🎓 College Credits for Free? SUSD's Dual Enrollment Program Gives Students Head Start | BUCKMASTER SHOW
How some Sahuarita students are graduating high school with a year of college already completed
Based on the Buckmaster Show for 4/28/25, a daily radio show in Tucson, AZ, interviewing local newsmakers. Analysis and opinions are my own.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
🎓 Dr. Manny Valenzuela runs the Sahuarita schools and chatted on a 🎙️ radio show about big problems and cool programs they have. He's 😟 worried about kids using 📱 phones too much because it makes it harder to learn how to 🗣️ talk to people face-to-face and 🤝 solve problems together. His schools have awesome programs where high school students can earn 🎓 college credits for free, and others where they learn jobs like 🛠️ construction or 🍳 cooking. They also have 🎶 music programs and 🪖 military training that teach leadership. The community voted to give the schools 💵 $50 million to make improvements like new 🖥️ technology and safer 🏫 buildings.
🗝️ Takeaways
📱 Approximately half of SUSD students are taking at least one dual enrollment class, saving families thousands in college costs while giving students a head start
🧠 Research suggests excessive screen time is disconnecting students from real-world social development, despite appearing "connected" digitally
🚫 13 states have already enacted restrictions on student cell phones in K-12 schools, with studies showing improved academics and reduced bullying
🔨 SUSD offers approximately 20 career and technical education programs aligned with high-demand industries, preparing students for well-paying careers without requiring four-year degrees
💰 The district's $50 million voter-approved bond has funded technology upgrades, security enhancements, and facility improvements, showing strong community support for education
🤝 Community involvement through volunteerism and cross-sector partnerships is vital to educational success, creating a support ecosystem for students
Screen Time Struggles and Student Success: The Digital Dilemma Facing Our Schools
In this week's Buckmaster Show, guest host Dan Shearer (editor of the Green Valley News and Sahuarita Sun) welcomed Dr. Manny Valenzuela, Superintendent of the Sahuarita Unified School District, for an illuminating conversation about the educational crossroads we find ourselves at in 2025.
As our children navigate a world increasingly dominated by glowing rectangles and algorithmic attention thieves, Valenzuela offers a refreshingly nuanced perspective on both the perils and promise of modern education.
The Digital Dopamine Dilemma: Screen Time's Silent Siege
The conversation began with what might be the defining educational challenge of our generation – the relentless encroachment of screens into every waking moment of our children's lives. Dr. Valenzuela discussed a recent community meeting where parents, educators, and mental health experts gathered to tackle the thorny issue of excessive screen time.
"Things are changing so fast that if we don't manage it, it will manage us," Valenzuela observed, capturing the essential paradox of our device-dominated era.
The superintendent acknowledged the complex reality that while these technological tools offer tremendous educational power, they're simultaneously rewiring our children's brains and social connections in potentially troubling ways.
And isn't that the perfect metaphor for late-stage capitalism? Give us tools that simultaneously liberate and enslave, promising connection while delivering isolation, wrapped in shiny corporate packaging that screams "progress" while quietly undermining our humanity.
Mark Person, a public health program manager for the Pima County Health Department who spoke at the meeting, delivered a particularly striking observation:
"If they're sitting in front of the screen for hours on end, that's time that they're not spending out on the playground, getting into arguments, having fun, figuring out how to navigate those situations. And that has to be done out there, hands on, in person, in front of another child and in front of other adults."
This may be the most profound pandemic we're not discussing enough – how our children are becoming experts at digital communication while losing the ability to read facial expressions, navigate real-time conflicts, or build the resilience that comes from authentic social interaction.
Debbie Curley, Family Engagement Program Director for the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, cut through the digital clutter with this simple truth:
"Kids know, people know, we all know that we feel better when we're away from our phones."
It's a statement so blindingly obvious yet so routinely ignored in our notification-driven lives that it lands like a revelation.
The district is now wrestling with developing thoughtful policies for different age groups, acknowledging the developmental differences between elementary and high school students. Currently, K-8 schools generally prohibit phones during class time, with some middle schools allowing limited use during lunch periods. High schools permit personal device use during passing periods and lunch, but not during instruction unless specifically directed by teachers.
"It's not simplistic," Valenzuela emphasized, pushing back against both totalitarian bans and laissez-faire approaches. "This is not an easy thing, it takes some time, and really it requires ongoing dialogue balance."
How refreshing to hear a school administrator acknowledge complexity rather than reaching for the easy sound bite or black-and-white solution. If only our politicians could manage the same intellectual honesty.
With 13 states having already enacted restrictions on student cell phone use – and studies showing improved academics and reduced bullying as a result – SUSD is gathering input from stakeholders at all levels to develop guidelines that embrace technology's benefits while establishing healthy boundaries.
"The high school, again, to the point of maturity, might be different than the elementary school," Valenzuela noted, highlighting the need for nuanced, age-appropriate approaches rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.
As parents struggle with when to introduce phones to their children and how to manage screen time at home, schools find themselves on the front lines of this technological tug-of-war, dealing with the day-to-day reality of distracted students and digital drama.
