An avalanche of chips, nacho cheese, carne asada, pico de gallo, salsa and optional jalapeños is the bestseller at the Sunnyside High School football snack bar.
The super nachos cost $6.
But heating the nacho cheese requires time, patience. And a giant warmer.
Most of all, it takes electricity.
And in the Sunnyside snack bar, if the cheese warmer and the microwave are both plugged in at the same time … Zip. Zap.
It’s lights out — no power.
The hub of a football game, soccer match or track meet, the Sunnyside snack bar can be intolerable with no air conditioning in the slightly-larger-than-a-closet space. In the August afternoon heat before an early-season football game, temperatures exceed 110 degrees and the booster club relies on a small fan, many hands, scattered cords and dated appliances. Sometimes the “Señoras” — a group of older volunteers — help out.
“You’re getting your little detox going while you’re trying to serve drinks and nachos in there,” said Sunnyside booster club president Stephanie Dicochea. “It helps having the window open on a windy day or a rainy day is nice. That place is old.”
An upgrade is in order, the Sunnyside Unified School District says. And it asks to renovate and modernize everything from that concession stand to AC units, roofs and many other buildings in Southern Arizona’s second-largest district. Voters will get a chance to decide on those improvements and more on Nov. 4 when they vote on Proposition 416, the $120 million bond issue.
Tucson school bonds and overrides 2025: Your complete voter guide
Three education-related propositions are included on the Nov. 4 ballot and they include big-picture pay raises, expanding student programs, building repairs, upgrading athletic facilities and… Keep reading
For Sunnyside High’s 70th, district says a transformation is in order
For its 70th birthday, Sunnyside High School needs more than a makeover. The flagship school on Tucson’s south side has 2,200 students and requires a… Keep reading
TUSD substitute teachers say: “Include us in Prop. 414 employee raises”
Around the halls of Tucson High and in classes — every subject from calculus to P.E. — Jerry Schuster’s former students remember one main thing:… Keep reading
With about 13,000 students, the district aims to repair and upgrade most of its 21 sites with a bond that focuses on six areas:
• Construction, renovation and modernization of all 21 school sites and grounds including Sunnyside High School building replacements.
• Critical safety and security improvements.
• Athletic and fine arts facility upgrades.
• Replacement and upgrades of structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical and roofing systems.
• Classroom technology, furniture and equipment.
• Student transportation vehicles.
As Sunnyside High turns 70 this year, the south side community is faced with supporting its flagship school, superintendent Jose Gastelum said.
“We had experts come in and they rated every building. We have about $88 million in needs, in terms of just repairs and updates,” Gastelum said. “We’re not even talking remodeling. At the community events as we’ve been knocking doors and canvassing, you know, people have been very respectful, they’re hearing us out.
“For the most part, it’s been super positive and they agree that our schools have aged. There’s deep roots in Sunnyside High School. A lot of families have a lot of generations that have gone through that high school and they understand it’s 70 years old and some of the buildings and classroom spaces still look exactly the same.
“And we’ve talked about the hidden ugliness. The ‘what you can’t see’ from roof to mechanical systems, plumbing, electrical, it’s concrete work, that type of stuff that we know goes down and you can’t continue running school.”
Parent booster Dicochea is a part of that Sunnyside legacy. Her mom went to Sunnyside. She graduated from its sister school, Desert View. And her four kids all either went to Sunnyside or are current students, including Xavier “Bear” Dicochea, a running back and linebacker for the Blue Devils’ football team.
“My mom says that everything’s the same as when she went there,” Dicochea said. “So it’s definitely due. The bond will definitely help, not just with our concession facilities, but locker rooms, the entire site honestly. They maintain, they do as they can. But we need it.”
Senior flag football player Gia Leyva agrees. Her team does not have a locker room. And although she will have moved on from the school, if the bond passes the effects will be felt across the district and the south side community, she said.
“At the end of the day there’s something big and something meaningful if this bond goes through,” Leyva said. “What really stands out to me on why this bond in my opinion should get passed, is just the continuation of growth within our school and our community. That’s something that’s really important to me. We’re often overlooked here at Sunnyside.”
District voters passed a bond in 2011 and an override in 2023. Both bonds and overrides raise property taxes to help area school districts. Bonds fund buildings, expansions, renovations, upgrades and are paid back over time. Overrides typically fund people — think teacher and staff raises, expanding preschool programs, etc. They are not repaid.
Prop. 416 would raise property taxes for district residents to $92.55 per $100,000 in assessed value to repay the bond over a maximum of 20 years.
The return on the investment is worth it, says Sunnyside Athletic Director Casey O’Brien.
“We’ve won 38 state wrestling championships. We have year-round wrestling, soccer and other programs,” said O’Brien as he stood in the royal blue wrestling room with an overflow of trophies on the shelves and peeling mats on the floor.
“This is where all the state titles come from,” he said of the nationally-ranked program. “We have Olympians, national champions. And it’s not our style to show off. This bond would help us expand to two wrestling rooms, a new locker room. And so much more.”
When he walks in the room that’s tucked away behind the gym bleachers, he sometimes encounters 60 kids in there, he said.
“It should be better,” O’Brien waved his arms. “They’ve earned it. It’s a point of pride for all of us.”
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
