According to Fountain Hills Unified School District Finance and Food Service Director Catherine King, the local school district is getting good mileage out of its three existing bonds, with spending in certain areas seeing an upswing recently due to needed adjustments resulting from COVID-19.

King offered an update on district bonds during the Sept. 8 Governing Board meeting. She began by stating that a bond is basically a “loan from the public,” noting that they are a separate matter from the Maintenance and Operations and District Additional Assistance override elections taking place this fall.

Key items benefitting from the bond program in recent years include student safety, renovations/additions to existing school buildings and facilities, the improvement of school grounds, technology and infrastructure upgrades, school buses and energy-efficient upgrades to lighting, AC, etc.

FHUSD currently has three bonds, including one approved in 2007 and two approved in 2013, each in the amount of $4 million.

The principal amount retired (repaid) through fiscal year 2021 for the 2007 bond is $2.9 million. That amount is $1.6 million for the Series A 2013 bond, and $715,000 for the Series B 2013 bond.

King also provided a five-year comparison in areas of spending following the meeting. These totals fluctuate due to what was prioritized in a given year, though FY21 saw a notable jump in just about every area due to projects already on the agenda and added costs brought on by the pandemic.

For instance, $15,640 was spent in FY17 in the areas of student support services, instructor support services and tech equipment purchases. That number jumped to $87,364 in FY18, dropped to just $11,691 in FY19, went back up to $35,318 in FY20 and then moved all the way up to $149,964 in FY21. The at-home and hybrid education models that were so common last school year were one of the reasons for this jump, with the district also needing to purchase plenty of technology assets for students to use at home. The funds in this comparison came from capital, including monies from the bonds and capital override specifically.

The same trend can be seen in spending in those same areas provided by Maintenance and Override monies, with FY17-20 resulting in spending roughly $5,000 to $10,000 each year, but jumping up to nearly $50,000 in FY21.

According to King, FHUSD is making adjustments to meet priorities and has been rolling with the punches through a difficult past year.

“We are using the money to build up the learning environment of students and teachers’ ability to support our students,” King said, adding that she feels FHUSD is “getting the most out of our money.”