Higley district puts override question before voters

Voters in the Higley Unified School District have a choice to make this fall: allow funding for better area schools or take a tax rate decrease.

Higley is asking voters this November to approve a 15% maintenance and operations override district leaders say is critical to preserving programs, competitive teacher pay and smaller class sizes. The election is conducted all by mail.

Superintendent David Loutzenheiser , just three months into his role, said the community has seen what one wave of override reductions has done to campuses and is learning what a second wave could mean.

“The things that make Higley unique also are things that we can support through our override,” he said.

Overrides fund a range of programs beyond state-required basics. In Higley, those include dual languag