The average teacher salary for Fountain Hills Unified School District in 2021, $48,426, was lower than 165 other districts in Arizona and almost $8,000 lower than the state average, according to the state auditor general.

Superintendent Dr. Cain Jagodzinski found a way to give a pay raise to all staff last year, but he believes the reason 90% of staff returned from last year is because they trust in his vision to lead Fountain Hills to success.

Jagodzinski has lived in Fountain Hills for 20 years, but more than 35% of Fountain Hills staff commute from out of town and pass other schools on their way to work. According to data from the Learning Policy Institute, Arizona had the highest annual teacher turnover rate in the country at 24% from 2011-2014, while the national average was under 10%.

Teachers have just as much choice in where they work as parents have when deciding where to send their children to school. Jagodzinski is competing with other districts to attract people and raise enrollment, and he made considerable progress in his first year. FHUSD received $300,000 from the state into the revised budget this summer because enrollment ended up higher than projected.

Last year, FHUSD spent approximately 76% of the maintenance and operations (M&O) budget on teacher salaries. One of the reasons supporters of the bond initiative hope it will pass is so the district can replace equipment, drive down maintenance and repair costs, and pay teachers a more competitive salary from the M&O budget since teachers can’t be paid from the capital budget.

The “Yes for FH Students” political action committee is supporting the $25 million bond initiative on the ballot this November and trusts in Jagodzinski. Al Lorenz, the committee chairman, had three children go through Fountain Hills schools and one of his sons won a basketball state championship with Jagodzinski as head coach.

“One of the things Cain’s not afraid to do as the leader of the school district, and we certainly support that as our advisory committee, is competition,” Lorenz said. “The way we’re going to grow enrollment again, like we did when our children came, is we’re going to be the best medium- sized school district in the whole state, and we believe Cain will lead that.”

Jagodzinski led Fountain Hills High School to be one of the highest performing public high schools when he was principal. In his first year as superintendent, Fountain Hills High School saw improved ACT scores and the high school tested higher than the state average in each category on the ACT exam.

The current tax rate per $100 of assessed value for FHUSD is $1.9148, and it will rise to $2.1720 if the bond passes. Even with the bond, the tax rate is still lower than surrounding districts Scottsdale ($3.3766) and Mesa ($7.0369).

One of the few school districts with a lower tax rate, Cave Creek Unified School District, is penalized for having such a low tax rate. The Cave Creek Unified School District tax rate is $1.4996, but they are charged an additional education tax of $0.3111 that goes to state funding, not Cave Creek’s funding, for being under the qualifying tax rate, per ARS 15-992B.

If the bond passes, Jagodzinski said he will put together an oversight committee comprised of various stakeholders, some with family in the district and others without. After the committee is formed, their mission is to ensure that all purchases made from the bond fit into categories that were approved by voters.

To see a list of bond spending projects, visit onefh.org. The website also outlines the estimated tax rate per $100 of assessed value as $0.2572, meaning residents would pay $2.14 for every $100,000 of residential property every month.

Visit fountainhillsschools.org, and click the “Bond Election Information” bubble on the right side of the screen to see how money from the 2013 bond was spent. Visitors can see the 2013 bond details and also view the 2021 Gordian Facilities Needs Report outlining equipment and maintenance needs by 2031.

Jagodzinski will host two more town hall meetings before the election to discuss the facts of the bond. The next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27, in the McDowell Mountain Elementary School gym, and the last meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 2, in the Fountain Hills High School cafeteria.