Price talks development, education override at Province

Mayor Christian Price and Superintendent of the Maricopa Unified School District Tracey Lopeman, and, in fact, all the members of the city council – are unified when it comes to supporting Proposition 457, the continuation of the current budget override passed in 2016.

At Tuesday’s city council meeting, every member of the council took time during the public comment period to speak on behalf of the proposition, which would extend the current 10% budget override voted in by Maricopa residents in 2016, providing about an additional $5 million per year to the district. Those funds are earmarked for three things: teacher salaries, RAM Academy and technology, with about 80% of the funds going to staffing.

That support for local education dollars was further evidenced in an event at Province last Wednesday, where Price updated residents of the 55+ community about issues around the city and also touted his upcoming state of the city address coming up on Thursday, Oct. 22.

Price gave a glimpse at what might be coming for the city from a growth perspective, stating that Maricopa is ideally positioned to take advantage of the current growth in the metro Phoenix area.

That led into remarks from Lopeman, in which the educator pointed out several factors in the district that are helping provide a well-trained and educated workforce for any coming industry, including pre-schools, dual-language pre-school and kindergarten classes, and the Maricopa Virtual Academy for those who prefer a distance learning model for their high school courses.

She also discussed two career academies that will be available at the district’s new high school when it opens in August 2022 – a STEM academy offering engineering, software and app design, air transportation and sports medicine; and a leadership academy focusing on business; management; digital communications, education professions, and agri-science.

Lopeman also provided information on the upcoming vote on Proposition 457, the continuation of the override passed by city voters in 2016 that provides funding for teachers to keep class sizes low, and funds RAM Academy and technology for the classroom.

“The override was originally approved by voters in 2016, so it is not a new tax,” Lopeman stressed. “It is primarily dedicated to hiring staff and keeping class sizes low. Eighty percent of our budget goes to staffing and about 80% of the override funds goes to keeping class sizes low.”