Counsel concludes Yuma County voters rejected school unification

PHOENIX - The plan that would consolidate nine school districts in Yuma County into five should not be considered approved by voters, says the legal counsel for the commission recommending district unifications around the state.

The School District Redistrict Commission had recommended combining 76 elementary and high school districts around the state into 27 unified districts. The commission's proposals went before voters in Yuma County and across the state in the Nov. 4 general election.

Ken Behringer, the commission's legislative counsel, contends the plan covering Yuma County had failed because most voters, while approving of unification, were against subdividing the Yuma Union High School District.

The district unification measure was presented to Yuma County voters in two questions. The first asked whether they wanted to subdivide the existing high school districts in which they lived. The second asked them whether to create five new districts, each consisting of elementary and high schools.

Under the proposal, one district - labeled District A - would have merged Mohawk Valley, Wellton Elementary and Antelope Union High School. District B would have consolidated Yuma Elementary School District 1 with Yuma, Kofa, and Gila Ridge high schools.

District C would have combined Crane and Somerton elementary school districts with Cibola High School. Finally, District D would have merged Gadsden Elementary School District with San Luis High School. The Hyder Elementary School District remained the same under the plan

With all but about 1,500 provisional ballots counted from the general election, Yuma County returns show only voters in the Gadsden Elementary School District wanting to subdivide YUHSD.

A majority of voters only in District 1 and the Wellton and Gadsden elementary districts approved the second question, creation of new districts.

Unofficial returns from the general election showed voters approving four of the plans outright. Five others were in limbo because voters in at least one of the districts rejected subdividing a high school district to make a plan work.

Behringer is recommending that subdivision votes be combined into one decision, which would make the other five plans, all of them involving districts in Pinal County, pass because most voters favored subdivision.

The decision will be discussed at a commission hearing in early December after the state's official canvass of general election votes.

Martin Shultz, chairman of the redistricting commission, said the group would put the question either to the Arizona Attorney General's Office or the Pinal County Attorney's Office.

Chris Thomas, director of legal services for the Arizona School Boards Association, said his group continues to maintain that one district's vote against subdivision means defeat for a unification plan.

"I think proponents are really misreading the results of these elections," Thomas said. "They're trying to find the silver lining in a really dark cloud."

Behringer's report, which Shultz distributed by e-mail, addressed five unified districts that would be created in Pinal County by subdividing the Casa Grande Union High School District and Santa Cruz Valley Union High School District.

The new districts would involve elementary districts in Sacaton, Toltec, Stanfield, Eloy and Red Rock.

Unofficial returns showed that a plan to combine the Tolleson Unified High School District with five elementary districts in the West Valley was heading for approval.

Voters also were approving plans to expand three elementary districts to K-12: the Palominas Elementary School District in Cochise County, the Altar Valley Elementary School District in Pima County and the Oracle Elementary School District in Pinal County.

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INCOMPLETE YUMA COUNTY VOTE TOTALS ON SCHOOL UNIFICATION:

Question 1, Subdividing Yuma Union High School District:
• Voters in Yuma Elementary School District 1: yes - 9,282, no - 11,102
• Voters in Somerton Elementary School District: yes - 762, no - 1,042
• Voters in Crane Elementary School District: yes - 3,663, no - 4,890
• Voters in Gadsden Elementary School District: yes - 1,418, no - 1,097

Question 1, Subdividing Antelope High School District:
• Voters in Hyder Elementary School District: yes - 38, no - 80
• Voters in Mohawk Valley Elementary School District: yes - 157, no - 262
• Voters in Wellton Elementary School District: yes - 299, no - 348

Question 2, Unifying Districts:
• Voters in Yuma Elementary School District 1: yes - 10,916, no - 9,520
• Voters in Somerton Elementary School District: yes - 877, no - 940
• Voters in Crane Elementary School District: yes - 3,900, no - 4,653
• Voters in Gadsden Elementary School District: yes - 1,637, no - 986

Question 2, Unifying Districts:
• Voters in Mohawk Valley Elementary School District: yes - 164, no - 256
• Voters in Wellton Elementary School District: yes - 336, no - 314