When Tucson Unified School District school principals, front-office staff and monitors had mandatory training last week for potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement campus visits, one difference was clear from previous training.
Staff can no longer assume law enforcement will display typical standards of transparency and professionalism, TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said in an update at Tuesday’s Governing Board meeting.
Those basic standards include “professionalism that officers engage in every single day: Identifying themselves, showing badges, presenting warrants, checking in at the front office,” Trujillo said.
“Disturbingly and sadly, a year later, we are no longer in that situation where we can make that assumption,” he said, adding anyone on campus that refuses to identify themselves, is masked, or refuses to provide a badge or name, is an intruder.
“No matter what uniform they have on, no matter what paper they’re waving around and claim to have, they are at that point an unidentified intruder, and we have given the guidance and the directive to principals in that situation to lock the campus down,” he said.
“And at that point, we will be notifying law enforcement — local law enforcement — immediately to request their assistance in dealing with that situation,” he said. “Hopefully, no principal, no school community will have to engage in that protocol. But sadly, we cannot take it off the table and have to make sure that every single principle in every single front office team understands very clearly what to do in that situation.”
The district says ICE has not appeared on a campus this school year.
TUSD labeled “high financial risk”
TUSD is one of nine school districts named at high financial risk by the Arizona Auditor General’s office.
The end of COVID relief money, declining enrollment, and rising operating costs are the biggest factors, the auditors say. The district says it needs to cut $25 million by 2030, including $10 million next fiscal year. Cutting positions and a hiring freeze are on the table, it says.
TUSD was last labeled high financial risk in December 2020 — the first year the report was done. The district, which has about 35,000 students in 88 schools, is Southern Arizona’s largest school district. It moved off the most-vulnerable list the following year.
Of the 207 audited, twice as many districts appeared in the highest-risk category as last year.
“We do know we need to make some budget cuts even with the override,” board President Dr. Ravi Shah told Arizona Luminaria. “And right now our goal is to keep those cuts as far away from the kids in the classrooms as possible.”
The district saved over $40 million over the Covid pandemic, Shah said. “And we were able to use those funds to continue programs and services for students without having to cut a lot of programs and services that students use on a daily basis,” he said. “The high-risk designation is a reflection of keeping programs and services and eating into the reserves.”
Cherry Field renamed for coach
Tucson High’s winningest baseball coach was honored Tuesday night when the board voted 5-0 to add Oscar Romero’s name to Cherry Field — now Oscar Romero Ballpark at Cherry Field.
Romero, who died last fall, coached the Badgers from 1990-2018 and won two state titles. He graduated from Tucson High, which plays its home games at Cherry Field. Romero’s coaching legacy extends to coaches at high schools around the city and to Pima Community College.
Romero is a member of the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame. His all-time record is 488-300-3.
Dozens of family members, former players and coaches showed up Tuesday night. Many spoke of Romero’s guidance and the difference it made in their lives outside the diamond.
“He believed deeply in this school and lessons learned on-and-off the field,” Tucson High Interim Principal Jon Lansa said.
Read the Whiteboard
📣 Save our Schools Arizona and the Arizona Education Association aim to put voucher reform on the ballot in 2026. A few weeks ago, AEA President Marisol Garcia appeared before a Senate committee as teachers unions continue voucher debate.
💰 Speaking of … Arizona’s empowerment scholarship accounts reached 101,063 students this week — growing 10 fold in three years. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne touted the milestone.
⚖️ The Flowing Wells Unified School District settled the lawsuit filedwith the family of a student who was fatally crushed by a misfunctioning school gate.
👀 Let’s check in on who’s signed up to run for Southern Arizona school board seats in 2026.
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