An alternative education center to serve students with special needs, “secondary academies” that include grades 6-12, and career and technical education for middle schoolers are just some of the bells and whistles of Tucson Unified School District’s realignment plan.
Those ideas came more into focus Tuesday night at TUSD’s Governing Board meeting as Southern Arizona’s largest school district attempts to right-size.
As TUSD maps out how to close or merge 14 schools, the adjustments continue: Dunham Elementary has been spared. Cavett Elementary could become an alternative education center containing an autism-focused branch and an alternative program for elementary and middle schoolers.
About 100 community members attended Tuesday’s meeting, most to speak about proposed school closures. Before that meeting at Catalina High School, Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo set up the stakes, saying the reconfiguration package could help TUSD cut its deficit, ideally serve more students with alternative school structures and is a “way to think a bit differently.”
If the proposed package passes, it brings the deficit from $20 million down to $14, Trujillo said, adding TUSD would need to cut another $8 to $10 million.
“That’s a great pathway to get back in the black,” he said just before the board meeting. “And so we have to be very clear that this is a piece of the puzzle. It doesn’t take care of everything.
“And as I’ve said before, it should be designed to grow our district, especially in areas where we know that we’re struggling, like in middle school, and being able to think about middle school differently.”
TUSD says it lost nearly $8 million in state funding last year because of lower enrollment, and district officials point to lower Pima County birth rates and families using Empowerment Scholarship Accounts as the primary causes for realignment.
The two-phase plan includes the following:
TUSD administrators propose six schools be merged or closed for the 2027-28 school year:
• Hudlow Elementary closing and merging into Sewell Elementary
• Cragin Elementary closing and merging into Blenman Elementary
• Collier Elementary closing and merging into Bloom Elementary
The Phase II recommendations are:
• Magee Middle School closing and merging into Sabino High School creating a “secondary academy” with separate buildings, classes, lunch periods, and daily bell schedule specifically for middle school students. It does not include the mixing of middle school-aged students with high school students, the district says.
• Steele Elementary closing and merging into Booth-Fickett K-8.
• Secrist Middle School closing and merging into Santa Rita High School, making another “secondary academy”
• Current Cavett Elementary merging into Utterback Middle School, allowing Cavett to become an alternative education center, focusing on students with special needs.)
Below is a big-picture look at the plan through some numbers gathered over the last few weeks as scenarios have rolled out:
Money
$20 million
TUSD’s current deficit, according to Trujillo on Tuesday
$6 million
Proposed savings if the realignment package is passed by the governing board when it votes on Dec. 8
9
Arizona school districts labeled “highest financial risk” by the Arizona Auditor General’s office, including TUSD — the largest district on the list.
$2.2 million
Annual amount TUSD could receive, Trujillo says, if the new Arizona Legislature renews Prop. 123, the education funding that comes from the sale of Arizona’s public lands and draws on distributions from the state land trust fund. It expired in 2025 when the Republican-led Legislature declined to renew it.
District size, enrollment
88
Schools currently in TUSD
35,000
Approximate number of students in TUSD
5.6%
Percent of students lost in TUSD from fiscal year 2024 to 2026, according to TUSD’s 2027 budget book
How the plan affects schools and students
2
Proposed secondary academies, which include Magee to Sabino and Secrist to Santa Rita High School
767
Students currently enrolled at Sabino High School, the highest population of students involved in the realignment, according to TUSD data
1,033
TUSD’s projected number of students at Sabino High when it merges with Magee Middle School, creating a “secondary academy” with grades six through 12. “At 900 to 1,000 students, you’re easily covering your costs,” Trujillo said of the merger.
93
Students currently enrolled at Collier Elementary, according to TUSD data, the smallest population of any school proposed for closure.
4
Students with special needs who currently attend TUSD schools after transferring from other districts., according to Sabrina Salmon, TUSD director of exceptional education
$0
Amount a TUSD family will pay for childcare next school year, as part of the proposal to keep or attract families to the district.
16
District schools that earned an A grade from the state this month, the best showing TUSD has had in a decade, Trujillo said.
1
School proposed for closure now removed from the list. After that school, Dunham Elementary, earned an A grade for the third-straight year, parents met with Trujillo last week. The East Side school was removed from the list and will not merge with Marshall Elementary, about a mile down the street.
Buildings
$1.5 million
TUSD’s estimated property value of Steele Elementary, the smallest estimate of any school building proposed for closure.
$3.2 million
The separate estimated values of Secrist Middle School and Magee Middle School, the largest estimates of any schools proposed for closure.
1942
The year Blenman Elementary was built, making it the oldest school of the 14 involved in realignment
1973
The year Collier Elementary was built, making it the youngest school of the 14 named in the reconfiguration plan.
The meeting
24
People who spoke out Tuesday night — 18 speakers plus six letter writers, whose missives were read aloud — during a 100-minute public comment period. All but two speakers discussed the realignment plan.
100
Approximate audience at Tuesday’s board meeting at Catalina High School’s auditorium.
1
New TUSD board member coming in 2027 after Pilar Acosta Ruiz was elected Nov. 3, unofficial results show. She joins the board after the likely Dec. 8 realignment vote. Current board member Jennifer Eckstrom was re-elected, based on unofficial results, and will begin her second term next year.
0%
“People who don’t want their schools closed. At all,” Trujillo told the crowd Tuesday night.
7
Age of Jade Cervantes, Collier Elementary second grader who spoke to the board Tuesday night: “If Collier closed, I don’t know if I would learn the same way,” she said. “My life would go upside down. I wouldn’t see my friends. I don’t just like Collier. I love Collier. Please do not close down Collier.”
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