round of funding. And so Phoenix Academy, however, does continue to qualify at the moment. And so they're um far under spending some of those actions, especially a 503.
And if you remember, they notated the $13 million that's been underutilized in the cooperative services fund. Because of that, as a proactive measure to address the recommendation, we explored other options on whether our blind visually impaired services from a campus-based model could be looked at to an outreach model. Through those studies, we determined that students could still receive their instruction, support, and services. They would just be provided a little different than how they're currently provided. They would still receive their instruction, support, and services in a different model through the implementation of the cluster site. Under the model, in collaboration with our school district, students can receive the specialized services at specific school district sites rather than a physical location at a school site that ASDB owns and operates. Our IEP teams are determining if Copper Creek or a Lakewood school district placement is the most appropriate setting for the students.
That's a little bit on purpose. They want to be able to maintain and have some sustainability over time. These funds do allow a three-year expenditure. And so what they're doing is making sure they have some funds just in case they don't qualify in a final year. Yuck has done the same thing. And so they will be able to carry over funds and maintain the position they have added, which is a counselor at Yakaloma School. I did um mention that the metrics which are quite lengthy are included in the um uh PDF of the document but also uh we'll be going over that we went over that in state of the district in general form. We will be going over that in great detail in the February LCAP meeting school by school. So each school will have a take a look at their dashboard indicator metrics by student group which is always really helpful to kind of take a look and see you know how are students moving not just over in general but like each group and um how are they uh directionally moving in all the indicators that are reported to the state.
Pickup and drop off times may change. We're currently finalizing transportation to ensure the smooth transition for families living outside of Oro Valley. Despite the physical challenges, ASDB remains legally obligated and committed to providing FAPE for all students. In addition to relocating the Tucson campus, we also needed to find ways to decrease operational cost. Through those different analyses, we identified more savings through a reduction of payroll expenses. As a reminder, over 77% of our budget is tied to payroll. This past year, we've implemented a hiring freeze. We closed all vacant positions. We did not refill positions when staff members resigned or retired. and we've been able to reduce payroll slightly through attrition measures. However, that's not been enough to reduce payroll. Understanding the emotional impact and efforts to limit the layoffs were possible based on input from several staff and leaders, we identified positions to eliminate and we identified staff positions where we would reduce their work calendars.
And so we've been using that data in all the parent engagement meetings so far. And so those will be our next steps and we'll be bringing data back to you as we have it and updates from the LCAP meetings as well as from our student advisory meetings which have been going so great. And then um of course um back in June with LCAP and remember this year is is a update to a three-year plan. So we are um not making radical changes other than of course any reductions and in the expenditures um in order to you know sort of match what we're how we're going forward. We need to take to the community and and make sure they're well aware of how that's going to work and where we can make some adjustments there. And so we'll keep you updated as we take those steps.
Specific to the layoffs, there were a total of 79 positions identified. 20 of eight of them are temporary, probationary, or limited time appointments, and 51 of them are permanent positions. There are a few supervisory positions that are certified teachers who have a preferred right to employment in a teaching position. When categorizing those positions by area, 30 of them are within agency operations and 49 are with educational programs. That totals about $4.5 million in potential reduction of payroll in our 2027 budget. Those staff were identified based on whether they would be needed should the Tucson campus be relocated. what support would be needed for the Tucson campus cluster site and whether the class content for the campusbased schools would be offered for the upcoming school year. In accordance with the reduction enforce policy, a clear order of separation is mandated and designed to shield those in a permanent position.
No action is required. Um, I have a question on under goal 2 2.11. You said that most of that has not yet been scheduled. Is that going to be scheduled for this semester or will it take place over the summer or a combination? >> Is a combination. actually some has happened and we just haven't booked the expense but we have um uh had some of those trainings and so we just need to approp appropriately account for those substitute costs. It's really just substitute costs in those cases. We have a little bit of extra duty time cards and I I we even had one of those trainings this afternoon at um 3:30 to 6:30 which is now a long time ago but we did have a training today. So, they're ongoing and they'll happen just about monthly from here on out. >> But will there be some in the summer as well?
We are required to release temporary and probationary employees first, including those in limited time appointments or legislatively funded roles. Before we do any reduction in force actions, staff members, we'll look at full permanent status. Included in today's agenda item 6.2 two are the 51 permanent positions we've identified to lay off that require board approval. The remaining 28 positions do not require board approval per policy. The effective date of those positions being laid off would be June 30, 2026. On a more positive note, as part of our plan to support teacher and staff professional development, we will give salary increases for advancements and certifications. Staff who are on the teacher and related services salary schedules will be able to move up the salary schedule based on their completion of approved coursework or advanced degrees. And any staff member who is on the classified classified special recruitment and interpreter salary schedules will also move up the salary schedule based on their attainment of specific role related certifications.
