It seems impossible, but we have just finished the first nine weeks of school! Our fall sports are slowly winding down. Four members of the cross-country team qualified for state and will be competing in Rapid City next weekend. The Football team ended the season 7-1 and will be competing in the playoffs on Thursday night. Region Volleyball is quickly approaching. Other activities such as Oral Interp, HOSA, etc are also getting in full swing. The band and chorus are preparing for their fall and winter concerts. It is great to see students reach out of their comfort zone and perform in public. I don’t believe we fully appreciate the risk students take to put themselves out in the public where everyone can see them succeed or fail. It builds discipline, mental toughness and confidence. No matter the outcome, we always need to support these students. A goal at Avon is to have every student be involved in at least one extracurricular activity. We greatly appreciate the community attendance and financial support of all our extracurricular activities! At the same time, our teachers are constantly developing engaging and challenging curriculum to grow each student academically. Finally, next week we invite everyone to the Veteran’s Day program on November 11 at 2:45 in the school gymnasium. With the election approaching the main ballot issue that could potentially affect our school is Initiated Measure 28, which removes the sale tax from groceries. Sixty-four percent of the state’s general fund revenue comes from sales tax and K-12 education expenditures account for roughly 1/3 of all general fund revenues. It is estimated that if passed, IM28 could reduce sales tax revenue by up to $176 million, which is on top of the $104 million estimated annual revenue loss from last year’s general sales tax cut of 4.5% down to 4.2%. According to an editorial by the SD House Majority Leader and Senate Majority Leader “the minimum cut that South Dakotans should expect for schools and nursing homes would be about 5 percent. If revenues weaken, of course, the cuts could be larger.” In addition, they state “If IM28 passes, we will take our direction from the voters: reduce revenues and cut spending on schools, nursing homes, public safety, and everything else.” A five to seven percent reduction in revenues would be a substantial cut to Avon School. Based on last year’s state aid number, a seven percent cut would be approximately $100,000. While there are valid arguments on both sides of this issue, this potential loss of revenue for the school would be devastating. Research the measure carefully and then as always vote your conscience.