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Mesa Public Schools, Arizona

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Mesa Public Schools
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Mesa, Arizona
District details
Superintendent: Andi Fourlis
# of school board members: 5
Website: Link

Mesa Public Schools is a school district in Arizona.

Click on the links below to learn more about the school district’s…

Superintendent

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This information is updated as we become aware of changes. Please contact us with any updates.

Andi Fourlis is the superintendent of Mesa Public Schools. Fourlis was appointed superintendent in April 2020. Fourlis' previous career experience includes serving as deputy and assistant superintendent in the district.[1]

Past superintendents

  • Pete Lesar was the superintendent of Mesa Public Schools from 2019 to 2020.[2]
  • Ember Conley was the superintendent of Mesa Public Schools from 2018 to 2019. Conley's previous career experience included working as the superintendent of the Park City School District in Utah, an adjunct professor, and a principal.[3]

School board

The Mesa Public Schools Governing Board consists of five members elected to four-year terms. Board members are elected at large.[4]


Elections

See also: Mesa Public Schools, Arizona, elections

Board members are elected on a staggered basis in November of even-numbered years.

Three seats on the Mesa Public Schools school board in Arizona were up for general election on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was July 8, 2024.


Ballotpedia covered school board elections in 367 school districts in 29 states in 2024. Those school districts had a total student enrollment of 12,203,404 students. Click here to read an analysis of those elections.


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Public participation in board meetings

The Mesa Public Schools Governing Board maintains the following policy on public testimony during board meetings:[5]

The Board invites the viewpoints of members of the public and considers the responsible presentation of these viewpoints vital to the efficient operation of the District. The Board also recognizes its responsibility for the proper governance of the schools and the need to conduct its business in an orderly and efficient manner. The Board, therefore, establishes the following procedures to receive input from members of the public:

1. Regular and special meetings of the Governing Board, and study sessions will be open to the public and members of the public shall be permitted to attend and listen to the deliberations and proceedings occurring during these meetings. Members of the public do not have the right to speak unless and until recognized by the Board to do so.
2. Members of the public do not have the right to engage in dangerous or disruptive behavior that compromises or prevents the Board from conducting Board business.
3. The Board, in its discretion, may make an open call to the public during a Meeting, subject to reasonable time, place and manner restrictions, to allow individuals to address the Board on any issues within its jurisdiction. Study sessions are held for the purpose of in-depth study of a matter. Accordingly, the Board will not receive public comment during a study session unless requested by the President.
4. All public comment on agenda and non-agenda items will be heard during the time specifically designated as "Public Comment" on the agenda. Any person desiring to address the Board on an agenda item or during an open call to the public to address a non-agenda item must complete a Request to Address the Board prior to the beginning of the Public Comment section. Requests received during or after the Public Comment section has begun will not be recognized. Current District students who sign up to speak at call to the public will be given priority to speak first.
5. The President may set a time limit on the length of the call to the public period and for each individual speaker. Any time limitation applicable to any individual speaker shall apply to all speakers making a public comment. As a general rule, individual speakers will be limited to three minutes each, and the duration of an open call to the public will be 15 minutes. The President may deviate from these time limits for speakers and the duration of the call to the public and other comment periods as appropriate to maximize the opportunity for persons to offer their viewpoints regarding a matter. The President or designee will recognize speakers, maintain proper order, and enforce applicable time limitations.
6. The call to the public is limited to issues within the jurisdiction of the Board. The Open Meeting Law prohibits Board members from discussing issues presented during the call to the public unless the issue pertains to an item on the agenda.
7. An individual may address the Board on any agenda item and during open call to the public, but may not speak more than once on any particular agenda item. Individuals may not sign up to speak on an agenda item or during call to the public and then delegate their time to another individual.
8. The Board does not permit commercial solicitations during call to the public or actions that violate the prohibitions set forth in A.R.S. § 15-511 (use of school resources to influence the outcome of an election).
9. Personal attacks on Board members, staff, students, or members of the public are not allowed.
10. The Board President shall keep control of the meeting and require the speakers and the audience to refrain from abusive or profane remarks, disruptive outbursts, applause, protests, or other conduct which disrupts or interferes with the orderly conduct of the business of the meeting.
11. Engaging in the conduct prohibited by sections 8 and 9 above, and failing to cease such conduct upon request of the presiding officer, will be grounds for ending a speaker's time at the podium or for the removal of any disruptive person from the meeting room at the direction of the Board President.
12. At the conclusion of the open call to the public portion of the meeting, individual Board members may respond to criticism made by those who addressed the Board, may ask staff to review a matter, or may ask that a matter be placed on a future agenda. If an item has been presented to the Board and then referred to the Superintendency or another study group for review and recommendation, the Board may postpone additional public comment on the item during regular or special meetings until the Superintendency or study group presents its review and recommendations to the Board. Written comments will be forwarded to the Superintendency or study group for consideration as part of the review and recommendation process.
13. Board members shall not discuss or take legal action on matters raised during an open call to the public unless the matters are properly noticed for discussion and legal action.
14. Persons in attendance at a public meeting may record the meeting provided there is no active interference with the conduct of the meeting.[6]

