Thirty-Six school districts across Arizona are looking to pass bonding and override measures to secure additional funding for children’s public-school education in special elections this November 4.
In all these cases, the amount the district residents would have to pay monthly is roughly less the price of a large pizza delivery from Dominos.
That is a pittance asked of homeowners when compared to the long-term results enjoyed by children who, if these measures passed, would have greater access to smaller classes, technology, counselors, and fun electives like art, drama, music, DECCA, STEM, and sports.
One district looking for an override from its residents is Deer Valley Unified.
Arizona Legislative District Chairperson Valerie Harris graciously spoke to Blog for Arizona and made the case why Deer Valley needs the override to pass this November 4 and what could happen to programs that benefit children if it does not.
The questions and Ms. Harris’s responses are below.
Please tell the readers what is at stake for the Deer Valley School District in this election.
“The Deer Valley School District has already had to make $11 million in cuts to its budget this year because the bond and override failed in the last election cycle. DVUSD sent a survey to all the Deer Valley parents and constituents, asking them to prioritize the services that they wanted to see remain, and worked to prioritize cuts based on what the community felt most important.”
“This override is looking to preserve and restore funding to the full day kindergarten program with transportation, preserve athletics, art, music, theater, dance, and other extracurricular activities, to support specialized learning programs like English immersion, gifted fine arts and online educations. Continue to recruit and retain the best teacher and staff. Maintain smaller class sizes and student services like school nurses, counseling, learning technology and support”
“After I retired from the corporate world, I worked for the Deer Valley District, supporting their online learning, Special Education and Gifted programs. Those are some of the finest, most dedicated people I’ve ever worked with. They are committed to DVUSD students and making sure that they get the best possible education experience.”
“Something Deer Valley has been able to count on from our community for decades is these bonds and these overrides. With continual cutting of state funding from public education, bonds and overrides has been a non-partisan way of supporting our students. Just recently that’s been challenged, and it’s based on politics. That is completely irresponsible and unfortunate because this is our kids and their futures. Education should not be part of politics. Nothing about our schools being funded should have any kind of a political connotation at all.”
What may happen to the schools and the district at the measure does not pass.
“As I mentioned, DVUSD already cut $11 million from their budget last year. They would face another $11 million cut next year and the next year to student facing programs and services. Our students would end up with larger classrooms and lose vital services with fewer resources for the teachers.”
“Because of state funding cuts our public schools are already struggling to hire and retain teachers and support staff like cafeteria workers, crosswalk guards, custodians, maintenance workers and bus drivers.”
“Things not directly touching our children’s experience in school are going to be the kinds of things at risk of being cut first because the focus is on keeping our children educated. If that means DVUSD needs to put more kids in a classroom because they don’t have enough teachers for smaller class sizes, that’s what they’ll do. DVUSD and the community they serve will have to make very hard choices about where the existing funding goes and that’s going to require significant sacrifice.”
“My youngest granddaughter is five years old, and she just started all day kindergarten this year. She loves it. She spends an entire day immersed in numbers, letters, reading, science and more, but equally importantly she’s learning to work with and socialize with children her own age. All-day kindergarten is one of the things that could be cut because of funding. Children will still be going to half-day kindergarten because that’s paid for by the state, so far. But then, parents are going to have to figure out how to get their five-year-old picked up from school and provide daycare instead of having them in an environment where they’re going to be learning all day long.”
“Things like sports, music, theater, science and technology: the things that enrich the lives of our students are at risk. These activities create a more whole person. Some folks may view these as superfluous and not part of “education”. As an Aide I was able to watch second and fourth graders learning how to play a variety of musical instruments in music classes. And wow, was that a cacophony of sounds, but they had a chance to understand music to explore different instruments. Some of them walked away, not caring, and some of them walked away with a genuine love for a certain instrument and music in general that will last their entire lives. Things like that are important. These are the kinds of programs that are on the chopping block at this point because they’re not reading, writing, or arithmetic.”
What do voters in the Deer Valley District need to do to make sure the override passes?
“First thing we need to do is to get our ballot, fill it out, and send it back. We need to vote and vote YES for the override and land sale.”
“We need to understand that there’s a lot of misinformation going around about how Deer Valley manages its budget. The fact of the matter is that Deer Valley’s budget management is among the best managed in the state with over 73% going directly to classroom spending.”
“The remaining 27% goes to non-classroom spending like plant operations and building maintenance, transportation and food services. Less than 10% of that goes toward administration, meaning ALL district support staff, not just the Superintendent as we hear so often.”
“We also hear the terms waste, fraud and abuse thrown around. This is not at all the case. Unlike private and parochial schools, the state regulates every penny public school districts spend, and on what that money can be spent. Public schools publish their budget information on their websites for their communities to see.”
“DVUSD is a very efficient and organized district. It was when I worked there, and it still is today. Every decision is made balancing the benefit for the students versus how much it is going to cost. DVUSD is a great steward of our public education dollars. They also stive to make investments in the future of our students that are appropriate and enriching for the students and their education.”
“The ballots were mailed on October 8. The last day to request a ballot if you haven’t gotten yours, is October 24. The last day to mail your ballot is October 28th. Election day is November 4th.”
Is there anything not covered in the first three questions that you would like to readers and voters to know about the Deer Valley override election?
“Public education bonds and overrides are funded through our county property taxes. The total cost of restoring this override is estimated to be less than $20.67 per month on the average assessed home value in our district. That’s an annual cost of $248.04. The average Arizona family pays more than $248.04 for a week’s worth of groceries, a month of health care costs, four tickets to a pro football game. Funding public education is often less expensive than many of the activities we all take for granted.”
Please click here to find all the 36 districts across Arizona that are holding bond/override elections on November 4 to better serve their children’s education.
Please help them by turning out and supporting their efforts to enlighten and strength young minds in safe and learning conducive classrooms.
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