Fountain Hills Unified School District put up two questions on the November General Election this year, and both failed to pass according to voting numbers as of Monday, Nov. 14.

The $20 million bond failed to pass by 1,792 votes, with 56.68% of voters against it. The 10% budget increase District Additional Assistance (DAA) Override failed to pass by 1,301 votes, with 54.76% against it. 14,863 ballots were cast in each election, with a turnout of 80.68%.

The Board put two items on the ballot last year as well, but it was a split vote instead. Fountain Hills voters passed a Maintenance and Operations Override with 51% in favor. The DAA Override was rejected and put on the ballot again this year. There were 6,776 more votes cast this year, and opposition on the DAA Override grew from 3,925 to 7,481 votes.

FHUSD Superintendent Dr. Cain Jagodzinski said there is no easy answer to make up the funding, but he won’t let that stop him from accomplishing the goals he set out to do this past summer when he was hired.

“Our goal remains the same, which is to continue to build our district and grow as many families and new families to our community as we can,” Jagodzinski said. “We’ll have to make some revisions to long term goals and long term plans, but we still need to stay the focus of aligning our schools to meet the needs of our kids and provide them the best experience we can. I don’t think it changes it just may take longer to get there.”

FHUSD does not currently have a director of finance, but Jagodzinski continued his work with a third-party consultant, and they worked this weekend to decide what can be done soon and what can be postponed.

Jagodzinski will present more information and a possible plan at the next Governing Board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14.

“I think we’ll have something to share with the Board, as far as what are overall plans and goals are,” Jagodzinski said. “I mean, all of this has been in the works since I was hired. I’ve been nonstop trying to find ways to fix issues that we face. There was always that unknown of what will we have, what won’t we have, and which direction can we go, and now that that has been answered, that actually makes it, for me, a little easier and clear.”

Jagodzinski emphasized the importance of marketing across the country to potential employees and families and working on the elementary school model at McDowell Mountain as ways to help grow the district. He has heard about issues of declining enrollment and trouble with teacher retention dating back years to when he was a teacher at Fountain Hills High School, but Jagodzinski is not deterred in his mission by these election results.