School board meetings

The following articles were produced by Citizen Portal using artificial intelligence to analyze public meetings. Citizen Portal publishes articles based on the availability of meeting broadcasts, so the number of articles provided may vary by district. Although these articles are not produced or edited by Ballotpedia, they are included here as a supplemental resource for readers.

School board meeting articles (click to collapse)


District map

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[7]

Revenue, 2021-2022
SOURCE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Federal: $135,595,000 $2,360 18%
Local: $280,021,000 $4,874 37%
State: $333,211,000 $5,800 44%
Total: $748,827,000 $13,035
Expenditures, 2021-2022
TYPE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Total Expenditures: $790,837,000 $13,436
Total Current Expenditures: $641,080,000 $10,891
Instructional Expenditures: $361,939,000 $6,149 46%
Student and Staff Support: $102,049,000 $1,733 13%
Administration: $50,797,000 $863 6%
Operations, Food Service, Other: $126,295,000 $2,145 16%
Total Capital Outlay: $130,677,000 $2,220
Construction: $90,490,000 $1,537
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: $7,151,000 $121
Interest on Debt: $11,641,000 $197


Teacher salaries

The following salary information was pulled from the district's teacher salary schedule. A salary schedule is a list of expected compensations based on variables such as position, years employed, and education level. It may not reflect actual teacher salaries in the district.

Fiscal Year Average
2025[8] $75,299
2024[9] $64,046
2023[9] $62,790
2022[9] $56,943
2021[9] $55,826
2020[9] $52,692
2019[9] $50,183

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements.[10]

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2020-2021 32 38 14 18 12 34 49
2018-2019 46 60 27 33 29 47 64
2017-2018 47 59 29 34 29 52 63
2016-2017 46 60 28 33 28 61
2015-2016 41 55 24 28 24 56
2014-2015 40 52 24 27 22 54
2013-2014 66 79 50 54 47 78
2012-2013 67 81 54 56 50 79
2011-2012 67 79 54 56 47 79
2010-2011 67 81 53 56 49 78

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2020-2021 37 43 23 24 15 43 53
2018-2019 46 53 30 33 27 52 62
2017-2018 43 55 27 30 23 49 60
2016-2017 42 54 27 29 23 57
2015-2016 39 52 26 26 20 54
2014-2015 35 49 24 23 19 49
2013-2014 81 87 75 73 66 89
2012-2013 81 88 73 73 67 89
2011-2012 80 85 73 71 64 89
2010-2011 80 87 73 72 66 89

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2019-2020 78 85-89 65-69 72 70-74 65-69 84
2018-2019 82 85-89 70-74 78 70-74 80-84 87
2017-2018 79 80-84 75-79 74 70-74 75-79 85
2016-2017 75 75-79 70-74 69 60-64 82
2015-2016 79 80-84 70-74 75 65-69 84
2014-2015 76 85-89 70-74 70 55-59 82
2013-2014 76 75-79 65-69 70 60-64 81
2012-2013 74 80-84 65-69 67 60-64 80
2011-2012 75 80-84 65-69 65 65-69 81
2010-2011 76 80-84 60-64 67 60-64 83


Students

Year Enrollment Year-to-year change (%)
2023-2024 57,204 -2.0
2022-2023 58,343 -0.9
2021-2022 58,859 1.5
2020-2021 57,956 -8.2
2019-2020 62,703 -0.7
2018-2019 63,124 0.2
2017-2018 62,975 -0.7
2016-2017 63,444 -1.5
2015-2016 64,367 0.8
2014-2015 63,849 -0.5
2013-2014 64,161 0.0
2012-2013 64,161 -0.9
2011-2012 64,728 -0.6
2010-2011 65,123 -3.6
2009-2010 67,471 -4.3
2008-2009 70,346 -3.8
2007-2008 73,044 -1.5
2006-2007 74,128 -0.7
2005-2006 74,626 -1.1
2004-2005 75,471 0.1
2003-2004 75,401 0.2
2002-2003 75,269 0.6
2001-2002 74,808 1.6
2000-2001 73,587 2.3
1999-2000 71,894 0.0
Racial Demographics, 2023-2024
RACE Mesa Public Schools (%) Arizona K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native 4.2 4.2
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander 1.0 3.2
Black 4.6 5.8
Hispanic 47.2 48.2
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.8 0.4
Two or More Races 4.0 4.3
White 38.2 33.9

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


Staff

As of the 2023-2024 school year, Mesa Public Schools had 3,282.88 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 17.42.

