Voters have rejected a Higley USD bond ask for the second consecutive year.
The district conceded as much in an email to its community Wednesday afternoon.
“We are thankful to our community for your vote in the proposed 2022 bond election,” the email from district leadership read. “Although the unofficial results were not what we hoped, we appreciate your continued support for our district and students.”
The bond question trailed by a 58%-42% margin after the Wednesday night drop of votes from the Maricopa County Elections Department.
This bond attempt is smaller at $77.2 million and has no tax rate increase, but its early results lagged behind what the results in 2021 were. That $95 million ask, which had a one-year tax rate increase before receding to the previous rate, lost by nine points.
District officials trimmed out transportation and paying off one of the district’s two burdensome middle school leases on this round, based on surveys of voters.
This bond covered four areas: major projects, technology, major maintenance, and safety and security.
Those four categories were the ones endorsed by residents in the survey the district conducted after voters rejected the 2021 bond package.
District officials said before the vote if this package failed, the district would be forced to make major cuts. The email from the district did not back off its assertion that the district has needs that must be addressed.
“As discussed in our 2022 bond proposal, our district is continuing to grow, and we are expecting to see an increase in students in the next few years,” the email read. “The issues and areas of need addressed in the proposed bond will continue to be a challenge. However, our leadership team plans to regroup and gather feedback from various stakeholders within the community to determine how to prioritize these needs.”
Among the options would be extending the life of technology in the district’s 1:1 student-to- device initiative and halting upgrades at Higley High School beyond those that are being paid for by older bond money.
“Please know that the Higley Unified School District remains focused on our goal to be an innovative district that prepares learners with every opportunity for success,” the email concluded. “We are incredibly proud of the work that happens every day in this wonderful school district.”
The count was 24,305 after the Wednesday drop of results and a turnout of 46.71%. Final unofficial results may not be known until Friday. Results become official when the canvass is accepted.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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