Valley school superintendent speaks out about ‘disappointing’ denial of budget increase, bond

PHOENIX – Election results are coming in for Valley school districts that had bonds, overrides or real estate sales items on the ballot on Nov. 4, and they show that Arizona voters were split between approving or denying the measures.

Most of the state’s school district items on the ballot came down to less than 20% of the vote, with bonds passed or rejected by as little as 0.59%, in the case of West-MEC’s bond approval, which passed. The trade school’s real estate sale was approved, as well.

The Phoenix Elementary School District, Isaac School District, and Chandler Unified School District also received approval for all their items.

The Kyrene School District had its budget override approved, which came as the district continues to consider a proposal to close seven schools.

The Tolleson Union High School District and Higley Unified School District had their bonds or overrides denied by voters.

Meanwhile, the Saddle Mountain Unified School District had a bond and a budget increase denied by voters, something Superintendent Mike Winters called “disappointing and disheartening.”

View the full list of election results here.

Saddle Mountain students to be impacted by school district’s bond, budget increase denial

Saddle Mountain serves 3,256 students across five schools in the West Valley, including parts of Buckeye and Tonopah.

Winters explained voters denied a budget increase of $2.4 million, which means the district could have to shut down or shrink essential programs.

“It was funding all the things the state does not pay for, things like full-day kindergarten, extracurricular activities, athletics, (career and technical education) programs, electives, lower class sizes; those things are going to go away,” he said.

He added that the bond would have paid for two additional schools to accommodate the growing community and that now, the district will face overcrowding.

The superintendent said the report he received showed only 1,628 people voted, with the majority of voters over the age of 50, something he believes could have contributed to the result.

“I was not overly surprised by the outcome, just based on the demographics of the voters,” Winters said. “But to have the low voter turnout was definitely surprising.”

The tax increase for the district’s proposed bond would have been $12-$15 a month, with a $1.22 potential tax increase for the budget increase, according to Winters.

He said the district spoke to community members leading up to the election and received positive feedback.

“We’ll get through the school year (and then) we’ll have to spend the next few months figuring out what it’s going to look like for next year,” he said.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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