Arrowhead Union High School stands at a turning point following the recent failure on Tuesday, April 1st, 2025 to pass a proposed referendum. The referendum aimed to address infrastructure needs, academic support, as well as program funding.
The result of this vote signifies more than just a “missed opportunity” but the beginning of a challenging period for students, staff, and the Arrowhead Union High School environment. As budgets become tighter, much needed upgrades are delayed and pushed back, and concerns about the future of Arrowhead arise. Because aging buildings, increasing class sizes, and underfunded programs are already creating problems, the effect of doing nothing is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
With the question in mind, What systems are going to fail?
Systems that might fail could be some of Arrowhead’s sports teams. “Yeah, we’ve had to displace our swimming teams quite often because of the status of our school,” Mr. Adam Kurth, principal of Arrowhead Union High School, said.” The pool here at Arrowhead was drained for testing but was not able to be filled back up right away. The refill was delayed because of the wait on a report from a structural engineer to tell the school it was safe to refill. There are structural issues the school has been aware of and new, growing issues. Once the engineer said it was currently ‘safe’ for our students, it was refilled.”
“I felt really disappointed and also frustrated because we had to drive all the way to Waukesha North just for practice,” Piper Moede, junior swimmer, said, showing how her life was affected by this. The sports teams might suffer tremendously due to the rejection of this past referendum.
Kurth highlighted the delicate balance between maintaining operations in the short term and preparing for a potentially difficult financial future. “Short term is very minimal. The referendum was intended for facility upgrades because as you can see when you walk around the building, there are things that are deteriorating. The biggest parts of what’s deteriorating are things you can’t see, like our heating and air conditioning units on top. We are okay for the next three years because the community did pass the 1.9 million dollar referendum. That helps us take care of certain expenses, meaning we don’t have to make any significant cuts right now. But in three years, if the community decides that they don’t want to continue that sort of funding, then we’ll have issues, because we’ll run in a deficit, due to the way that schools are funded by the state, so we’ll have to make cuts every year at that point.. So, three years from now it’ll be pretty painful.”
Without continued financial support from the community, the school will be forced to make difficult decisions that could reshape the student experience in fundamental ways. “If our enrollment keeps decreasing and we don’t get an operating referendum, we’ll be cutting teachers, programs, classes, funding for sports, those kinds of things. You have to make tough decisions at that point and each community makes different decisions, whatever their priorities are,” Kurth said.
The failure of the April 1st referendum marks a critical moment for Arrowhead Union High School, which emphasizes the importance of the community’s support and the success and quality of Arrowheads education systems. While immediate cuts are being avoided, thanks to temporary funding, the school is facing a ticking clock. In the next couple of years, without a renewed investment, some vital systems are at risk of failure. What happens next depends on the community’s willingness to prioritize education and take action. Arrowhead stands at a crossroad, and the decisions made in the future shape its path for years to come.
