TUSD leaders 'super excited' voters approved $480 million in bonds

Tucson Unified School District officials praised voters for approving a $480 million bond issue.

"We have to thank the voters," TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said Tuesday night. "What tonight's victory means is a shift in the community's willingness to trust the Tucson Unified School District."

The bond issue was winning 59% to 41%, with 95% of precincts reporting late Tuesday according to Pima County election officials.

"We are super excited," said campaign chair Magdelena Verdugo. Verdugo chaired Yes for Better Safer Schools, which supported the bond issue.

"Better schools, better neighborhoods ... better economic impact, property values go up," she said. "I think overall, it's going to be a really great investment for our community."

Ravi Shah, TUSD Governing Board president, said "This decision tonight is going to transform our school districts. It's going to mean that all (of our) schools throughout TUSD will have upgraded facilities, modernized infrastructure, new learning spaces, and labs, new buses and new safety security systems. ... This is going to transform our district like we don't even imagine."

With the bond issue — Proposition 496 — passing, TUSD has approval to issue and sell $480 million in General Obligation Bonds for school improvements.

Under the package, taxes will increase 69 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That means it will cost the average homeowner in TUSD, with a home value of $183,000, about $126 a year for 24 years, district officials said.

The bond issue will include:

• $263.9 million for repairs and upgrades to existing facilities;
• $43 million in improvements to classrooms and learning spaces;
• $75.5 million for health, security and safety measures;
• $66.4 million on access to updated technology; and
• $31.2 million on student transportation and support vehicles.

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Ninety-five percent of the total is to be distributed among projects throughout the district’s neighborhood schools.

The district serves more than 40,000 students at 87 schools, and those schools, ranging in age from 12 to more than 100 years, have an average age of 55.

“We have faced significant cuts to state capital funds in the last 15 years and our last bond was approved by voters nearly 20 years ago,” district officials said in materials presented to the board.

The bond proceeds cannot pay for salaries or benefits. Pandemic-response COVID relief funds from the federal government had restrictions on use.

"Tonight the voters told us that they value the education of every child — that they value our teachers, and that they believe in the Tucson unified school district to do what we say," Trujillo said. "We're going to keep our word to the voters. And that hasn't always been there in the last 20 years."

The last TUSD bond issue passed in 2004. 

Tucson Unified School District’s last bond request in 2017 for $180 million failed by a margin of 59% to 41%.

"It's up to us to take this renewed trust, and honor our commitments to the voters so that we don't violate the trust, faith and hope that they have in us," Trujillo said.