Sunnyside voters deny schools override

The Sunnyside Unified School District's request for a 15 percent override in its maintenance and operations budget was rejected by voters. 

With votes from all precincts counted, Superintendent Steve Holmes said the nearly 6-4 margin was not getting any narrower.

"I’m definitely disappointed in the lack of votes in our favor," he said Wednesday morning. "I know there was a lot of community and staff working really diligently to garner the support necessary to make this pass."

The override would have given the second largest district in Pima County $11.8 million annually for five years. It would have helped Sunnyside with funding early childhood programs, including full-day kindergarten, athletic programs and raising teachers’ pay.

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This is the fourth unsuccessful attempt by Sunnyside to pass an override in the recent past, though the district did not attempt one in 2014. Previous failures resulted in cutting of some staff and teachers.

"I really truly believe that our community wants what's best for the education of the children in it," Holmes said. "We just need to continue to work with our community to build back a sense of trust in what we're doing." 

A prioritization process would begin to determine where cuts would be made, he said. The district will seek a broad range of input from community members and staff in the coming months.