Kyrene School District will be issuing its first bond sale from the $161 million bond approved by voters in the November 2023 election. 

The Kyrene School District Governing Board voted at its Feb. 25 meeting to approve the sale, which will provide the district with approximately $43 million to cover capital projects for the next three years, including:

• Safety and security upgrades;
• Replacement of aging school buses;
• Maintenance of playgrounds, fields, parking lots and other facilities;
• Technological improvements, ranging from computers to fire alarm systems;
• Building maintenance, such as roofing and HVAC system repairs or replacements.

For these types of projects, only a fraction of Kyrene’s costs are covered by state funding. School needs far exceed the available funding, so the district relies heavily on voter-approved bonds and overrides to provide safe, healthy learning environments. 

Kyrene would not be able to keep facilities in the condition they are in today without voter support, the release stated.

The governing board also voted to refinance approximately $40 million of outstanding bonds to save taxpayers roughly $2 million. 

Kyrene takes fiscal responsibility and public trust seriously, and the district is always seeking opportunities to save taxpayers money, according to the release. The funds will be used to refinance old bonds at a better interest rate, which will mean lower tax rates in the future for the Kyrene community.

Chris Herrmann, Kyrene CFO and associate superintendent, said in the release that Kyrene spends a lot of time in this area, supporting their goal to always lower tax rate over time whenever possible. 

“It’s a huge point of pride that we can look back at the last five years and see those rates consistently dropping due to our efforts,” Herrmann said. 

All of the savings and benefit of refinancing goes to taxpayers in the form of lower rates, and through bond refinancing, Kyrene has saved taxpayers almost $8 million over the course of a decade, the release detailed.

Kyrene Superintendent Laura Toenjes said in the release that this is another example of Kyrene’s commitment to fiscal responsibility, noting that the district and governing board seek every opportunity to manage the bond efficiently.

“Taxpayers place their trust in us when they support our bonds, and we want our community to see the value of their vote,” Toenjes said. 

Kyrene allocates the vast majority of bond dollars to schools. On average, 96% of bond funds directly support students and maintain schools, while a very small percentage is used to maintain office facilities and other work environments, according to the release.