Before it decides which schools to close and consolidate in the coming year, the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board voted Tuesday night to give the public more information on why the changes are necessary.
The 3-2 vote followed a 70-minute discussion centered on proposed community meetings scheduled for September.
Three meetings are planned across Tucson to gather public input and distribute data on why schools must be closed.
But Tuesday night’s plan rollout was bumpy. And the purpose of the community meetings is unclear, board members say.
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.
Nine slides were read to the board and an audience of about a dozen people about 2.5 hours into the meeting. The presenter was Bill de la Cruz, whose Denver-based consulting firm has been hired to facilitate the meetings, work on school consolidation and craft messaging to Tucson residents.
The rough rollout start included: An incorrect meeting site on a slide,
the mispronunciation of Cholla High School as “Cho-La,” and no plan for virtual meeting alternatives.
“No one has any idea what this meeting is about,” said board member Jennifer Eckstrom, who voted no on the proposal. “Is this about trying to get upgrades to our schools? Will we have interpretation? Will we have child care?
“If we are going to be transparent, then we need to be transparent.
“I think we are moving too quickly. We need to reassess what the meat of the situation is and we need to get into it,” she said.“I don’t feel it’s community based. I don’t know how we change that now.”
All five board members raised questions about the three proposed community meetings scheduled for September.
“What is the purpose of these meetings?” President Ravi Shah asked. “How do we get beyond the NIMBYism of this?”
Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said Tuesday the meetings’ purpose is to explain why the district will close schools, including presenting data and inviting feedback. Those discussions will drive the proposals to be finalized in October.
“We need to have packed houses everywhere we go,” he said.
But the district has not divulged which schools could be affected by potential closures. Trujillo says this is because the each school community should find out from the district first before it is discussed at a board meeting.
And to get public meeting attendance without knowing which schools are involved requires flexibility and multiple options, parents and board members say.
“I was surprised that there were only three meetings for such critical conversations, and that there was not a virtual option. TUSD is a large district, with many busy, working families,” said Madeleine deBlois, a TUSD parent of three students at two schools. “The three meeting options were not accessible to us. The city of Tucson has ways of getting community input that also include informative web pages and ways to leave digital comments. I would hope that these three meetings are not TUSD’s whole approach to sharing information and collecting input.”
Creating more convenient meeting times is critical, said board member Sadie Shaw, who also voted no and suggested a webinar and virtual meetings for those who cannot attend in person.
“The webinar is a great idea. I had not thought of that,” de la Cruz responded.
De la Cruz is a former school board president and former director of equity and inclusion for Denver Public Schools. He is also an author and a mediator, according to his firm’s website. Arizona Luminaria asked about the cost to hire the firm, and TUSD says it is working on getting that number.
District officials say they’ll use data at the meetings 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.
Tuesday night was the first time the public and board members were shown the meeting plan.
Trujillo, de la Cruz and two groups — an advisory committee and an internal district task force — are creating the plan. Board members expressed concern that no teachers were members of those groups. Arizona Luminaria has asked for the names of those on the committee and task force. The district says it is working to provide the names.
“How are we going to convince the public and busy parents they can help shape some of the decisions and address the needs of the parents?” Shah asked in an interview with Arizona Luminaria Wednesday morning.
“I think, really being transparent and honest. We need to know if a school closes, what to do with the buildings in the community,” he said. “What kind of transportation needs are necessary? What kinds of programs should we create to replace existing programs that we have in our elementary, middle, and high schools that are losing enrollment? What we’re offering isn’t meeting everyone’s needs. So, what can we do differently and offer to be competitive in the current marketplace of schools?”
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.
In April, the board laid out a plan saying the district would communicate which schools are in the conversation in August. Tuesday night was the final August board meeting.
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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