On January 15, 2025, the Arrowhead School Board voted unanimously to put a $136.2 million referendum on the April 1 2025 ballot. This is the third referendum Arrowhead has presented to voters within the past year.
The referendum is a reworked version of the facilities referendum voters decided to not pass in November of 2024. The Arrowhead community decisively it, the referendum losing by 17%.
Arrowhead High School does not have a great track record with passing facilities referendums. While 2020’s and 2024’s operating referendums passed with slim majorities (with just a 70 vote difference in 2020), the more expensive facilities referendums have a harder time getting passed. The last time Arrowhead successfully passed one was in 1999, a $19,800,000 referendum to construct additions, renovate, asbestos abatement, and improved security. Arrowhead’s attempts to get extra funding to renovate facilities have failed consistently since then, including the 2016, 2017, and 2024 elections.
While Arrowhead’s past attempts at getting extra funding fell flat, there is reason to believe that this one will be different. Arrowhead has cited the need for less “duplicate square footage,” instructional spaces that can facilitate more engaging learning, and safety concerns in their January 16, 2025, press release as reasons why they need to pass their 2025 referendum. These concerns clearly were not worth $261 million to 58.5% of voters, but the reduced cost (nearly $124.8 million less) of the updated one may sway the 17% Arrowhead needs on April 1st, 2025.
