The Gilbert Unified School District is asking to sell $100 Million dollars in bonds in addition to a 5 year, 15% budget override of $35,000,000

- 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 Gilbert Unified School District will receive a ballot by mail with voting instructions in the envelope.

- Allows Boys to be in Girl Scouts, Girls to be in Boy Scouts, and other designated youth groups. - SOURCE 

- Allows Boys to use Girls Restrooms. - SOURCE 

- Has at least 10 teachers who have 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 

- Dedicated to Social Justice & Equity. - SOURCE 

- Equity teaches people and children that there is systemic racism, they are entitled to reparations and more because of the color of their skin. - SOURCE 

- Justice in this scenario stands for Defunding the Police. - SOURCE

- 89.47% Graduation Rate 

- 57% of students are proficient or highly proficient at English Language Arts 

- 51% of students are proficient or highly proficient at Math

Gilbert Unified pays an average annual salary of $57,973 to teachers. The average annual salary in Gilbert is $62,000.

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

- The sale of $100 million in new bonds 

- A $35 million Budget Override

- The estimated average annual tax rate for the proposed Bond authorization is $0.3044 per $100 of net assessed valuation 

- The estimated Override continuation is tax rate of $1.32 per $100 of assessed valuation 

- 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

Gilbert Unified spends $11,349 per student per year.

- Without passage of the override, the district will have to reduce the operational budget. 

- 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 in Enrollment of Nearly 2% [582 Students] 

- Nearly 2% Drop in Graduation Rate 

- Drop Out Rate More than Doubled from 1.4% to 3.73% 

- 2% Drop in Math Proficiency 

- 4% Increase in English Proficiency 

- Reported Instances of Violence Increased from 397 to 480 [Nearly 3 Instances a Day Based on a 180 Day Arizonan School Year] 

- Total Students with Chronic Absenteeism Increased from 4,712 to 10,033 [Nearly a third of all enrolled students] 

- Total Students Enrolled in at least one Advanced Placement Course Slightly Increased from 2,721 to 2,726 

- Total Students Reported as Harassed or Bullied Increased from 60 to 68

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

- If the measures pass, the current Secondary tax rates will remain the same; however; 

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

- Gilbert Unified is legally allowed to call the override a continuation even though we will vote to approve it as if it is new. 

- The $100 million in bonds is NOT a continuation and is a separate item on the property tax statement. 

- Both items will be separate items on the ballot.

• Bond 

• Constructing school buildings 

• Renovating school buildings 

• Purchasing pupil transportation vehicles 

• Acquiring by purchase or lease school lots 

• Improving school grounds, including adjacent ways thereto 

• Supplying school buildings with furniture, equipment and technology 

• Liquidating indebtedness incurred for the purposes set forth herein 

• Providing all utilities and other capital items necessary for the construction and renovation of school buildings and for improving school grounds 

• Paying all architectural, design, engineering, project and construction management and other costs incurred in connection with the purposes set forth above 

• Paying all legal, financial and other costs in connection with issuance of the bonds Override 

- Retain & Attract Highest-Quality Teachers and Employees 

- Maintain Campus Security, Social Workers & Mental Health Counselors 

- Continue Allocation to Class Size Reduction

- If the override and bond measures are 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