Vote's impact on schools uncertain
District weighs next step in coming months

Second grade teacher Nicole Kuch does the best she can to hide the sadness and worry in her voice — but it’s still there.

“It bothers me very much to have little educational support from the community,” said the teacher at Havasupai Elementary School. “We all have our concerns. I think we are all just kind of waiting until we have more information before we get too fired up, but there are a lot of teachers walking around today with their heads held low. That is for sure.”

The number of votes cast Tuesday to extend property taxes passed in 2005 for the Lake Havasu Unified School District never even reached 3,008 — which would have given the proponents at least half of the total votes cast in the election.

The last vote for the override approval stopped at 2,776.

State law allows districts to ask voters to pay property taxes that would generate revenue that equals up to 10 percent of the largest part of its budget for seven years. Voters passed the measures in 2005. Tuesday’s questions essentially asked voters to extend those taxes for the next seven years.

Next year, the district will feel its first financial hit from the recent election when it cuts $1 million from its bottom line.

Now, school officials have to try to figure out what exactly will be impacted in their already constrained budgets.

And right now, no one really seems to know what those impacts will be.

“We will have to look at what kinds of needs we have, what needs we can tighten up on, and what kinds of things we can do to have the least effect on the kids,” said Havasupai Elementary School Principal Claude Sanders. “We don’t want to take a step backward and not be able to supply the same kind of support, but it will be really difficult now.”

The district could place the two override questions back on the spring ballot, but with the news of the election outcome so fresh, the majority of the board is still in shock.

LHUSD Superintendent Gail Malay stated in an e-mail to the News-Herald that the district would not recommend to the board to seek a spring election, but the majority of the board said it would be a consideration to discuss in the coming months.

“I think that we just keep trying until the cows come home,” said board member Ross Hobday. “We just never give up. The more and more I sit on that board, it is not the district at fault. I was a parent who sat in the crowd. It was our state and federal government who dropped the ball.”

Malay also stated there are district expenses that come along with an election and that the board would receive a debriefing of election results during its December meeting.

“I’m very disappointed that it didn’t pass,” said governing school board member Dr. Randal Troyer. “We are going to be scrambling to see what we can (do). I think it will really affect the kids and that is so sad to see.

School Board President Jo Navaretta said the board will “have to consider all options.”

“I haven’t really thought too much about that at this point,” she said.

You may contact the reporter at jleatherman@havasunews.com.