"You don't even know what you're walking into every morning as a teacher," Shearer observed. "You don't know what has happened by phone, perhaps just minutes earlier... You could have some kids who are walking in who are just really heavily damaged by something that they've read on their phone."
Valenzuela acknowledged this digital minefield:
"Somebody says something and they decide to say it over a social media platform and the implications are magnified."
The constant barrage of digital communication means there's no downtime, no escape from social pressures – a fundamental shift from previous generations' experiences.
Educational Equity Through Early College: Dual Enrollment's Democratic Promise
As the conversation shifted to educational pathways, Valenzuela highlighted one of the district's most impactful initiatives: dual enrollment programs, which allow students to earn college credits while still in high school at no cost to families.
"We have such a complex world that we've got to raise the bar," Valenzuela asserted. "Although not everybody has to get a four-year degree, we have to raise the bar for everybody, whether it's an industry certification, a professional certificate, or a degree."
Approximately half of SUSD students take at least one dual enrollment course, with about 30 such courses now available – a tenfold increase from when Valenzuela began his superintendency. Twenty of these courses are in career and technical education, offering industry certifications alongside academic credit.
In an era when higher education has become increasingly unaffordable for working families – another casualty of America's growing economic divide – dual enrollment represents a rare bright spot of educational equity. It's what access should look like in a functioning democracy.
Shearer shared that his own granddaughter had just graduated from high school with 36 college credits already completed—an entire year of college at no cost. "She did not spend a single day of her senior year on the Cienega High School campus," Shearer noted. She is now a graduate as of Saturday, but she also has one year of Pima Community College under her belt. And it didn't cost anything."
Valenzuela emphasized that Pima Community College is "one of the critical levers of not only our educational success, but also our economic prosperity" because it's the most affordable and accessible option for many students. Yet despite this crucial role, "PCC doesn't get anything now from the state," as Shearer pointed out – a telling indicator of our priorities as a society.
When we starve our most accessible public educational institutions of funding while watching college costs soar beyond reach for average families, we reveal the hollow core of our rhetorical commitment to equal opportunity. Actions, budgets specifically, speak louder than words.
Training for Tomorrow: Career Pathways Beyond the Ivory Tower
The district's approximately 20 career and technical education programs offer pathways beyond traditional academic routes, training students for skilled trades and in-demand careers.
"What we've really tried to do always, but even with more intentionality, is really align the development of those programs with the demands and the economic directions, what business partners are telling us is the identity and the future of our state," Valenzuela explained.
These programs include construction technology, automotive technology, culinary arts, and law and public safety—all designed to connect students with "high-wage, high-demand" careers that don't necessarily require a four-year degree but do require specialized training.
"They are graduating from high school ready to step into a decent-paying job and grow," as Shearer put it, highlighting how these pathways can provide economic mobility without the burden of college debt.
While I appreciate any program that expands opportunities and helps young people avoid crippling student loans, we should also question why our society consistently undervalues the labor that builds and maintains our physical world. The narrative that trades are an "alternative" to college subtly reinforces hierarchies of knowledge and worth that serve no one well, especially as we face critical skilled labor shortages.
Cultural Capital: Mariachi Music Meets Military Discipline
The district's commitment to well-rounded education extends beyond academics and trades to embrace cultural enrichment and character development through mariachi music and Navy Junior ROTC programs.
The mariachi program, still in its infancy but growing rapidly, began at Sahuarita Middle School and is expanding to other campuses.
"I like you, love the music," Valenzuela told Shearer. We have a 21st-century learning center program, which is a federal program, starting at the middle school, starting from scratch, and already growing very quickly."
In a border state where Mexican culture is both celebrated and politicized, embracing mariachi music represents an important cultural affirmation for many students – a recognition that identity and heritage aren't add-ons to education but integral parts of developing whole human beings.
Meanwhile, the district's Navy Junior ROTC program has earned national recognition. It was named Unit of the Year in its five-state region for the second consecutive year and advanced to Navy Nationals for the first time. The program has helped place two students in U.S. Service Academies this year.
"Every time you see them, it renews your faith in the future of our country," Valenzuela said, "that our next generation, we're going to be fine. And these amazing young men and women will take the baton that we passed them, and they will continue to move our country forward."
While military programs in schools deserve scrutiny for how they funnel certain demographics toward service while others receive different guidance, there's no denying that JROTC offers structure, discipline, and leadership opportunities that many students benefit from, particularly in a society that offers few other pathways to community, purpose, and affordable education.
Community Investment: Bonds of Trust and Progress
In 2023, voters approved a $50 million bond for district improvements, demonstrating the community's commitment to educational excellence. The funds have already supported significant upgrades, including:
New synthetic turf for stadiums
One-to-one Chromebooks for all classrooms
Interactive flat panels replacing traditional whiteboards
Enhanced security measures, including ballistic-resistant film on strategic windows
New energy-efficient stadium lights
Ongoing projects include new classrooms for career and technical education at Walden Grove, eight new classrooms at Wrightson Ridge, a new preschool space, and targeted weatherization across the district.
"I feel a great obligation to deliver on that," Valenzuela said of the community's faith expressed through the bond vote. "So we strive not only to do what we said, but to communicate it."
