TUCSON — Families who could not make it to a school gym last month will get another chance to weigh in on one of the biggest decisions Tucson Unified has faced in years: which schools to close or merge.
The district will host a virtual community engagement meeting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, to walk through possible closures and consolidations and collect feedback, the Arizona Daily Star reported. KVOA also reported on the session. The district posted an RSVP link on its social media pages last week.
No list yet — but a timeline
TUSD has not publicly named any schools. Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said last month that changes will likely involve about 10 schools, according to the Star. Arizona Luminaria reported that the district is discussing a 10-school package split into two phases, with some changes in the 2027-28 school year and the rest the following year.
Under the schedule described by Luminaria, the affected schools are to be named by mid-October, after one-on-one meetings with principals, staff and families. A public hearing is set for Nov. 10, and the governing board is scheduled to vote Dec. 8.
The online session follows three in-person meetings held in late September at schools across the city. TUSD said about 300 people attended those forums in total, Luminaria reported. Feedback will go to the superintendent and a 31-member reconfiguration committee made up of community members, according to the Star.
Why the district says it has to shrink
District officials opened each forum with data on falling enrollment. According to figures presented at the meetings and reported by Luminaria:
- TUSD has lost about 3,700 students over the last five years and is projected at roughly 35,000 students this year.
- About 5,200 students who live within district boundaries use Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, Arizona’s universal voucher program, which the district said represents about $29 million in lost funding.
- Kindergarten enrollment is down 11% from last year.
Officials also point to lower birth rates in Pima County and competition from charter schools. With 88 schools, many buildings are underused, consultant Bill de la Cruz told the board in August, according to the Star.
Questions remain
The process has not been without skepticism. Board members Sadie Shaw and Jennifer Eckstrom voted against the engagement timeline in August, saying it was moving too fast and lacked community representation, the Star reported. Shaw also pushed for a virtual option for families who could not attend in person — the kind of session now on the calendar.
After the September forums, Eckstrom told Luminaria she still wants data showing how closures would improve services, including how much money the district saved the last time it closed schools. Some parents and students used the meetings to defend specific campuses; a Catalina High junior who arrived from Afghanistan speaking only Dari told the crowd, “Catalina gave me the chance.”
Participants also floated ideas for what to do with buildings that close, from community centers to selling them outright. The district says it is still collecting input online as it prepares its recommendations.
Photo: Tichnor Brothers postcard, Boston Public Library, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Tucson Senior High School, now Tucson High Magnet School, circa 1930-1945.
Sources: Arizona Daily Star; Arizona Luminaria; KVOA.
This article was produced with AI assistance and is based on reporting from Arizona Daily Star, Arizona Luminaria and KVOA.