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Our commitment to fostering excellence in music education ties into our mission to cultivate well-rounded individuals. Music plays a crucial role in student development, and we aim to empower our students to reach their fullest potential, both academically and creatively.

I could support an override if we had a plan to focus these funds on addressing our deficiencies. Until then, supporting the status quo of accepting low assessment scores, I could not, in all good conscience, go to the voters to ask for their support. We owe this to all of our students and the taxpayers, ensuring we are graduating students prepared for success.

Every March, the Arizona Auditor General releases a report called “Arizona School District Spending,” which has been released annually since 2000. This report describes a detailed analysis of how traditional school districts spend their allocated funds.

The proof, as they say, is always in the pudding. 

As parents, we have a responsibility to ensure our children have the proper support to achieve and maintain grade-level reading skills. Research shows that students who are not reading proficiently by the end of the third grade are less likely to graduate high school, which makes sense when you consider that reading comprehension is expected starting in fourth grade.

Volunteering has been proven to increase happiness by producing serotonin, dopamine and endorphins, and it may also help you live longer by lowering your blood pressure. Volunteering and giving back are self-care tools that can help us all get through hard times.

World Teen Mental Wellness Day, which is observed on March 2, is a day dedicated to helping raise awareness about the mental health issues that teenagers can face – it’s also a call to action to lend an ear, be a shoulder to lean on and to break the stigma surrounding mental health, so teens know they are not alone on this journey. 

Adults, young and old, healthy as well as sick, should choose a healthcare advocate.

Restaurant values are finally at a place where business owners who want to sell can make money off the sale. However, the Arizona restaurant market is not perfect as high interest rates are pushing some potential buyers out of the market. 

As budget negotiations begin, we urge legislators to fight to retain this funding and find other opportunities to reduce spending which does not result in adverse impacts to regional transportation and economic development opportunities.