Trinity Clark
Editor-In-Chief
The results are in for the Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) bond and override. All votes are still in the process of being certified by the court, but the current outlook states voters have decided to continue the M&O override, but not pass the bond.
All those living within the PUSD district were given the choice of whether or not to pass both the override and bond on their ballots this year. The choice to include these options were decided by the Governing Board based on suggestions from the committee of teachers and administrators in PUSD. Also, on this committee was Ironwood’s very Assistant Principal Burrola, who worked hard during the research process and delivery process of this endeavor.
In simple terms, the override is providing money for the people and programs of PUSD’s schools. This includes, but is not limited to, budgets for school nurses, arts education, athletics, and all-day kindergarten. It also provides a certain amount of all teachers’ salaries and helps to maintain class sizes. According to Assistant Principal Burrola “if it had not passed this time, we would have had to cut about $9 million out of our budget.” He also confirmed that one of the ways that Ironwood was thinking of cutting back on costs was to transition to year-long classes. Luckily for students and staff alike, this no longer seems to be the case.
In has been several years since the PUSD have passed the bond. Since it was last passed, a lot of the bond money has run out. This means the budget for emergency repairs at schools, structural improvement around campuses, and building new schools in highly populated areas is nearly gone.
To give a simplified version of exactly how the override and bond affect the school district’s budget, Assistant Principal Burrola explained in an interview. The override being passed allows the school district to go over their allotted budget by 13%. If the bond were to pass, it would have allowed the district to sell bonds and use the profits for the aforementioned improvements. Ultimately the bonds would have to be payed back by the school district.
The voters have decided. The override will go forward, but the bond will not.
Image Credit: Trinity Clark
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