The bond went down by about 13 points, one point less than the bond two years ago.

Those who voted no do not hate children, they do not want to see the schools go away, they are not a bunch of mean old tightwads. What they said with their vote and asked for two years ago was, give us a plan, a plan for going forward making FHUSD institutions into schools of excellence. That plan never materialized two years ago nor for this bond.

All that was presented was, “give us $25 million of your tax dollars and we promise to do better.” When half of your “customers” send their children elsewhere, you have a problem. When you are hit with 60-plus violations from Arizona’s Auditor General, you need strong financial controls. When math, science and English scores drop, you have a problem. When you have bullying in the schools, that's a problem.

So, it's time for new leadership in and out of the schools. It’s time for some serious, capable financial stewardship and for our community to rethink what they want from their schools, then wrap a plan around the key principles.

If and when there is a plan with a solid course of action to improve outcomes and use money wisely, when new board members are elected in 2024 and parents are listened to, then and only then come back to the voters and make the case for additional funding.