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Biggs: AJUSD override not $2M, but $14M? Vote no

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I have tried to be as supportive as I can to the Apache Junction Unified School District regarding the district additional assistance override only (Proposition 433). This is the $2 million request.

Braden Biggs

However, yesterday in my review of the AJUSD school board agenda I learned that it is in fact not $2 million, it is $14 million. The way that Proposition 433 is written it allows AJUSD to exceed their budget by 10% each year ($2 million) for seven years totaling $14 million.

This came as a shock to me because I was in the room during the committee presentation, the board vote, and in other rooms as it has been discussed in the community by the superintendent, members of the school board, and the PAC Committee.

I did a little digging to see if I might have missed something and the only place I can find where it definitively lists that it is $2 million/ year for seven years is the notice and call of special election.

Screenshot from ajusd.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=17339&dataid=29992&FileName=special+election+notice+2019.pdf&fbclid=IwAR20ee_v0xaFThktSjBs7dsYA7Kvf1aliekDipTorlORwlGUKBceNGbvc44.

There is a vague mention of it on the fact sheet that supposedly the PAC put out. But only if you read between the lines the information above the picture. Below the picture, it again says $2 million.

I sent an email to AJUSD Public Information Officer Sally Marks yesterday. Despite on AJUSD's website, she is listed as the "go-to" person for all questions regarding the bond/override, she could not/would not give me a clear answer.

It is also my understanding that a district employee is not allowed to be the representative/ person speaking on behalf of a proposition while on company time. Kelly Townsend, please correct me if I am wrong.

I then went to the PAC website (yesyesourkidsourcommunity.com/index.html) where on its homepage it says $2 million again. No mention of that being per year.

I then thought, OK I'll give the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I misunderstood from the beginning. So, I went to AJUSD.org and went to the board agendas/minutes and began to review prior meetings.

The two most important meetings would be the 5/28/19 meeting (work session) where Dr. Anderson and the committee presented their recommendation to the school board.

Yet again, no mention of it being $2 million per year.

They clearly say again $2 million on the slide titled committee recommendation.

Upon further review, I began to find discrepancies in the "survey" that AJUSD had done to poll the public reaction to the possible bond/override.

They clearly lay out that it will be $60 million for the bond election.

They have slides dedicated to the poll results where they clearly list again $60 million for the bond (Proposition 432).

Then they begin to "magically" lose themselves.

So all of this adding up I really start to question myself again thinking maybe I am still missing something.

Let's take a look at the June 11, 2019 board meeting. A motion was made by Mrs. Connolly and seconded by Mrs. Rizzi to approve Superintendent Advisory Committee recommendation for bond ($60 million) and capital ($2 million) election in November 2019. Motion carried. Ehrlich, Garcia, Kimble, Connolly and Rizzi voted yes.

So, all of this compiled together proves yet again that AJUSD cannot be trusted with public funds. They have lied to us from the start and have hoped that no one would pick up on the fact that their $62 million bond/override is actually a $74 million bond/override.

I had planned on supporting Proposition 433 because I believe that curriculum is crucial. But now my vote is a hard "no." This community has been lied to and manipulated long enough and it needs to end. AJUSD's intention was to "fool the public" and hide the real language in the small print and hope that people just blindly vote. This should not be allowed.

I strongly encourage that all AJ/GC/QV residents vote a resounding "no" on both Propositions 432 and 433.

Braden Biggs
Apache Junction