A first look at the range of data used to determine which Tucson Unified School District schools will close and be consolidated was made publicly available Thursday afternoon.
The 31 members of a committee consulting on the reconfiguration include Tucson political figures, union leaders, business people and parents, are also named for the first time on the site. That committee met Aug. 29 and will meet again on Sept. 10.
Community meetings
— Monday Sept. 21, Sahuaro High School, 6-8:30 p.m.|
— Wednesday, Sept. 23, Cholla High School, 4-6:30 p.m.
— Saturday, Sept. 26, Catalina High School, 9-11:30 a.m.
Meetings will be held in each school cafeteria. RSVP here.
TUSD said in August it will close or consolidate up to 10 schools over the next two years. The district said it will name the schools in October. The Governing Board should vote on the reconfiguration in December, Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said last week.
District officials pointed to a range of long and short-term education trends to explain why schools need to close or consolidate: Declining enrollment due to lower Pima County birth rates and the use of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts and vouchers to homeschool or attend private schools, which has cost the district revenue. The meetings are an opportunity to make that case to families, employees and taxpayers.
Trujillo says the schools have not been named because each school community should find out from the district first before it is discussed at a board meeting.
Three community meetings are planned across Tucson to gather public input and distribute the data on why schools must be closed.
Denver-based consulting firm, De la Cruz Solutions was hired by TUSD for $75,000 to facilitate the meetings, work on school consolidation and craft messaging to Tucson residents. The consultants and district staff assembled the data and slides shown revealed Thursday.
District officials are using the newly released public data to explain why schools need to close or consolidate: Declining enrollment due to lower Pima County birth rates and the use of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts and vouchers to homeschool or attend private schools, which has cost the district revenue. The meetings are an opportunity to make that case to families, employees and taxpayers.
Keeping half-full schools open, air conditioned and staffed is too costly, district administrators say. TUSD says some schools could be consolidated — meaning a K-5 school could become K-8 and it will explore what to do with vacant school buildings and campuses.
The closures will likely touch every part of the 230-mile district — Southern Arizona’s largest — with 88 schools.
TUSD’s enrollment is projected to see about a 4% decline from last year to about 35,000 students, according to Arizona Department of Education data.
The current decline mirrors the last quarter-century. TUSD data shows peak enrollment of about 63,000 students in 2000 and 120 schools. By 2015, it was about 48,000. TUSD closed nearly 20 schools from 2010-2016.
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