SB 1856 Arizona Senate · 57th Legislature - Second Regular Session

K-12 education; 2026-2027.

SB 1856 updates the financial rules for charter schools in Arizona that are sponsored by state agencies, universities, or community colleges. The bill clarifies that school districts are not financially responsible for these specific charter schools and establishes how their funding, including base support and additional assistance, will be calculated. It also introduces stricter measures to prevent double-counting students who are enrolled in both charter and traditional public schools by limiting their total daily membership to one. Furthermore, the legislation requires these schools to adjust their student counts and budgets based on actual enrollment data within the first few months of the school year.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jun 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jun 9, 2026 Last action Jun 11, 2026

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What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Senate Engrossed Version · 7 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates Arizona's K-12 education funding formulas and administrative procedures for the 2026-2027 school year. Key changes include clarifying how charter schools calculate student counts to determine funding, adjusting the timeline for reporting proposed expenditures on the failing schools tutoring fund, and expanding a child sexual abuse prevention pilot program to include mandatory parental notification procedures and printed educational materials.

Scope change

The bill applies to all Arizona school districts and charter schools for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, with specific pilot programs targeting failing schools and public schools participating in the child safety initiative.

FISCAL

Clarified that charter schools must revise student counts and budgets based on actual attendance data, removing previous language that allowed using estimated data for initial counts.

Adjusted the calculation method for apportioning funding between public schools and charter schools when students split their time between both institutions.

TIMELINE

Changed the deadline for the department of education to report proposed expenditures for the failing schools tutoring fund from September 30, 2027, to September 1, 2026.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement for the child sexual abuse prevention pilot program to provide parents with an opportunity to request printed copies of educational materials by mail.

Mandated that schools notify parents within 24 hours if a student is a victim of child sexual abuse or assault involving grooming or exploitation.

DEFINITION

Updated the definition of 'daily attendance' to clarify that it counts days where a pupil attends at least half of the instructional time scheduled for the day.

TECHNICAL

Corrected formatting errors in the student transport mileage table and removed redundant text regarding lapsing of appropriations.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jun 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

DPA

upper

Jun 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors