Fountain Hills Unified School District is asking to sell $25 Million dollars in bonds and also the potential sale, lease or exchange of the building that formerly housed Four Peaks Elementary School.

- If you aren't already registered to vote, the last day to register in order to be eligible to vote in this election is Tuesday, October 10th, 2023.

• Check your voter registration status at ezaz.org/vote

- Ballots will be mailed on October 11, 2023. The last day to request early ballot October 27 

- VOTED BALLOTS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN 7 p.m., November 7th. MAIL ballots by October 31st.

All registered voters that reside in the Fountain Hills Unified School District will receive a ballot by mail with voting instructions in the envelope.

- Implented Social Emotional Learning - SOURCE 

- CASEL, a leading organization for implementing SEL in schools, displays on their website a poster to illustrate what Social Emotional Learning is. “Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a process through which children and adults develop the fundamental skills for life effectiveness. We need SEL skills for ourselves, our relationships, and our work. In OUSD, we believe that strengthening these skills enhances our ability to effectively and ethically connect across race, class, culture, language, gender identity, sexual orientation, learning needs, and age.” - SOURCE 

- SEL uses emotional responses to generate student attention to drive learning. - SOURCE 

- Has at least 1 teacher who has signed a pledge to teach Critical Race Theory (CRT) and all other social justice-oriented curriculum to children, regardless of the law or the wishes of parents. - SOURCE 

- Critical Race Theory teaches that systemic racism is part of American society - from education and housing to employment and healthcare. - SOURCE

- 92.44% Graduation Rate 

- 47% of students are proficient or highly proficient at English Language Arts 

- 35% of students are proficient or highly proficient at Math

Fountain Hills Unified pays an average annual salary of $46,613 to teachers. The average annual salary in Fountain Hills is $62,000.

Voters will be asked to say yes or no on two measures: 

- The sale of $25 million in new bonds 

- The sale, lease or exchange of the building that formerly housed Four Peaks Elementary School

- The estimated average annual tax rate for the proposed bond authorization is $0.26 per $100 of net assessed valuation used for secondary property tax purposes. 

- Shows up on your tax bill as secondary property tax. 

- Property taxes combined add up to thousands of dollars! 

- To view your current property tax liability, visit https://treasurer.maricopa.gov/Parcel/ParcelSearch.aspx

Fountain Hills Unified spends $12,688 per student per year.

Once any outstanding Bonds and Overrides are repaid, you won't have to continue paying Secondary property taxes related to the bond. 

Comparing to the 2018-2019 School Year Performance to the 2021-2022 School Year Performance 

- Drop of Nearly 8% in Enrollment of Students 

- Drop of 1.72% in Graduation Rate 

- Over 21% Increase to the Drop Out Rate from 1.35% to 1.64% 

- 19% Drop in Math Proficiency 

- 6% Drop in English Proficiency 

- Reported Instances of Violence Increased from 0 to 26 

- Total Students with Chronic Absenteeism Increased from 287 to 344 [Nearly 27% of Enrolled Students] 

- Total Students Enrolled in at least one Advanced Placement Course Decreased from 118 to 76 

- Total Students Reported as Harassed or Bullied Nearly Remained the Same at 0

- If the Bond passes, the current Secondary tax rates will increase 

- If the measure passes, the total amount of taxes paid will likely go higher if there is continued inflation related to property values.

It is a vote by the public to allow the School District to issue more debt for projects. The $25 million in bonds is NOT a continuation and is a separate item on the property tax statement.

- School facility improvements 

- Repairs  

- Transportation costs

- If the bond measure is defeated, your landlord’s taxes will go down and could mitigate future rent increases. 

- Irrespective of being a property owner, we all want to see the kids receive a quality education. 

- To view your current property tax liability, visit https://treasurer.maricopa.gov/Parcel/ParcelSearch.aspx