A program expanding blind and vision impaired services at two Tucson Unified School District schools and absorbing up to 20 students with disabilities was approved 4-1 Tuesday night by the TUSD Governing Board.
The students, currently at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, are among those who will not make the move from ASDB when it closes its 56-acre west side campus later this month. Most deaf and hard of hearing ASDB students will move to Oro Valley. All other students were told earlier this year they must find a different school.
TUSD will accept some of those students at the cooperative sites of Pueblo High School, which could have about 11 students and Morgan Maxwell K-8, which could have nine students, the district says.
But disability advocates say the number of students could total less than 10 when the school year begins in August.
Four American Sign Language interpreters rotated throughout Tuesday’s nearly five-hour meeting, as a packed room included about two dozen ASDB supporters, families and staff. After interpreters were not available at the last meeting, the discussion and vote were moved to Tuesday’s meeting.
The proposed plan lacks specifics, said at least 10 speakers representing students with disabilities. Some asked the board to delay its decision. Board member Jennifer Eckstrom was the lone no vote, citing lingering questions about the plan.
“If this board is being asked to approve a significant financial commitment, then the community deserves the same level of clarity, detail, and transparency that is provided for other expenditures,” said Katie Sienko, president of the Arizona Association of the Deaf, in an email to Arizona Luminaria. “This is a moment where getting it right truly matters, because the decisions made here will shape not just services, but the lives, access, and futures of students, and ultimately, how well we set them up for success.”
The cluster site model results in splintered student services and a severe reduction in consistent services compared to what current ASDB students receive, disability advocates say.
The planned proposal in the TUSD budget includes $515,222 for additional staffing costs, plus an estimated $300,000 for capital costs related to assistive technology, instructional materials and building renovations. It will be funded by Medicaid, the district says.
“I know there’s a lot of unanswered questions. I have questions about financial things on this front. But we’re in a position now where you have 2.5 months to figure out how these 20 students are going to get educational services,” said board President Ravi Shah, as he urged the board to vote.
“We’re not going to reopen ASDB. We are not going to reverse millions of dollars in state funding cuts for ASDB to change things,” he said. “All we have control over right now is a school district. What can we do with these 20 students that might be coming our way?”
At least some students are coming no matter what and TUSD did not choose this, Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said. Trujillo and board member Sadie Shaw have met with some of the families of potential transfer students. The loved ones say their children will receive about 40% of the current services they get at ASDB and most importantly, they want ASDB students to stay together at a new school, Shaw said.
Incorporating the ASDB students would give TUSD a small boost in enrollment and funding, as it continues to lose students to other districts, charter and private schools. Still the largest district in Southern Arizona, TUSD has about 35,000 students in 88 schools.
ASDB says it supports more than 900 students with its itinerant services: ASL interpreters who typically travel to different sites and work with students. The school has about two weeks left at its campus built in 1912. This school year, it has 115 students in grades K-12, and about 30 of those learners are blind.
The ASDB move is prompted by a $3 million deficit, lack of federal and state funds, declining birth rates resulting in lower enrollment, more complicated student needs, and deteriorating buildings and infrastructure, ASDB Superintendent Annette Reichman said.
Pima may get $6 million from Project Blue backers
Buried deep in the Pima Community College Governing Board’s May 13 agenda is a charitable gift of nearly $6 million to the school from Beale Infrastructure.
A five-year agreement is on the table from the group behind the embattled Project Blue data center. The funds will be used to “support PCC’s workforce development programs in information technology, cybersecurity, electrical and skilled trades to address student and industry needs,” the agenda says.
Pima is navigating a deficit driven by over $10 million in lost federal grants and the absence of state operating funding since 2009. This year’s budget included $4 million in cuts via consolidation and attrition. The board voted in March to put a $250 million bond for facilities on the November ballot.
Third revision of TUSD budget approved
The third and final revision to the nearly $800 million budget was unanimously approved Tuesday night.
The average daily membership — the average number of students enrolled and attending a school each day during the first 100 days of the school year, based on daily enrollment and on instructional minutes required by law for each grade level — is down as predicted, by about 1,500 students, said Chief Financial Officer Ricky Hernández during Tuesday’s presentation.
And the number of higher-need students, which can include preschool students with severe developmental delays to those with autism and even English language learners, is growing, Hernández said.
Official grades on track after cyberattack
Canvas, the online learning management system that TUSD uses, is back up after last week’s cyberattack.
Teachers, students and parents use the software, which is crucial during this time of final grades and testing.
TUSD schools were some of the 9,000 worldwide that were attacked by hackers last week when Canvas was targeted by ShinyHunters, a hacking group that claimed responsibility. ShinyHunters threatened to leak data involving the schools if they did not pay a ransom by May 6. The group then extended the deadline, indicating some schools had engaged with them to negotiate.
“The system is fully operational, and all testing and grading will run without foreseen interruption,” TUSD told parents in an email on Tuesday night. “Canvas’s parent company, Instructure, reported that no credentials or other personal data was compromised due to the nationwide interruption of service related to a cyberattack that occurred last week to their corporation.”
In 2023, TUSD’s network suffered a ransomware attack and a large amount of sensitive and confidential employee data including Social Security numbers were found on the dark web.
Read the whiteboard
💰Pima JTED was asked by some public school districts to slow down on a $150-$300 million bond ask. JTED says it needs more space to serve thousands of Southern Arizona high school students on its waitlist and will vote on the bond issue at its June 9 Governing Board meeting. The deadline to place a bond on the November ballot is July 6.
🏫 Researchers say the COVID-19 pandemic did not prompt the drop in student test scores across the country, but rather it’s a generational decline.
🗳️ Primary election season is here. The race for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction heats up May 13 when Democratic candidates Brett Newby and Teresa Leyba Ruiz will debate. On May 14 Republicans Kimberly Yee and incumbent Tom Horne face off. All debates are 56 minutes commercial-free and will include a simulcast Spanish translation and ASL interpretation. Watch them on our site at azluminaria.org.
🎓 Thirteen years ago, they were the first kindergarten students at BASIS and now 54 of them will graduate together at BASIS Tucson North this month.
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