Chandler Unified bond committee presents four bond options; committee recommends two mid-range packages

Superintendent Frank Narducci told the Chandler Unified School District Governing Board on June 11 that the district has prepared four bond options for possible voter consideration, and that a citizens bond committee recommended two mid-range options.

Narducci said the bond language—prepared by district attorneys where required—groups spending into three broad categories: pupil transportation vehicles; furniture, equipment and instructional technology; and maintenance, renovations and new construction, including acquisition of land and security enhancements. "One of the options that our bond committee recommended was for, to consider a $199,400,000, for 3 specific areas," Narducci said, and he later described a second recommended option at $271,500,000.

The superintendent said the district previously placed a $290 million bond before voters in 2019 and that the current set of options was developed after that bond failed last November. He said district staff and advisory groups—including parent, staff and business advisory committees and the bond citizens group—surveyed the community and adjusted the packages downward in response to that feedback.

Narducci explained the differences between the recommended options chiefly affect technology and instructional reimagining funds: the larger option includes a multi-year "catch-up" for technology purchases and more funding for reimagining instructional spaces, while the smaller option reduces those line items. He described one specific trade-off this way: "If we have a problem, a structural problem ... it doesn't get covered with warranties or insurance, then we ultimately have to cover that out of a general, renovation lineup."

The superintendent also said one of the district's oldest buildings, Hartford, is included in three of the four options and that replacing rather than repeatedly renovating that building is part of the rationale for including it in the bond proposals. He said the bond totals proposed in staff materials were roughly $487 million, $271.5 million, $199.4 million and $154.4 million, and that the citizens committee recommended options two ($271,500,000) and three ($199,400,000).

Board members asked for additional detail on specific line items; district staff pointed to online spreadsheets and previously distributed presentations that break spending down by school and by project. Narducci said those materials identify which schools are scheduled for device or infrastructure replacement under the district's replacement cycle.

No formal action to place a bond on the ballot was recorded in the meeting transcript excerpt; staff presented the options and invited board questions.

For more detail, Narducci said board members and members of the public can review the full spreadsheets and presentations published by the district.