>> There will be. There sometimes is some in the summer, but we uh working with this group, we really want to try to catch them um after school. That's been the uh best use of time so that we get the greatest response. >> Okay. Thank you so much. >> I have a question. You have quite a few of them that is on under your progress note. It says fully implemented. So when it's full fully implemented, does that mean it's already done? >> What that means is, for example, um if it says that we're going to be um in adding the EL counselors is a good example. It's they're never done with their work, but the positions are hired and they're ongoing in those um uh that go that action is about bringing on the those two staff members. So they're on board, they're working in the job they've been tasked to do.
Although those increases were not included in the 2026 budget, they will be honored in the 2027 budget and will take effect in July 2026. All of these measures combined are expected to generate between5 to $6 million in savings towards balancing the budget in 2027. And before I close, I want to briefly clarify inaccurate statements about ASCB not being able to accept donations. That statement is not accurate. We can and do receive monetary donations. As a state funded agency, we are generally prohibited from using public resources, which are taxpayer dollars, to launch or manage private fundraising campaigns. State employees are restricted from soliciting donations directly during work hours and ASDB cannot use its own state personnel or our budget to establish an external 501c3 foundation. Any individuals interested in forming a new 501c3 can reach out to me directly. That will ensure our partnership remains compliant with state conflict of interest laws and that the nonprofit remains truly independent of the agency's administrative resources.
And so we are just kind of continuing to support them. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Move on. Um [clears throat] board comments. Renee Longshore. Good evening and thank you for come for making it a point to come and be an intricral part of discussion on ABUSD. I think a point we can all agree on is the motivating factor for each of us to show up tonight that we are here for the kids. I had the pleasure of watching our seventh and eighth grade girls basketball sitting bull versus Phoenix Academy and cheering on Granite Hills High School's women's water polo team in their home scrimmage and banquet on January 29th and the men's basketball on February 3rd. Thank you to those who invited me to be part of your celebrations as our seniors finished up their final seasons. I also attended the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools budget perspectives workshop hosted by Capital Advisors Group and learned much about the governor's January budget proposal and financial projections for the coming years.
I also want to provide a little more context before Maria Murphy discusses agenda item 7.1 which is on policy DBA specific to our trust funds. We are asking to expand allowability of the trust funds to include improvements in information technology infrastructure based on feedback from the auditors during the 2022 sunset review. They identified the trust funds as a source of available financing to help fund capital improvement projects and ongoing operating and maintenance cost. Currently, the cash balance in the fund is $160,000. In closing, understanding that cost alone is not a permissible reason to remove or substantially alter a placement when that placement is necessary for students to receive FAPE. Moving to a safer, more efficient facility at Copper Creek and aligning our staff numbers with our student enrollment, we are trying to protect our core mission of providing high quality specialized education for every student.
As elected officials, it is essential to make decisions from an informed place. While I've learned a lot this past year, I know that I am not done yet. I want to take this opportunity to offer a public apology for voting in favor of a 6% total ongoing salary raise for management. At that time, I was led to believe this would result in a level of fair compensation for all staff. In light of what I've learned since then, I know it did not. Administrators and management were already making comparable salaries to their counterparts in neighboring districts. In fact, in six years, according to Transparent California, director salaries increased 45% and principal and assistant principles 32%. Compare that to certificated teachers and counselors 24%. An additional 6% salary raise was excessive, and I see that now. In fact, with the ESER funds coming in, this board authorized an unbalanced average pay raise of 84,000 for superintendent and assistant soups and 47,000 for directors.
The 2022 Sunset review specifically highlighted our struggles to manage all of our capital needs because of the lack of a comprehensive multi-year plan to address millions of dollars in identified facility needs. The relocation is the direct fulfillment of the master facility plan that we presented last year to rectify that audit finding. Between the reduction in force and the Tucson campus relocation, we're establishing a multi-year budget plan that balances our expenses with our actual Tucson campus enrollment. And as a suggestion, if there are concerns specific to implementing the cluster site model for the blind visually impaired services, it may be best to separate that topic from the decisions of the Tucson campus relocation and reduction in force. May we we may want to schedule a special meeting or work study session to discuss that specific model at a later date. However, we need to keep in mind that time is of the essence.
We were supposed to use these funds to support and educate kids. Instead, we have been systematically directing money elsewhere. My fellow board members, as a body, we authorize this. Did we make an informed decision? In following this administration, we've made mistakes, but we can work together and get out of this mess. Let us look to bring balance and compensation. The average salary increase for certificated teachers and counselors was $17,000. 84,000 for superintendent, 47,000 for directors, and 17,000 for teachers. We need to sort out our finances. Let us begin by adjusting at will employee salaries to comparable levels. We must also review our supervisory roles because a watch pot doesn't boil faster. With 11 new coordinator jobs, why are we looking to cut back on positions now supported with community schools funding? Community partnerships have built our food pantry into what it is today. What other excess administrative positions do we have?