Teachers, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten: 60.50
Kindergarten: 173.00
Elementary: 1,667.24
Secondary: 1,382.14
Total: 3,282.88

Mesa Public Schools employed 81.07 district administrators and 141.04 school administrators as of the 2023-2024 school year.

Administrators, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators: 81.07
District Administrative Support: 263.24
School Administrators: 141.04
School Administrative Support: 314.04
Other staff, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides: 1,071.77
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: 151.70
Total Guidance Counselors: 155.45
Elementary Guidance Counselors: 76.68
Secondary Guidance Counselors: 78.77
Librarians/Media Specialists: 77.73
Library/Media Support: 1.00
Student Support Services: 1,072.47
Other Support Services: 896.99


Schools

Mesa Public Schools operates 85 schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.
List of schools
SCHOOL NAMENUMBER OF STUDENTSGRADES
Adams Elementary School668PK-6
Alma Elementary School0
Brinton Elementary485PK-6
Bush Elementary502PK-6
Carson Junior High School9227-9
Crismon Elementary School395PK-6
Dobson High School2,3419-12
Eagleridge Enrichment Program684KG-9
Early Education Center72PK-PK
East Valley Academy2849-12
Edison Elementary School550PK-6
Eisenhower Center For Innovation444PK-6
Emerson Elementary School728PK-6
Entz Elementary School592PK-6
Falcon Hill Elementary School541PK-6
Field Elementary School514PK-6
Franklin Accelerated Academy - Brimhall Campus857PK-6
Franklin Accelerated Academy - Downtown Campus425PK-6
Franklin Accelerated Academy - East Campus546PK-6
Franklin Accelerated Academy - Jordan Campus309PK-8
Franklin Junior High School2827-9
Fremont Junior High School9257-8
Frost Elementary School0
Guerrero Elementary School428PK-6
Hale Elementary School489PK-6
Hendrix Junior High School0
Hermosa Vista Elementary School673PK-6
Highland Arts Elementary711PK-6
Holmes Elementary School515PK-6
Irving Elementary School461PK-6
Ishikawa Elementary School863PK-6
Jefferson Elementary School576PK-6
Johnson Elementary School618PK-6
Jordan Center For Early Education0PK-KG
Keller Elementary School567PK-6
Kerr Center For Agriscience513KG-7
Kino Junior High School8257-8
Las Sendas Elementary School707PK-6
Lehi Elementary School395PK-6
Lincoln Elementary School607PK-6
Lindbergh Elementary School482PK-6
Longfellow Elementary School443PK-6
Lowell Elementary School433PK-6
Macarthur Elementary School576PK-6
Madison Elementary School378PK-6
Mckellips Learning Center0
Mendoza Elementary School439PK-6
Mesa Academy For Advanced Studies3784-9
Mesa Distance Learning Program80KG-12
Mesa High School3,4429-12
Michael T. Hughes Elementary School484PK-6
Mountain View High School3,3919-12
O'Connor Elementary School418PK-6
Patterson Elementary762PK-6
Pomeroy Elementary School584PK-6
Porter Elementary School451PK-6
Poston Junior High School7797-9
Powell Junior High School0
Power Learning Center0
Redbird Elementary School483PK-6
Red Mountain Center For Early Education0PK-PK
Red Mountain High School3,4699-12
Red Mountain Ranch Elementary443PK-6
Rhodes Junior High School6587-9
Robson Elementary School452PK-6
Roosevelt Elementary School506PK-6
Salk Elementary School540PK-6
Shepherd Junior High School6674-8
Sirrine Montessori Center300PK-6
Skyline High School2,1279-12
Smith Junior High School7627-8
Sousa Elementary School374PK-6
Stapley Junior High School9467-9
Stevenson Elementary School689PK-6
Summit Academy1,195PK-8
Sunridge Learning Center0
Taft Elementary School506PK-6
Taylor Junior High School8697-9
Washington Elementary School463PK-6
Webster Elementary School581PK-6
Westwood High School3,3979-12
Whitman Elementary School569PK-6
Whittier Elementary School470PK-6
Wilson Elementary School473PK-6
Zaharis Elementary731PK-6

Contact information

Mesa Public Schools logo.png
Mesa Public Schools
63 E. Main St.
Mesa, Arizona 85201
Phone: 480-472-0000
Email: info@mpsaz.org


About school boards

Education legislation in Arizona

Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.

See also

Arizona School Board Elections News and Analysis
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External links

Footnotes