While it's heartening to see communities fund their schools through bonds, we should question a system that forces local districts to rely on property taxes and bond measures for basic infrastructure needs – a system that inevitably creates educational haves and have-nots based on zip codes and property values. Every student deserves modern learning facilities, regardless of their community's tax base.
When Shearer asked about the potential for a new high school in the future, Valenzuela noted the staggering inflation in construction costs:
"Walden Grove cost us like 25 or 30 [million]. Right now, a high school comparable would cost about 70 or 80."
He suggested that funding would likely need to come from a combination of state funds and local dollars, highlighting once again the complex and often opaque nature of school funding in Arizona.
A Community Ecosystem: It Takes a Village
Throughout the conversation, Valenzuela repeatedly emphasized the vital role of community involvement in educational success, from parents attending meetings about screen time to volunteers from Green Valley supporting various programs.
"Volunteerism is vital to the success of public education," he noted. "What we do is not doable at the level we do without volunteers... we have a great literacy program and it is beautiful to see what's possible when we work together."
This community ecosystem extends beyond the traditional school-family relationship to include business partnerships, retiree volunteers, and cross-district collaboration, creating a network of support for student success.
"There is a special spirit of community that defines us, that makes us better together than we could be by ourselves," Valenzuela reflected. "Historically, that's what public education is: local communities, teaching community values, preparing the next generation to take their place in our American society."
While this localized, community-centered approach has undeniable strengths, it also raises questions about educational equity across different communities. What happens to students in areas without this "special spirit"? How do we ensure that quality education isn't determined by the accident of where a child is born? True educational justice requires both celebrating local successes and addressing systemic inequities.
Navigating Forward: Balancing Tradition and Innovation
As our educational system stands at the crossroads of tradition and technology, Dr. Valenzuela's perspective offers a refreshing blend of pragmatism and principle. The district's approach – embracing technology's benefits while acknowledging its pitfalls, offering diverse pathways while maintaining high standards for all – provides a template for education in our digital age.
"We are in an era where the only thing constant is change," Valenzuela observed, capturing the fundamental challenge educators face today.
The question isn't whether to embrace technology or tradition, career training or college preparation, cultural enrichment or academic rigor – but how to balance all these elements in service of developing whole human beings prepared for an uncertain future.
In a world where change accelerates with each passing year, the collaboration between schools, families, and communities remains our most powerful tool for preparing the next generation. As Dr. Valenzuela put it, watching these students in action "renews your faith in the future of our country." Perhaps that's the most hopeful note of all.
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What Do You Think?
How is your community addressing the screen time dilemma? Do you believe schools should ban phones entirely, or do you favor a more nuanced approach?
What educational pathways do you believe are most valuable for today's students? Should we be investing more in career technical education, dual enrollment programs, or traditional college preparation?
How can we ensure that educational innovation doesn't exacerbate existing inequalities between districts and communities?
Share your thoughts in the comments below – your perspective enriches our collective understanding of these complex issues.
Quotes
"Things are changing so fast that if we don't manage it, it will manage us." - Dr. Manny Valenzuela on the challenge of balancing technology in education
"Kids know, people know, we all know that we feel better when we're away from our phones." - Debbie Curley, Family Engagement Program Director for the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension
"If they're sitting in front of the screen for hours on end, that's time that they're not spending out on the playground, getting into arguments, having fun, figuring out how to navigate those situations." - Mark Person, public health program manager for the Pima County Health Department
"We have such a complex world that we've got to raise the bar for everybody, whether it's an industry certification, a professional certificate or a degree." - Dr. Valenzuela on the need for higher standards
"Pima Community College is one of the critical levers of not only our educational success, but also our economic prosperity because A, it's the most affordable option." - Dr. Valenzuela, highlighting the importance of community colleges
"It would cost my son... more to pay for parking for one semester than it did for me to pay tuition back in the day." - Dan Shearer on the rising costs of education
People Mentioned and Their Roles/Quotes
Dr. Manny Valenzuela - Superintendent of Sahuarita Unified School District
Quote: "Historically, that's what public education is, local communities, teaching community values, preparing the next generation to take their place in our American society."
Dan Shearer - Editor of the Green Valley News and Sahuarita Sun, guest host of the Buckmaster Show
Quote: "You don't even know what you're walking into every morning as a teacher."
Mark Person - Public health program manager for the Pima County Health Department
Quote about screen time preventing playground social development
Debbie Curley - Family Engagement Program Director for University of Arizona Cooperative Extension
Quote about feeling better away from phones
Ashley Martín Del Campo - Mentioned as being involved with the mariachi program at SUSD
Marine Master Sergeant Jeff King - Leaving the NJROTC program after 12 years to lead a program in Phoenix
Commander Bradley Roberson - Mentioned as part of the NJROTC program leadership
Virginia - Dr. Valenzuela's 96-year-old mother-in-law, who was having a birthday that week
Have a scoop or a story you want us to follow up on? Send us a message!
Dual enrollment courses are a marvelous idea. My son took a number of them, and I was most appreciative that we had this option.