26 Phoenix-area school districts asking voters to approve bonds, overrides, property sales

Twenty-six Phoenix-area school districts are asking voters to approve bonds, overrides or the sale of district-owned property in Tuesday’s election.

A school bond is a long-term loan for capital expenses such as construction, while an override increases or renews an existing property tax on residents to help increase school district budgets.

Here are the Maricopa County districts looking for financial approval from residents:

• Agua Fria Union High School
• Alhambra Elementary
• Arlington Elementary
• Balsz Elementary
• Cartwright Elementary
• Cave Creek Unified
• Creighton Elementary
• Dysart Unified
• Fountain Hills Unified
• Gilbert Unified
• Glendale Union High School
• Isaac Elementary
• Litchfield Elementary
• Littleton Elementary
• Mesa Unified
• Osborn Elementary
• Paradise Valley Unified
• Peoria Unified
• Phoenix Elementary
• Riverside Elementary
• Saddle Mountain Unified
• Scottsdale Unified
• Tolleson Union High School
• Union Elementary
• Washington Elementary
• Wickenburg Unified

Tahlya Visintainer, interim superintendent of the Peoria Unified School District, said the override and sale approval would allow funding to be spent where students and staff need it most instead of on empty buildings.

“We lag behind several of our neighboring districts in terms of compensation,” she said. “So, that would be a key area where we’d want to focus is really being able to, you know, bring ourselves up and, in some cases, we could [rise] above our neighboring districts so that we can be more competitive.”

Peoria Unified faces another $11 million in budget cuts without an override

Voters rejected a Peoria Unified override request during a special election last year. That prompted the governing board to cut $11 million from the district’s maintenance and operations budget. The district said it will have to cut another $11 million if next week’s override fails.

“We had to make some very difficult decisions. All of our staff experienced three furlough days, which means they’re losing three days of pay through the school year on top of the fact that they did not receive any pay increase,” Visintainer said.

Peoria Unified is also in a unique situation, with the district facing recent backlash over the case of two former teachers accused of having a sexual relationship with a male student at Centennial High School.

However, Visintainer said the legal fees from the case do not play a role in the district’s override request.

“The attorney’s fees are something that come with the size of our district. … We have done what we could through our trust agreement where we have really tried to maintain our attorney’s fees and costs so that they don’t become exorbitant,” she said.

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

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