Agua Fria Union High School District officials say they met 100% of their strategic plan goals for the 2025-26 school year and are gathering community feedback to help guide district priorities during the next five years.
During the Oct. 14 governing board meeting, district officials reviewed progress on the strategic plan, which was developed through community workshops, listening tours and surveys beginning in 2021.
"It's crazy to think five years ago was our first time that we gathered our community of stakeholders, our parents, our staff, our students to dream what they wanted the future of Agua Fria to look like," Rachel Gross, chief innovation officer at Agua Fria High School District told the board.
The district's 10-year strategic plan serves as a framework for setting annual priorities with goals and action steps reviewed and updated regularly.
It focuses on five areas: community outreach, career opportunities, academic success, wellness and connectedness and resource stewardship.
According to the district's presentation, all annual goals established for the 2025-26 school year were completed.
"Our most recent one, for the 2025-26 school year, you can see we also made 100% of those goals," Gross said.
The district did not provide an independent evaluation of that completion rate during the meeting. The figure represents the district's assessment of whether it completed its annual strategic plan goals, rather than a measure of overall student academic performance.
Officials said the district publishes annual reports detailing its progress and maintains an online tracker that allows families and community members to review goals, completion status and supporting evidence.
As the district prepares for the next phase of its planning process, officials are seeking additional feedback from families, employees, students and community partners.
A community engagement event held Oct. 13 at Goodyear High School brought together parents, students, staff, business representatives and participants in the district's Senior to Senior program.
The event gave participants an opportunity to review the district's accomplishments, learn about ongoing initiatives and offer suggestions for future priorities.
Officials said the feedback will help shape the next five years of district planning.
Gross also credited employees and governing board members with helping carry out the district's annual action steps, noting that some projects depend on voter-approved funding.
"So many of those items and action items take bonds and overrides to make those things accomplished, like the amazing work you've seen at the Hilltop," Gross said.
The reference included the Hilltop School for the Arts Theatre and Concert Hall, one of the district's major capital projects.
That funding connection comes as Agua Fria voters prepare to decide Proposition 438 in the Nov. 3 election.
The measure would continue the district's existing 15% maintenance and operations budget override, which helps fund educational programs, staffing and other operating expenses.
If approved, the override would remain at 15% for five years before declining to 10% in the sixth year and 5% in the seventh year.
The override is separate from the district's voter-approved bonds, which finance construction and other capital improvements. Both funding sources can support different elements of the strategic plan.
During a separate presentation at the same meeting, district officials reported that the existing override provided approximately $11.4 million in budget authority during fiscal year 2026.
The strategic plan presentation was informational and the governing board took no action on revisions during the meeting.
Officials said they will use the feedback gathered at the October community event to guide the district's next phase of planning.
Editor’s note: A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
Meet Stacy Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.
Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.
Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!
Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.
Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.
By 
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here