Around two dozen school districts across Maricopa County asked for the approval of bonds and overrides this year. Some passed and a handful came up short.
For the Queen Creek Unified School District, this was the district’s third year in a row asking for the bond. This year, the district asked for a $98 million bond, which is considerably lower compared to the previous two years.
The district said it needs the money to help accommodate its rapid population growth. The district also went for an override this year and both measures failed. According to the unofficial results posted Wednesday night by the Maricopa County Elections Office, the bond failed with 60.48% of voters saying no compared to 39.52% of voters saying yes.
The Deer Valley Unified School District also had its bond and override fail. As of Wednesday night, 55.15% of those who voted said no to the budget override with 44.85% of those who voted saying yes. For the bond, similar numbers with 55.07% saying no and 44.93% saying yes.
“It was a really hard pill to take. Our kids aren't being put first. Our teachers aren't being put first,” said Katie May Smith, a mom and president of parent, teacher and staff organization at one of the Deer Valley schools.
While some election results were decided early, the Litchfield Elementary School District bond is still very tight. As of Wednesday night, it was failing by less than 200 votes.
“Pass or no pass, we're going to still keep working hard on behalf of our students and our community. It's just going to require us to think differently and really take a hard, critical look at how we utilize our resources, utilize our space,” said Carter Davidson Ed. D., the Superintendent of the Litchfield Elementary School District.
Arizona’s largest school district, Mesa Public Schools, still has a small margin with its bond with 50.91% of those who voted casting a ballot against it. However, with the district’s budget override continuation, voters said yes to that with 50.14% of voters saying yes compared to 49.86% saying no.
The district provided a statement:
Mesa Public Schools (MPS) wishes to inform our community that the results of the recent bond election and override continuation remain uncertain as we await official results from the Maricopa County Elections Department. Once the results are official, we will promptly share the outcomes and the implications they may have on our district with the community.
As we await the official results, MPS remains committed to providing an exceptional education for our students. Our focus is on the well-being and success of our students, and we will continue to work diligently to provide the highest quality education possible.
Districts can go back and ask voters for a bond and/or override in the next election. It is unclear at this moment if any of those districts will.
If overrides continue to fail, school districts will start losing money every year and will eventually have to make cuts to salaries and academic offerings and increase class sizes.
Other districts that had bonds or overrides fail include the Gila Bend Unified School District, Liberty Elementary School District, Gilbert Public Schools and Fountain Hills Unified School District.
More election results can be found here.
