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We failed our kids

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As you’ll see in our 1A reporting, the Fountain Hills High School field project seems to be rolling ahead nicely. We don’t want to put the cart too far in front of the Falcon, but it looks like local athletes, band members and students in general will have a safe, reliable field on campus next year.

The problem is that this should never have been a concern.

It’s no secret that Fountain Hills is one of the most affluent towns in the state, but now we’re also the town that nearly let its kids go without a football field. And that’s not where the problems stop, either, thanks to our collective decision this past fall to vote no on a proposed bond and override meant to benefit Fountain Hills Unified School District.

A lot of volunteer hours and a huge amount of private donations (mostly from a small handful of extremely generous individuals) have potentially made the football field replacement a reality. But what happens when our kids need new computers, uniforms, security upgrades, transportation and the like? Are we going to make our students and teachers fundraise for everything now? The answer is “yes.” It’s the answer we decided on and the reality they are already facing.

There’s a notion floating around that the district must have mismanaged funds in order to need a bond or override. Given the fact that just about every other district in the state relies on similar bond and override packages, that’s difficult to accept at face value. It doesn’t help matters that nobody seems to be able to pinpoint where, exactly, that gross mismanagement of funds has occurred.

But, regardless of that and despite the wealth and giving spirit our community has become known for, we are now known as one of the only towns unwilling to provide much-needed funding for our schools.

When it comes to state spending on education, Arizona is nearly at the bottom of the pile. Unfortunately, that means bonds and overrides have become a part of the regular budgeting process for Arizona school districts, because there simply isn’t enough provided to get past the bare minimum. And if you speak to any school administrator or educator, they’ll likely tell you Arizona’s funding for education doesn’t even clear that very low bar.

“So, figure out a way to live within your budget,” some say. We assume those same folks have never taken out a home or business loan. They probably paid for college and their cars out of pocket in one go. Never received a leg up from family or friends, right?

More importantly, do we want the bare minimum for our kids or do we want them to have every opportunity to succeed? The fact of the matter is that we dropped the ball on this one. The people footing this bill are our community’s children. They will have less, and sacrifice more, because of our decision.